Tricksters and fools are among the most popular characters in the narrative traditions of many cultures. People enjoy stories in which the hero, who seems powerless in the face of some superior force, wins out through intelligence or daring. When Roadrunner outsmarts Wiley Coyote, or Tweety escapes the hungry clutches of the "Puddy Tat," we cheer the victor. And we like to laugh at stories of fools. The animated heroes of popular culture have folkloric ancestors in oral tales from around the world: the native American Coyote and Rabbit, the West African Anansi the Spider, the Afro-American Brer Rabbit.

"If this is the cat, where's the meat? And if this is the meat, where's the cat?" - Juha and the meat

Perhaps we enjoy the stories because we recognize ourselves in their heroes-whether they play the cunning trickster or the consummate fool. Indeed, the same character often alternates between the roles, playing smart in one tale and idiotic in the next. Thus, like all of us who are sometimes successful, sometimes not, in coping with the challenges of life, these story heroes are less tricksters or fools than trickster-fools.

Any one tale may show the hero in either guise, but taken as a set, the tales give us a more rounded human being who-like all of us-combines capability with foible.