Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

Notes for Katharine Berry Judson's "Supernatural: A Teton Ghost Story"

• "went alone on the warpath" 
• "warpath" is an interesting term—hints at the warrior spirit of Native Americans 
• the man didn't help the woman crying "My son! my son"
• is this just to show that the man is selfish or thinks the woman is a ghost?
• the man only moved when the old woman acted like she was about to cut his foot 
• the man lied about having food, but then fed the ghost 
• "He put plenty of brush near the fire."
• foreshadowing to the end of the fight later 
• "When the ghost was pulled near the fire, he became weak; but when he pulled the young man toward the darkness, he became strong. As the fire got low, the strength of the ghost increased."
• man killed his enemy and stole horses 
• surprising that the man killed the ghost 
• "It came out just as the ghost said. That is why people believe what ghosts say."

Illustration of the tiger, brahman, and jackal by John Batten (source: Archive).

Notes for Joseph Jacobs's "Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal"

• the tiger tricks the brahman into letting him out of his cage 
• "the pious Brahman's heart softened"
• Brahman: a member of the highest Hindu caste, that of the priesthood
• "...the most he could gain was a promise to abide by the decision of the first three things he chose to question as to the justice of the tiger's action."
• confusing sentence—reread later 
• the tree, buffalo, and road all feel used and feel no pity for the man 
• they each describe the ways in which people use and disrespect them 
• the jackal, potential prey of the tiger, acts stupidly to get the tiger back into his cage 
• the original trickster lets himself get tricked