exempt from an upcoming visit to the village, and explained why: We can't ignore The offered sacrifice. As your sincerity was utmost, We accepted the sacrifice. The myth of Saman thus "flows over into the reality" of the worshippers. Like its Jeju equivalent, the Jangja-puri demonstrates that the gods of death can be swayed through injeong, even for a man as sinful as Sama-jangja, and therefore affirms the ritual efficacy of the ssitgim-gut funeral. The narrative's detailed portrayal of the afterlife and its gods as fundamentally akin to the world of the living, complete with corrupt officials, may seek to reduce the funeral attendees' fears and anxieties towards death. Hong Tae-han also argues that in the majority of versions where Sama-jangja survives, he serves as a contrast to the person for whom the funeral is being held—who, unlike in the myth, will never cheat death. As the shaman sings the Jangja-puri, the bereaved weep and reach emotional catharsis. The Jangja-puri has also been described as the origin myth of the ssitgim-gut funeral itself, explaining the purpose of the ritual. In several versions, Sama-jangja holds a funeral for the horse who has taken his place. In one version, the horse appears in Sama-jangja's dreams to speak of its torment; the man then feels terrible pain. A shaman tells him to hold a ssitgim-gut for the horse. The funeral successfully frees the dead horse from its punishment in the afterlife and turns it into a human, relieving the animal of its sorrows and curing Sama-jangja as well. With the first day's gut, the iron plating falls from the horse's head; With the second day's ssitgim-gut, the great cangue falls from the neck; With the third ssitgim-gut, the netting falls from the body; With the fourth ssitgim-gut, the cuffs break on its hands; With the fifth ssitgim-gut, the shackles fall from its feet; The horse leaves, having become a human; Its archenemy [Sama-jangja] has become its benefactor. This section of the Jangja-puri thus explains the theology of the ssitgim-gut. Upon death, the grief and resentment (han) of the deceased soul—physically represented in the narrative by the shackles on the dead horse—bring misfortune upon the living. The funeral is necessary to allow the dead soul to be cleansed of its sorrows, and thereby to protect the living from misfortune. The life replacement narratives also emphasize the practical ethics of Korean shamanism, such as the