Attached is a sound clip of an oral performance of the story. The informant heard the story from a friend who he believes heard it from a scout master at a Boy Scout camp. He said that the story is meant to be told at night with small groups of people. The story is told to scare or unsettle the audience. He also said that it is probably a campfire story.

Analysis:

The story does not follow Propp’s Morphology, but because it is not a tale about any sort of hero or conflict that is to be expected.

This story is clearly intended to fear people. The fact that the story takes place in the woods leads me to believe that this story would most effective told at night in the wilderness. In this way I agree with my informant that it would probably work well as a campfire story. The whole tension present in the story comes from two uncomfortable situations: being lost and being watched. Ultimately the protagonist is not harmed and was never in any danger, but he was watched intently for an entire night. The uneasiness of being watched is what this story plays on to invoke fear in those listening to it.