Chapter 1, Stalking the Intruder: The Beginning Initiation Summary and Analysis

Here the author introduces another story. This time, the story is about a man, who has some peculiar characteristic that indicates something else about him. In this sense, it is a bit like a mark, such as when people feared birth marks were an indication of strangeness. In this story, the man mysteriously has a blue beard. Why this is no one knows, but the story clearly indicates that he has not simply dyed the beard blue. It is also impossible for him to hide it.

In the story, the man courts three sisters at the same time. The young women find him frightening due to his strangely-colored beard. As a consequence, they run from him and hide. He entices them into spending time with him, hoping that it...