Learning a language in the field
Born in Ontario in 1863, Gale graduated from University College in Toronto in 1888 and sailed for Korea that year with support from its YMCA. He joined the American Presbyterian mission in 1891. He established a mission at Wonsan and travelled extensively, learning Korean through daily work as well as study.
Gale compiled a Korean grammar and dictionary, took part in Bible translation and worked as a pastor and teacher. His notebooks and translation drafts survive at the University of Toronto. Together they trace the movement from collecting words and testing equivalents to translating extended works of prose.
Two Korean writers in an English collection
Korean Folk Tales appeared in 1913 under the subtitle Imps, Ghosts and Fairies. It credits Im Bang and Yi Ryuk as sources of the tales. Gale relates how a manuscript of Im Bang’s writing came into his possession. He supplies an introduction and comparisons for English readers, at one point invoking Sinbad. Those choices belong to the translator who carried the stories into English, while the named Korean writers retain their place in the book’s history.
