Sticky trap
In short: A folktale motif in which touching a trap makes it harder to escape with each new move.
Term
How does it work in the tale?
In the Mozambican tale, a family coats a doll with glue to protect crops. In Harris’s collection, a fox leaves a tar figure on a road. I’m Black Horse. In each tale, when is the first moment Rabbit could stop and think again?
How does Rabbit read the silence?
In Harris’s account, Rabbit starts with a greeting. When no answer comes, he wonders whether the figure heard him. Then he takes the silence for rudeness. Fox waits in the bushes and the figure never moves. Before the first punch, the trap works because Rabbit reads more and more offence into the same silence.