Chapter 5 — Trove and the Tradition-Trunk

Trove was a fox. She was small and old. Her fur was russet, with flecks of grey. She moved slowly. Her voice was quiet, but everyone listened. A long shawl lay across her shoulders. It had many colors. Each thread showed a comedy tradition she helped to keep. At her feet sat a small wooden trunk. It had shiny brass parts. The trunk looked light. But it was very heavy. Inside were old scrolls. There were also tiny clay figures. Small carved masks rested there too. Folded cloths had wise sayings stitched onto them. Each thing showed a comedy tradition. Trove had learned about them. She knew not to claim them as her own.

Trove taught about cross-cultural humor. This meant funny stories and jokes from all over the world. She taught that these traditions were like friends. They were not things to just take. A Yiddish badchen tradition was special. Badchens taught each other its ways. You always said its name when you talked about it. You never just grabbed it. It was not a free thing to use. The English jester tradition was like that. So was the West African griot tradition. And the Caribbean kaiso tradition. The Japanese rakugo tradition. The Bedouin samar tradition. The Sufi mullah-Nasreddin tradition. The Mexican payaso tradition. Each one had its own people. These people kept the tradition safe. You always gave them credit. No tradition was a free thing for a comedian to use.