Faith, a Short Story by John B. Keane
This story is filled with irony… about three deeply religious, charitable and respectful brothers who put their trust in a person to provide tiles for repairing their roof. They wait, and wait and wait for the delivery of the tiles and finally on the deathbed of the last living brother we finally learn which community member took advantage of their trust, faith and loyalty.
This story takes place in a town eleven miles outside of Listowel in 1945. John B. Keane often uses phrases and words that are based in Irish culture that we don’t have in the US. When I see these words and phrases, I dig as deeply as I can on the web to find the meaning of them. Here are some of the phrases and words in this story that caught my attention:
A priest was “reading the Station list” — To learn about what this phrase means, read this article.
Blackthorn — a large shrub or a small tree of the genus Prunus
Sloe — the fruit of a blackthorn and is plum-like. It is used to flavor and color sloe gin.
Whitethorn — is another name for Hawthorn
Haw — the fruit of a hawthorn tree
Wynds of hay — on Wikipedia, the word “wynd” is said to mean “lane” in Scots Gaelic. I am guessing that wynds of hay are rows of hay after the hay has been cut and is drying, or mounds or bundles of hay.
Faith can be found in Irish Stories.
Posted: March 30th, 2007 under Literature.
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