When I was a little girl I loved listening to Uncle Remus stories. There were such interesting characters, all of which were animals--Bre'r Rabbit, Bre'r Fox, Bre'r Bear. My favorite story was Bre'r Rabbit and the Tar Baby. Bre'r Fox was Bre'r Rabbit's mortal enemy. He was always trying to catch Bre'r Rabbit. One day Bre'r Rabbit made a rabbit out of tar, and of course, along came Bre'r Fox. Like most villains, Bre'r Fox wasn't too bright, so he couldn't tell that the tar baby wasn't really Bre'r Rabbit.
Bre'r Rabbit was hiding nearby and when Bre'r Fox approached, Bre'r Rabbit pleaded with Bre'r Fox not to throw him in the briar patch. In probably one of the first literary instances of reverse psychology, that is exactly what Bre'r Fox did. Another case of Bre'r Fox being outsmarted by a rabbit!
