The cunning hare, a shared figure across Africa

There is a character found, under a thousand names, in almost all of Africa: the small cunning animal who triumphs over the strongest. In Senegal it is Leuk the hare, who outwits Bouki the hyena. In Cameroon, among the Beti, it is Kulu the tortoise; elsewhere it is the hare against the elephant, or the spider Anansi among the Akan.

Everywhere the story says the same thing: against brute power, wit, patience and speech prevail. These tales once travelled with the caravans and the canoes, changing at every border without ever losing their lesson.

To remember this shared figure is to recall that the peoples of Africa, long before the borders, already shared the same evening gatherings and the same wisdom. That is what common roots are.