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Korean folk tales

Chapter 65: XLVIII THE SENSES
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About This Book

A collection of traditional stories from Korea presents dozens of short narratives that blend the supernatural with everyday life, featuring ghosts, imps, fairies and magical transformations alongside human follies and virtues. Episodes range from hauntings and revenge of animals to encounters with seers, geomancers and temple figures, with recurring themes of moral retribution, filial duty, and religious belief. The volume alternates eerie and comic tones, pairs vivid folk imagination with social satire, and includes brief biographical and explanatory notes that help place each tale within its cultural and philosophical context.

XLVIII

THE SENSES

The eyes are round like gems, so that they can roll about and see things; the ears have holes in them so that they can hear; the nose has openings by which it can perceive smell; and the mouth is horizontal and slit so that it can inhale and exhale the breath; the tongue is like an organ reed so that it can make sounds and talk. Three of the four have each their particular office to fulfil, while the mouth has two offices. But the member that distinguishes the good from the bad is the heart, so that without the heart, even though you have eyes you cannot see, though you have ears you cannot hear, though you have a nose you cannot smell, and though you have a mouth you cannot breathe, so they say that without the heart “seeing you cannot see, and hearing you cannot hear.”

Yi Ryuk.