레이놀즈의 1892-94년 서울 생활 추억담

William D. Reynolds, "Reminiscences of Pioneer Days," ca 1932. Reynolds Papers, PHS.

Reminiscences of Pioneer Days

Psychology and religion unite in teaching that memory is everlasting. But the Bible stated one blessed exception: God has promised, “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." The “Rosary" sings of “Memories that bless and burn.” We cherish only memories that bless tonight. But there was one burning question that burned itself into our memories. It was when “Dixie” caught fire and nearly went up in smoke. "Dixie" was the first property our Mission bought inside the Little West gate of Seoul from Dr. Allen, at that time secretary of the American Legation, for the modest price of $1,500. The Junkins and Reynoldses kept house together in the main building and Miss Davis boarded with them, and the Tates erected a cozy 6-room cottage alongside.

One night Mr. Junkin was kept awake by indigestion due to some rather sad pudding—I won't say which wife was responsible—they kept house week about. He opened his eyes and noticed a ring of light around the stove pipe where it penetrated the ceiling. Jumping up he found to his horror that the roof was on fire, and let out a yell that brought the Reynoldses on the run with pitchers and buckets. We men climbed on the roof, tore off the hot tiles, and poured on water as fast as brought by the nightgown fire brigade consisting of our /2/ beloved brides. After the fire was extinguished, we held a midnight prayer meeting in our room, thanked God for deliverance and Scripturally “saluted one another with a holy kiss”; and neither of the ladies protested against giving exchange. I am bringing you tonight a bunch of envelopes gathered somewhat at random from my garden of memory; out of the first patch of eight years from 1892 to 1900.

As we enter this garden together, you notice that all the flower beds are labeled alphabetically running almost from A to Z. Here right at the gate is A, which stands for Arrivals of the Pioneer Band of Seven. Miss Davis was the first to arrive, and was entertained by the Allens in the Legation until Dixie was bought. The remaining six Pioneers arrived at Chemulpo the afternoon of Nov. 3rd 1892, and found the town en fete—not however in honor of their arrival, but celebrating the Japanese Emperor’s birthday. Our party boarded a small river launch for an all-night trip to the capital. There were 9 ladies trying on sleep on the floor of the common cabin and we three men trying to keep from freezing on deck. We were quite thawed out next morning by the warm welcome at the river landing given us by Moffett, Lee, Gifford, Vinton and G. Johnson. With the ladies /3/ in chairs and the men afoot, our party merrily made the 3 mile journey to the hospitable homes of the Giffords and the Vintons, where we spent a week while fixing up the bullet-like structure which we had rented from its German owner near the Palace. Here the Junkins and Reynolds combined housekeeping and boarded Mr. and Miss Tate. My memory is shot through with the bullet-like biscuits of that first supper table, the sad Sally Lunn and my sadder little wife weeping upon my shoulder at her disappointment. She had tried so hard to have a nice Southern dish for our invited Northern guest, Mr. Moffett, and now that horrid cook had spoiled it. Boo-hoo!! It did not help matters much when we found that our bachelor, Mr. Tate, had overheard the bride weeping and the young husband trying to comfort her. His room was separated from ours only by huge sliding doors, impervious to sight but not sound.

B. let B stand as a monument to those first biscuits, and to those brave young brides, trying to train coolies to cook, and spending hours trying to balance weekly housekeeping accounts, with the exchange changing every day, & each string of copper cash lacking a few coppers.

B also can stand for a few Beginnings of Mission work, Bible Translation, bicycle, and a bull. /4/

The Mission began holding family prayers in Korean with the four language teachers and their servants. One morning Miss Tate’s teacher, a scholar of the old school, asked to be allowed to read the chapter, and nearly broke up the meeting with his old-fashioned pompous reading.

Miss Tate began visiting women in their homes with Mrs. Gifford. Miss Davis began gathering children off the streets into her room for the first Sunday School of our Mission, and also began the practice of receiving women sightseers, sometimes getting up out of bed to receive late callers and try to tell them of Jesus. One day she counted 450 callers at her temporary home in a new section of the city. At her invitation, the writer began holding preaching services there and thereby hangs a tale that might amuse you.

The reason so many women were out at night was that only servants and laboring went on the streets in the daytime. Some few of the better class went out in the day time, but always with a big green skirt over their heads with only a peek hole in order to see.

     P. B. R.

/5/ B. for bicycle.

One Sunday morning I put on the frock coat in which I had been married & rode my bicycle from "Dixie" to Insungpuchai to preach. As I neared the place, riding rapidly along the narrow street, I saw a woman, oil peddler with a wooden tray full of bottles of oil on her head. I was trying to pass her quietly when a man at the side of the street yelled to the oil peddler to get out of the way, with the sad result that she stepped directly in the way. The bicycle wracked her, from under the tray of oil, which descended upon the head of the rider & “flowed down to the skirts of his garments.” He arose from the midst of the broken bottles, offered an oily apology & emptied his purse into her irate hand.

