Summary

Now that William’s mistress has been mauled by a tiger, he becomes more protective of Ren and even opens up to him about his relationship with Dr. MacFarlane, Ren’s old master. When he first came to Malay, he was “’mad about tigers…That’s how I got to know MacFarlane; he had some interesting beliefs’” (77). Ren learns that William and Dr. MacFarlane went looking for weretigers when they were younger. Ren asks if William believes in weretigers, and William replies, “’The conditions for a man to become a tiger seem to contradict each other. He either has to be a saint or an evildoer. In the case of a saint, the tiger is considered keramat and serves as a protective spirit, but evildoers are also reincarnated as tigers as punishment. And let’s not forget the harimau jadian, who aren’t even...