Introduction

It is April 1st, commonly known as April Fool’s Day. It is a day full of practical jokes and trickery amongst the people of Earth. While it is not a public holiday, everyone knows about this day as it is usually a day filled with laughter, at least for the ones doing the tricks. But did you know that in a realm far from our own, legendary and renowned tricksters from throughout history all gather together on this day every year? As this day only comes around once a year, it is a day full of fun and joy as the tricksters from around the world get to share their stories and experiences with everyone. It is typically a relaxing and lively experience as all the tricksters enjoy listening to each other’s stories and have a good laugh. However, in one room things were getting a little more competitive.

From outside the room, the other tricksters could hear the commotion in the room as they passed by and eventually all the tricksters were gathered outside listening in on the conversation from the room. In this room were three tricksters: Till Eulenspiegel from Germany, Anansi from the Caribbean, and finally Coyote from the Americas. Every one of the three tricksters had a great sense of pride in their tricks and as such, when the others were telling their stories, they could not help but think that their tricks were better. As they continued sharing stories, they became more and more competitive by making rude comments about each other’s tricks. Eventually, the rude comments about the stories blew up into full-on arguing that could easily be heard by all from outside the room.

“I’ve tricked thousands of people so how could any of you compare to the number of tricks I’ve done?” said Till.

Coyote stood up in his chair. “I’ve been playing tricks before you were even born so how could you even come close to the number of tricks that I have played?”

“Both of you are delusional,” said Anansi. “I’ve played tricks on humans, animals, and even gods so both of your little tricks mean nothing to me.”

Loki from Scandinavia had been listening from outside the door and when the tricksters began to argue, Loki opened the door and entered the room.

“Now now let’s all calm down,” said Loki attempting to defuse the situation. “I have a great idea. Since you all think of yourselves as better, why don’t we have a friendly little competition to see who truly the best is amongst you three?”

Till looked at Loki with curious eyes. “Alright then, explain more about the details of this competition.”

“Why don’t the three of you all share some of your stories about your greatest tricks to this crowd we have here?” said Loki gesturing to the large crowd that had gathered outside the room. “After listening we all will take a vote on whose tricks were the best. Now how does that sound?”

The three tricksters looked at each other and silently agreed, moving outside where all tricksters could hear their stories and so the competition began.