Hlakanyana the Trickster
Zulu folktale · izinganekwane
Kwesukasukela. Hlakanyana was no ordinary child. He spoke from within his mother's womb and demanded to be born; the moment he came into the world he was already cunning and full grown in wit, though tiny in body, like a weasel. While still a newborn he tricked the men of his father's homestead out of their share of meat at the cattle-slaughter, claiming portions by clever argument until the men were left with little.
Setting off into the world, Hlakanyana met an old cannibal woman, an imbulu or ogress, who meant to cook and eat him. He flattered and fooled her, and when she set a pot to boil he persuaded her to climb in first to show how, or tricked her own child into the pot in his place, and so escaped while she was undone by her own greed.
On he went, outwitting every creature he met. He deceived a hare, cheated other animals of their food, and turned each encounter to his own advantage by quick lies and quicker thinking. Yet his trickery often rebounded, for he was as faithless to friends as to foes, and in time others learned to repay his cunning with cunning of their own. Hlakanyana's many tales were told to delight children and to warn them, for he is both clever hero and shameless rogue. Cosu cosu, iyaphela.
The lesson: Cleverness can win the day, but trickery without honour eventually turns back upon the trickster; wit is admired, faithlessness is not.