A common subject in older Korean humor is women who fart. The humorous folk tale called “The Farting Daughter-in-Law” has been translated and retold many times: the gist is that a young girl who farts a lot gets married, then tries to hold her farts in order not to offend her in-laws, which makes her sick, and when she finally lets loose, the blast of flatus blows their whole house down. Luckily, there’s a happy ending. This folk tale isn’t an isolated incident; farting women are a stock character in older Korean humor texts. I’ve never seen farting men used as objects of humor in the same way. It is possible that this is because men farting was considered normal, or because for men, farting wasn’t a humorous violation of social norms. The joke I’m translating today features a woman in an important, formal social situation who accidentally lets a fart slip out. She tries to save face by blaming it on her son. I think the humor of the situation comes from seeing these two figures try so hard to follow social norms and maintain their dignity, and seeing them both fail. The r