The sermon that day, whatever else it lacked, abounded in unction and the very garments of /6/ the preacher emitted an oily fragrance.

Hobbs, the great English philosopher of the 18 century attributed laughter to an amused feeling of superiority. So it is the reason you laugh at my oily adventure? Then I'll give my superior listeners something else to laugh at.

The first time Miss Tate got on a Korean pony to ride to the river for a skating party, she gracefully leaped on his back to ride sidewise as perfect ladies used to do in the good old days. But she overestimated the pony’s height & forthwith executed a side somersault & landed wrong side up on the other side of the pony. Miss Tate always had a vaulting ambition! She also had an ambition to learn to skate.

One day when His Majesty invited the foreigners to a skating party on the lotus pond in the palace /7/ grounds, Miss Tate & I were skating along together when something happened. I never reveal just what, but in spite of my most gallant & strenuous efforts to maintain Miss T’s equilibrium, she smote the ice with all her might, making a beautiful cluster of stars where she hit the ice & doubtless seeing several constellations & milky ways. That astronomical discovery put an end to Miss Tate’s skating experiments & she retired to the pavilion to rest & recuperate.

Not to be outdone by Miss T's striking ability in leaping on the pony! The first time I mounted a Korean pony to make a trip of exploration with Dr. Moffett, I was perched so high on the mountain of bedding & baggage atop the pack pony that my heels were dangling around the pony's ears. So I shifted my position, turned his tail, lost my balance, turned /8/ a back somersault & but for the fortunate fact that Graham Lee was just behind my pony & caught me in his arms, I might not have been here giving you these rambling reminiscences.

Another incident may show how easily misunderstanding & hurt feelings may arise among missionaries―at any rate 40 yrs. ago.

Of course you never have any feelings hurt nowadays!

One day the King gave a great parade & some of us foreigners gathered in the second story of the merchant houses at Chongno to watch the processions & gaze at His Majesty riding by in his huge sedan chair borne by countless bearers. Junkin, Tate & I with my language teacher, took some lunch along & followed the throng out of the N.E. gate ―somehow we got separated & lost one another in the milling crowd. Fortunately for my teacher & me we had the /9/ lunch basket, & after searching in rain for our friends, we lightened the basket by eating up the lunch. Well, well! That night when we all got safely home, one filled & happy & two empty & indignant.

What those two had to say to that one might be found in the prayer look, "learning undone that what it was my duty to do something about miserable sinner" etc.

I learned that I was naturally selfish & "disregardful of my fellow missionaries." Low stomachs may have been aching from the gnawings of hunger that evening but that was nothing to the heart-ache & gnawings of remorse of the one who had innocently eaten up the lunch! Later I rec'd a letter from Mr. Junkin frankly showing me how selfish I was & concluding with the words "Faithful are the wounds of a friend." The letter hurt, but it did me good, & I hope I am not so selfish today as I was when I ate up the lunch & did not share my exchange with the rest of the mission. /10/

The first active preaching done by the writer was done at Dr. Underwood's street chapel inside the So. gate in Seoul. Crowds would stop to look at the young-old man. They would comment; "He has a young face" "but with such white hair he must be 70 yrs old." He used vigorously all the language he had acquired in those few months with the prayer that "those seed sown by the wayside might find lodgement in ground prepared by the Spirit. He is sure it did him good whether his words were understood or not.

The writer's wife used to say that he rode every new expression hard till he mastered it. He thought the word mo-in-go-hani [뭐 인고 하니]  a fine high-sounding word, or made it specially hard.

On an exploring trip with Mr. Harrison, it was their custom to while resting, sitting cross-legged on the floor of the inn, to /11/ preach to any who would listen. Mr. Harrison would say "Well, Reynolds begin your mo-in-go-hani."

I commend the riding of words & phrases to all new missionaries,--only don't overestimate the height of your hearers' intelligence, and use too high 문자s, or you may tumble off your horse, as Miss Tate & I have done more than once.

Mr. Junkin bought a small house with personal friends on a hill near the place where the South Gate R. R. Station now stands, moved his family out there, and began holding the first regular services in our mission.

Dr. Drew began holding clinics there and also attended a small hospital near Paking Pass, which had been founded by Mrs. Dr. Underwood. One fine day he took his rifle along for a little target practice, and stood it up beside the door of a patient's room. A Korean looking in the yard picked up the gun, playfully pointed it at his companion.

That is all I found.

P. B. R.