I recently visited Seoul and got this mug because I liked the design but was wondering if anyone could help me translate it. I believe it's a more traditional saying and would appreciate help from the community! 
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1 Answer
I'm most definitely not an expert in ancient Korean known as 중세국어, but below's what I transcribed what's printed in the mug to the best of my ability (read right to left):
1st photo: 하야머리 르고닐오디 말네이제다 곰다돋고 다부톄니 도이러하 땡 힁
2nd photo: 갓난숨거 농난 갓고졍 획심집 기따라하 농하야머리 그로닐오디
3rd photo: Shows up in rest
4th photo: 또너교디 디오남무 가모동야 기르려니 드려두고 이고몽ㄹ씨 하야닐오 야ㅣ놀부
My gut feeling is that they are a mere collection of cool-looking characters (not even words or phrases) design-wise excerpted from classic literature here and there, and don't constitute any meaning as a whole. The word 놀부 however could mean that they were excerpted from either 흥부전(흥부뎐 in 중세국어) or 놀부전(놀부뎐 in 중세국어). I tried skimming through some of their 중세국어 excerpts available online in order to find any matches with what I transcribed, but to no avail because it was just too difficult.
Hopefully there's an expert Korean linguist in our community who can provide an accurate response. Otherwise just enjoy your cool mug for what it is, haha.
