An enemy can be converted into an ally through fair dealing and respect

Evidence

The old woman, of course, had no intention of returning to be eaten. But she was also honest enough not to simply lie and hide. Instead, when the week was up, she sent down to the river — by a clever arrangement of floating offerings and respectful words — a generous gift of food, fish and rice, in place of herself, with a message: that a wise creature gains more from a friend who feeds him each week than from a single thin meal. The crocodile, surprisingly, saw the sense of it, and so, the tellers say, the old woman and the crocodile struck a new bargain: she fed him respectfully, he let her gather in peace, and the clever, honest old woman lived out her days safe by her river — having turned a deadly enemy into an odd sort of friend, by wit, calm, and fair dealing. — , A Year of World Stories, 13079

Categorization

• XREF: Contrasts with trickster-and-flee stories like Sang Kancil elsewhere in this same chapter; connects to cross-cultural patterns of animal-human bargains. — connects to: Combatant status dilates to cover membership, collaboration, and presumed sympathy — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 481; Liberal-humanist endings depend on converting the threatening Other.; Categorizing one’s enemy as sub-human legitimizes increased violence and justifies violation of basic human rights. — Dehumanization (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Even power relationships involve reciprocal influence between parties #qualifies (0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 77
• Liberal-humanist endings depend on converting the threatening Other. #exemplifies (0.60)
• Combatant status dilates to cover membership, collaboration, and presumed sympathy #complicates (0.35) — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 481