The Fox and The Crow

There is a tree that stands by the edge of the wood where tame fields meet wild trees. It has a dead branch sticking out straight at just the right height for Crow to sit.

Fox was hungry. Fox was always hungry. He had been through the fields and round the barns but found nothing. He headed back towards the woods. There he saw Crow sitting on her branch… and Crow had a chunk of cheese in her beak.

Fox stopped under the branch and looked up
“Ah! Crow how wonderful to see you!”
Crow cocked her head on one side.
He continued, smooth as the finest silk,
“I was hoping I would run in to you, since we last met I have only had one thing on my mind”
Crow looked down at him with one eye and then the other.
“It is your delightful voice that I wish to hear. Please sing for me Crow, bring joy to all the wood with your melodious song!”

Crow had never been praised like this and it made her ruffle her feathers.

“Oh, please do not be bashful Crow. Sing for us and make the field bright with your mellifluous tones, bless us with the balm of your beak.”

Overcome by Fox’s flattery, crow could hold back her overture no longer.

She opened her beak and let out… a rasping “CAW!”

The cheese fell from her beak. Down it fell and Fox snatched it out of the air.

“Oh Crow that was delightful, thank you. I knew something wonderful would happen if you opened your beak.”

He said and, licking his lips, Fox went on his way.

…here’s to living happily ever after, until the next adventure.

The Travelling Talesman www.thetravellingtalesman.co.uk

The Karmic Paws of the Furry Fraudster

Fox stories are quite different from the majority of folk tales I have researched before. The focus is on the interaction between the fox and the world of wild animals. This is a world populated by blunt, clicéd characters in animal guise. It mirrors the hierarchical society of humans with despotic lion kings and greedy, wolfish lords. A surprisingly small number of fox related yarns involve chickens or other domesticated animals and, apart from our agricultural activities, very little separates humanity from the animal kingdom, not even language, with bears, snakes, wolves, crows and foxes all perfectly capable of making themselves understood through speech just as if all mammals and birds shared a common mode of communication.

The famed low cunning of old Tod is matched by an equal level of openness and naivety. Whilst tales of trickery seem to gravitate to the little red dog like sleaze to conservative MPs they are almost as often the trickee as they the tricker: As one fox is making off with a rooster he has captured the farmer calls for the return of his bird. The cockerel says “You should tell him I’m not his any more I’m yours!”, Fox takes the advice, opens his mouth to taunt the farmer whereupon the plucky fowl flies to safety. In “The Kings Son Goes Bearhunting” a fox helps out a farmer who has accidentally promised his horse to a bear. After fooling the bear out of both the horse and his life Fox goes with the farmer to collect his agreed reward of 3 chickens. The farmer makes the fox wait while he brings out the chickens in a bag, “If I open the bag they will fly away, you’ll have to climb in and get them” he says. Fox climbs in to what is in fact an empty bag and the farmer beats him against a rock!

For all their cons and swindles the foxes of folklore are almost permanently hungry, each successful hustle being followed by a loss to another furry grifter or a straight up bully. Undeterred they move on to the next mark. As with other tricksters such as the middle east’s Muller Nasrudin, Africas Anansis the spider god and the Native American’s Coyote, Fox’s powers are as often used to help a fellow being as to steal from them. The trickster’s interest appears to be as much in the application of intelligence, in the process of problem solving by deception, as in the product of the ploy. These other tricksters are also as likely to be the target of chicanery as the perpetrator and as such are collectively known as the The Divine Fool, a worldwide mythological archetype who acts as a mirror through which humanity can examine our relationship to curiosity and cleverness, kindness and cruelty, selfishness and stupidity.

None of the worldwide foolish scam artists can be described as exactly principled in their character, even the fox tales that make it into Aesop, with his classic wrap up of “…and the moral of that story is…” come out more as pragmatic advice for career politicians than ethical guidance for the young. Why then do we tell these peans to the unscrupulous? Why perpetuate these apparent encouragements to artifice? As ever context is everything. In the bushmen societies of Africa, one of the last remnants of the gathering and hunting lifestyle humanity evolved over hundreds of thousands of years, the societal norms lean much more towards sharing and supporting than ours do. In these societies the trickster’s self centred antics are tantamount to horror stories. They are a warning that if you behave like that to those around you then they will behave like that to you. Fox’s perpetual state of hunger is not just a storyteller’s device to provide incentive for the set up, but the inevitable consequence of acting in the interests of the individual over those of the tribe. Simultaneously, those who are duped are being punished for not sharing, with the trickster acting as karmic retribution.

There is no doubt: the Fox is much more than just fluffy thief.

To Catch a Fox by the Tale

Usually I know before I head out in the Autumn what the theme for the spring tour will be but, after several years of touring two shows a year, I found myself a little short of inspiration for the early 2018 run.
“I have no idea!” I had to confess to those who asked what was coming up.
“You could do thieves / fools / kings / rabbits / constellations etc.” they proposed with that particular glee that we all experience in those moments when we can see an opportunity to get something we want whilst believing that we are being helpful.

The range of suggestions was very broad, almost everyone had a unique concept. Only one theme came up more than once, but that one theme was mentioned many times.
Well, “Give the people what they want” is not an entertainment industry adage for nothing, so I’m hunting down tales of foxes. Yes, by popular request, Reynard and his cousins will be the subject of my spring tour: Foxed.

The autumn tour is always easier to settle on because it links into the Halloween season. I’m not sure what the prompt was but I found myself thinking that werewolves could probably stand a more thorough examination than I have previously given them and, although I have told a couple of canine hybrid tales before, it was a few years ago and they are good enough to be given a brush off and a second outing this October.

What’s curious is that it was only after I had made these two decisions that I realised the subjects chosen both refer to creatures of the same genus, and even curiouser, it was only after that I discovered 2018 is the Chinese year of the dog. Spooky huh?

I say ‘same genus’ but there really is a gulf between them. Werewolf stories are all about the curse of changing in to a terrifying beast and the werewolf is always a human who, for one reason or another, becomes a wolf. Fox stories are all about cunning and tricks, not always played by the fox but sometimes played on them. Even when we come to the Kitsune of Japan, who are shapeshifters, werefoxes, they are still very different. The Werefox is always a fox who can use their magical powers to become human.

Usually I have a couple of stories lined up that were the reason I chose a particular theme, I know the core of the show before I start the research. During the reading and searching my preconceptions often change significantly and I frequently end up not using the stories that started me off down that particular path in the first place. Nevertheless they give me the sense of a good foundation which is easy to build on. With Foxed I have had to start from sniff*, and am now wandering the fields and forests of folklore following every glimpse of orangey fur from Aesop to Yollen (couldn’t find a collector who starts with a Z). I can’t say it’s cruelty free as some of the animals come out quite badly from the tricks that get played on them, but if I have to take up fox hunting I’m much happier doing it riding a sofa with a pile of books than I would be on a horse. When I’ve caught a few I’ll pick the best ones and tell you all about them.

The Travelling Talesman will be performing “Foxed” at the following venues:
http://www.thetravellingtalesman.co.uk/giglist.shtml

* Which is four steps earlier than starting from scratch. The full sequence is: Sniff, listen, look, lick (the air) and only then do you risk scratch.