orrying their little heads unnecessarily about such
small failings. They are perfectly well aware that their husbands cannot
easily divorce them, when once the fatal knot has been tied, and that,
though practically inferior beings and slaves, they nevertheless come
first, and are above their rivals in the eye of the law; which, I
suppose, is satisfaction enough for them. Even when on friendly terms
with her husband's second loves, the wife number one never forgets to
impress them with the fact that, though tolerated, they are considered by
her to be much lower beings than herself; which makes them feel all the
more her studied politeness to them. Occasionally, however, even the
cool-headed Corean woman gets possessed with the vice of envy--sometimes
mixed with hatred--with the result that reciprocal scratches and tearings
of the hair become _l'ordre du jour_. But to condescend to such means of
asserting one's authority is looked down upon by the more respectable
women; and suffering in silence is pronounced to be a nobler way of
acting under the circumstances, the woman thus setting an example of good
nature eliciting the admiration of all her neighbours.

The wedding ceremony in Cho-sen is simple. It is not celebrated as with
us, in the house of the bride, but in that of the bridegroom. The bride
it is, who--carried in a palanquin, if a lady of means and good family,
or on pony or donkey back, if she belongs to the lower classes--goes,
followed by parents, relations and friends, to the house of the
bridegroom. Here she finds assembled his friends and relations, and,
having been received by the father of the bridegroom, she mounts a small
platform erected for the purpose in the centre of the room and squats
down. Her father follows suit, placing himself just behind her. The
bridegroom, apparently unconcerned by the serious change in his life that
is in prospect, sits on his heels in front of her on the platform. A
document is then produced and unrolled, on which, in hundreds of
fantastic Chinese characters, it is certified that the performance taking
place is a _bona-fide_ marriage between Mr. So-and-so and the daughter of
So-and-so; the weaker sex, as we have already seen, not being entitled to
a personal name. The two contracting parties having signed the document,
the fathers of the bride and bridegroom and the nearest relations, follow
suit. If, as happens in many cases, the woman is able neither to read nor
write, s