Caveat: 먹기는 아귀같이 먹고 일은 장승같이 한다

This is an aphorism from my aphorism book.

먹기는        아귀같이             먹고     일은       장승같이          한다
meok·gi·neun a·gwi·kat·i         meok·go  il·eun    jang·seung·kat·i han·da
eat-CONCESSV starving-ghost-like eat-CONJ work-SUBJ devil-post-like  do-PRES

[He] eats like a starving ghost but works like a devil post.

The starving ghost here is probably those of the Buddhist cosmology, although I’ve developed the impression that there was a pre-Buddhist tradition of starving ghosts in Korea that adapted itself to the Buddhist concept (and vice versa, syncretistically). The “devil post” is the thing called 장승 [jang-seung], the pre-Buddhist shamanistic totems Koreans place outside of villages to ward off bad spirits.

The concept is a man who eats voraciously but works lazily – because clearly a starving ghost eats a great deal, but a devil post doesn’t do much but just stand there and look scary, in the off chance an evil spirit happens along that needs to be scared off.

I know a lot of people like this.

Here is a picture of some hard-working jangseung that I took in 2010.

20100422_JNKR_P1040261

[daily log (11 pm): walking, 6 km]

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