Do you remember when I made a point to introduce you to the word Cunning?

In Trickster Storytelling traditions, there are stark differences between those Tricksters that are full of hubris.. and well.. themselves, and those who would be described today as cunning and wise and potentially even as a cultural hero. Though, many times any given Trickster along the path of the “Healthy Trickster” can take the role of both, as their actions or misadventures are meant to be an example of what not to do – a lesson of sorts.

There is a  darker much more self-absorbed type of Trickster that the world as whole is quite familiar with to day… but let's leave that story for another time.

Today, we will be talking about Hares. Not the ones on your head, but the of the ones most may confuse with, or not even delineate from, Rabbits. Oh.. and Tortoises!

I live in a very interesting place where I both see Hares and Tortoises. Now, if you think you know where this is going, you are likely only half right.

In places all over the world, both Hare and Tortoise are Trickers – both the cunning cultural hero type and the hubris-drenched lesson showing variety.

The West African story of Tortoise and the Hare, one that I would consider the orginal or at least better version than the Aesop one, is much more entertaining and contains much more rooted lessons.

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Hare lived alongside all the other animals on the plains that were bordered by the river and the forest. And he made sure to remind them EVERY day that he was the fastest, most agile, most handsome of all of them… Most of the animals had to agree in part to the first two, if not the last, as none of them could catch him, to the point that some of the predators starved even. Most annoyingly, Hare would thump other animals for fun to prove his point, steal or even trample patches of food in his most overexhuberant moments, and even bully the other Hares in his warren. All of this was accentuated pointedly by his claims he would stop the torment if anyone could best him….  Eventually it came to a point that his bragging and taunts and challenges to race were too much for even the most patient – and potentially slowest – member of the plains. Tortoise. On that particularly fine day Tortoise replied to Hare flippant taunt with a simple “I will race you”… now when I say the entirety of the plains just fell silent, that isn’t too far from the truth. Hare, momentarily stunned, regained his voice and replied “Okay, Tortoise, what are your terms”… Tortoise responded nearly too slowly for Hare, “We will start right here exactly at Sunrise, and the end will be up the path to large cluster of sunning rocks near the river.” Knowing the place and in a hurry already, confident that the race was already won, Hare agreed without much thought. In the morning, just a tad bit after Sunrise, Hare had overslept, Hare met Tortoise at the starting line, barely rattled off the words “Are you ready” when seeing Tortoise already there and moving forward, and sprung into action.  Hare took to an easy bound, feeling like he could already see the finish line… when he looked ahead and what did he see? TORTOISE! Hare could not believe his eyes! Speeding up he passed Tortoise AGAIN, and fell into another easy lope. But it happened again. And Again. Somehow, Tortoise was always somehow ahead of him. Hare ran himself ragged trying to keep up, and just when he thought that he was going to win, he was so close to the finish line, he looked ahead just in time to see Tortoise crossing it… She had beat him!  Hare gasped out a ragged “HOW” to Tortoise, and  passed out in shame and overexhaustion… when he woke up he found that Tortosie had seen him home… And, keeping to his promise he boasted and bothered the other animals no more….and despite it not as annoying as before, his questions and curiousity towards Tortoise  never got him an answer to how he had lost the race.  But us, the story listeners know. On the evening that Tortoise had challenged Hare, she began walking toward the finish line. Along the way she asked her family and friends one by one to align themselves along the race path (including the start), counting on Hare’s overconfidence, foolishness and likely inability to differentiate one Tortoise from another, as she made her way to the finish line.

When the race came to the end, she had simply waited till Hare crested the hill to cross the finish line.

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The most familiar Tortoise and the Hare tale leaves us with the simple lesson that “Slow and Steady wins the race” which, although sound advice, never quite felt like a full lesson.

In this story, there is a multilayered lesson, that may conflict with possibly one’s knee-jerk shout of “Tortoise Cheated”… of course she did, Hare was a menace and needed to be stopped. Life’s races are rarely fair, especially when they pit one Trickster against another.

Tortoise’s Trick, and Hare’s lesson in Humility imparts three very important points in one’s steps to composting hierarchal thought.

1)  Teamwork beats Raw Talent: While the Aesop version teaches that persistence and hard work wins a solo effort, This Tortoise teaches us that a community working together can achieve what a single individual cannot.

2) Hubris is Easily Outsmarted: The arrogant Hare relies entirely on his physical speed and assumes he cannot lose, making him blind to collective strategies.

3) Wisdom and Collaboration: The tortoise recognizes her physical limitations, so she uses collective intelligence, organization and unity to humble a bully.

In the Next story I will pivot and tell of a story in which Hare is the cultural Hero.

There is a list of resources at the end of each of my stories if you would like to explore more on your own!

Fare Farren everyone. Safe Journies and Sweet Dreams!

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Resources COMING SOON! (Check back in a few days, still getting a hang of this!)

Now… Let's delve into the meaning of Trickster Storyteller, as I am sure if you are here you are all dying to know, yes? 

The First word Trickster can be divided into two parts, The Root Trick and it’s suffix -ster.  - ster is an interesting one. It actually stems from an English adopted Proto-German Istr,  a feminine word meaning  “a person who does..” So basically, Trickster is “One that Tricks” 

Now trick is a little bit tricky, ha. But what does it mean? Bypassing all the half-notions and feelings others may have on the word, which I suspect lean towards a negative interpretation given it’s current usage, Let's get to the most likely root of the word. Picking through the etymological origins and unraveling their twisting evolutions, we come to the Latin phrase tricari, which I am choosing to interpret as a tangle of difficulties. Now, one could interpret trickster as one who does or originates a tangle, but it could also mean one who untangles difficulties. But in reality, I think a trickster is both- one who both entangles and tangles life’s complications. 

To give you an idea of why I believe “Trickster” is mostly interpreted negatively, one only needs to look at it’s dictionary definition – which I will leave you to explore. But as a linguistic aside, and something that may be a useful alternatively flavored word later, I would like to introduce you to the word Cunning – which originates from an old German rooted English word meaning “to know” or “to be able” or “knowledge.” 

Move on, we get to Storyteller. Storyteller has the most subtle yet enlightening roots to to pick apart. Story was only recently differentiated from its shortened French Latin root of historia. Sound familiar? History. Meaning a narrative of important events or celebrated persons of the past that is True or perceived to possibly be true. Now, history, as we know from the say, is written by the victors, or those who know how to tell and twist the tale to their advantage. Now, teller is from the older Middle English word, tellen, meaning to Speak, talk, say, count, reckon… and it slowly began to transform to today’s meaning of narrate, announce, relate. And obviously, well, maybe not obviously, the -er at the end of teller transforms that part into “One that tells”.

 So a trickster storyteller is one that either tangles or untangles the history that they sees fit to tell. And that, my dear, is what I intend to do you. I will untangle, detangle, maybe purposefully tangle here and there, the stories that I have come to know in such a way that will, possibly, get you to look at the world in a different way. I am looking forward to this journey with you.

Fare Faren