There's no doubt that Gregg's a clever guy, but before we go too far in
analyzing the passage, maybe we should quote it correctly:

"Miss Watson's nigger, Jim, had a hair-ball as big as your fist, which had
been took out of the fourth stomach of an ox, and he used to do magic with
it."

--Jim Leonard

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 18:46:10 -0500
 Harold <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hey Gregg,
>
>     You're a funny guy.  Hope to hear from you more.
>
> Gregg Camfield wrote:
>
> > Yes, you're wrong.  Remember that Huck is marginally literate.  The
> > "the" before nigger tells us that he meant to write "the nigger, Jim."
> > Context matters, especially when trying to decide how many angels can
> > dance on the head of a pin.
>