nly a nominal one, and corresponds rather
to our "engagement." There are duties, none the less, which a married man
must perform, no matter how youthful he may be. From the moment he is
wedded he must be a man, however childlike in years, and henceforth he
can associate only with men. His infantile games, romps with other
children who are still bachelors, spinning tops and all other amusements,
which he so much enjoyed, are suddenly brought to an end and he is now
compelled to be as sedate as an old man.

The illustration (p. 79) shows a young married man of the age of twelve,
a relation of the queen. As I was taking his portrait, I asked him how he
liked his wife and what her appearance was.

"I do not know," he said, "for I have only seen her once, and I have as
yet never spoken to her."

"But, then, how can you like her?"

"Because it is my father's wish that I should, and I must obey my
father."

"Does your father know the girl well?"

"No, but he knows her father."

"And what does your mother say?"

"She says nothing."

"Why?"

"Because she is dead."

I found this an excellent reason for the silence on the mother's side and
I proceeded with the picture, but once again attacked him with the view
of, if possible, obtaining further information.

"When will you go and live with your wife?"

"When I shall be nineteen or twenty years old."

The whole arrangement seemed to me so strange that I naturally longed for
further details about marital relations in Cho-sen. The facts as told to
me are as follows: In Cho-senese weddings the two people least concerned
are the bride and bridegroom. Everything, or at least nearly everything,
is done for them, either by their relations or through the agency of a
middle-man. When both the persons to be wedded possess fathers, a
friendly _pourparler_ takes place between the two papas and in the course
of repeated libations of wine, the terms are settled, and with the help
of a "wise man" a lucky day is named, upon which the wedding shall take
place. On the other hand, should the bridegroom have no father, then a
middle-man is appointed by the nearest relations to carry on the
transaction with the girl's progenitor. It is not uncommon for two
persons to be married several years without ever having seen each other.
This, for instance, may be the case when the young lady resides in a
distant province, and a journey of inspection would be too expensive.
Under such circumst