This is an aphorism from my aphorism book.
희기는 까치 배 바닥 같다
hui.gi.neun kka.chi bae ba.dak gat.da
white-MYSTERYENDING magpie belly bottom be-like
To be like the belly of a magpie – white.
I wasn’t able to figure out any parse of -기는 that really made sense. “White” is verb-like (what is called descriptive verb, which stands in for adjectives in Korean). If I parse the ending as “summative” (기 – a bit like a gerund) + 는 (topic) I guess that gets close to a valid parse. It would make the whiteness the “topic” of the sentence, while the magpie’s belly is a kind of complement, with nothing tying them together except the comparison for some unmentioned subject. Anyway, even without clarity on the grammatical issue, I think the translation is more-or-less passable.
The meaning, according to the book, is that it applies to someone good at lying, especially white lies or bluffing.
I painted this picture a long time ago and [broken link! FIXME] posted it on the blog, but I think this aphorism merits a reposting of the picture.
“가을의 까치” (ink and watercolor).
[daily log: walking, 5 km]