THE BEST OF THE BARGAIN

The fox plays the fool's role in this old tale from Poland in which the hedgehog gives him his choice as they plan their joint garden--the share above ground or the share below--and then plants potatoes or wheat accordingly, so that the harvest will be all his own. When the fox complains, a judge proposes a race, and the hedgehog wins that by the old trick of stationing his cousins for laps along the way. Domanska herself offers a bargain of sorts, combining two common folklore motifs in one story and picturing the whole contest as an elegant, hat-tipping ballet performed in theatrical colors--with sinuous lilac and turquoise furrows for a backdrop. But jaunty as they are, it's hard to believe that either her sleek, streamlined magenta fox or her stylized rosy hedgehog ever saw a hoe.