What is it about the trickster figure that fascinates us so much? What is it about the small, amoral, sometimes sinister creatures（生物） that turn the table on the powerful that captivates（迷住） us through the ages? First of all, let me tell you what I'm talking about when I say a trickster figure. A trickster is often a small creature like a spider or a hare（野兔） who turns the table on their stronger opponents（对手） using their brains rather than their brawn. So they're using their intelligence rather than their muscle. They do this through their linguistic（语言的） dexterity, through their storytelling（说书）.

  They are wonderful performers. They are wonderful liars. The trickster will do anything to ensure（保证） that they remain on top. We have a variety of tricksters in our culture. Although I'll be focusing on tricksters from West Africa, in modern, popular culture, we are obsessed with tricksters. Think, for example, of Bart Simpson, Puss in Boots, Bugs Bunny, the Pied Piper, even the Pink Panther（豹）, and the Joker from Batman.

  All of these are amoral creatures who test the binaries and boundaries（分界线） of good and evil（坏的）. We could even call Robin Hood（头巾） a type of trickster figure. But most trickster figures are not as benevolent（慈善的） as Robin Hood（头巾）, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Most trickster figures are out for their own personal gain（增进）. The psychoanalyst（精神分析学家） Carl Jung says that the trickster haunts（神鬼出没） the mythology（神话） of all ages. So we find tricksters in indigenous（本土的） folktales across the globe（地球）.

  What I want to try and explain to you and ask is what is the enduring（忍耐） appeal（请求） of the trickster across the ages and across continents? What is a trickster and why are we captivated by them? We find tricksters in Greek and Roman（罗马的） mythology（神话）. For example, the tricksters Hermes and Mercury（水银）. These are tricksters that operate（操作） in the borderlands between the world of the gods and the world of mankind. And they bring things from the world of the gods to mankind.

  They are intermediary（仲裁者） figures that exist in the betwixt and between in the liminal zone（地区）. The trickster that I am really going to focus on in this talk is Anansi. An Anansi is a small spider that originates（引起） in the folklore（民间传说） of the Ashanti people of West Africa. Anansi's stories were brought by enslaved people from West Africa into the plantations（种植园） of the Americas. And there he evolved（发展）. And I am going to tell you a bit about how he evolved.

  So Anansi is, like many tricksters, amoral. He can shape（形成）, shift. He can transcend（超越） boundaries（分界线）. He can remove his body parts. And most of all, he is a wonderful storyteller. He has a silver tongue.

  So he can get his own way by spinning（纺） a story. It's through language that he's able to deceive（欺骗） and to lure（引诱） and to charm（ 吸引）. Let me give you an example of a trickster tale（故事）. This is a classic（ 经典的） Anansi story that's found both in West Africa and in the Caribbean（加勒比海）. And it's called Anansi and the Old Tiger Riding Horse. One day in the forest, Tiger sat in a glade and he said to all the animals in the forest, "I am the most powerful animal of the forest."

  When I roar（吼叫）, everybody shudders（战栗）. And yet when Anansi speaks, nobody listens. Anansi is infuriated. He tells all the animals of the forest that actually Tiger is nothing but his old riding horse. Then he scuttles home to his house.