Essay: The Trickster and the Fool

(Two sons of the Jackal)

The end of the second half of the reading had a pretty surprising trickster among its midst. When I was reading I always expected the jackal to be the trickster, but he actually got outsmarted by the hedgehog. I guess technically because of the Jackal's demise he would be considered the fool. The funny things is though is that I considered the jackal the trickster all the way until the end of the story. What made the hedgehog the trickster was that he was tricked by the jackal at first when he took and hid the two jars on honey that the hedgehog found and planned to share. The jackal then continuously lied to the hedgehog in order to feast on the honey himself where he had hid it. When the hedgehog confronted the young jackal, he denied it, but eventually fessed up to hiding the honey jars. After this, the hedgehog had a trick up his sleeve. The hedgehog then invited the jackal to dinner that evening. When the jackal showed up, the hedgehog told the jackal he had to hide because the hedgehog had unexpected visitors, While the jackal was hiding, the hedgehog pushed a huge rock and crushed and killed the jackal. This is when the hedgehog became the trickster and the jackal the fool!  I was very surprised to see the little hedgehog have the guts to kill the jackal. The irony behind it all is the jackal also never even saw it coming. I also find it interesting how a both of these characters switched roles. This is something that I would like to attempt to write in one of my own stories. 

African Stories by Lang

Adventures of Jackel's Eldest Son

Reading Diary A: African Stories from Lang's Fairy Books

(The tricky jackal.)

This was a really cool half reading! I enjoyed literally all of the stories in the first half of the African stories reading. My favorite though was the beginning of the story. How it starts is with the episodes about Motikatika. The most interesting thing about this story is the plot twist at the end. The story starts off with a sick wife and her husband tries to nurse her back to health by bring her honey and water, but he has to make several trips before getting the right water. After this, the husband falls ill, and asks  his wife to make several trips to get water for him. On the final trip to get water, the wife gets water, but then a ogre pops out. The ogre tells the wife that since she has taken water from him, he will eat her child and she is the shave the sides of his head and put white beads around his neck so the ogre will know it is him. The wife also tell him to yell "Motikatika!" Although, the wife has a plan. She gathers all the children and shaves their heads and puts white beads around all of their necks. When the time comes, the ogre calls for Motikatika, but sees all the children who are all the same. The ogre then feels defeated because he knows he will be in trouble if he eats an innocent child. So the wife says she will send her son to the field the pick up some beans and the ogre shall find him there and eat him. Little does the wife know, the Motikatika persuades the father/husband to dress up like Motikatika and the father ends up getting eaten by the ogre. The ending blew my mind.  Mainly because of this last line: 

"It is only just that he should be eaten, and not I; for it was he, and not I, who sent you to fetch the water."

African Stories