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. >