CHAPTER IV.


YUNG PAK AT SCHOOL

Little Korean boys have to go to school, just as you do, though they do
not study in just the same way. You would be surprised if you were to
step into a Korean schoolroom. All the boys sit upon the floor with
their legs curled up beneath them. Instead of the quiet, silent
scholars, you would hear a loud and deafening buzz. All the pupils study
out loud. They not only do their studying aloud, but they talk very
loud, as if each one were trying to make more noise than his neighbour.

The Koreans call this noise _kang-siong_, and it seems almost deafening
to one unused to it. You would think the poor teacher would be driven
crazy, but he seems as calm as a daisy in a June breeze.

[Illustration: "ALL THE BOYS SIT UPON THE FLOOR"]

The Korean boys have to have "tests" and examinations just as you do.
When a lad has a good lesson, the teacher makes a big red mark on his
paper, and he carries it home with the greatest pride,--just as you do
when you take home a school paper marked "100."

But Yung Pak was not allowed to share the pleasures and the trials of
the boys in the public school.

One day, soon after he was six years old, his father sent for him to