Konte: I di Kwik! Audience: Kwak! Kwik! Kwak\narratives rely on a participatory relationship between the storyteller and the listener, each having a distinct role to play in bringing the story to life, not only as a credible tale but as a work of art. The storytelling process in Dominica, as in St. Lucia and other kweyol-speaking Eastern Caribbean islands, typically begins with the call and response ritual where the narrator or konte sets up a context for the folk tale about to be told. This ritual validates the stage-setting process necessary to the storytelling enterprise wherein the konte with the phrase"/di Kwik" calls the audience into being and into folkloristic community. The audience responds with Kwak! Thus a tacit contract is made between the konte and the audience, for the phrase" Idi Kwik" gives the konte the authority to proceed with the telling of the tale even while this authority is mediated by the unspoken agreement that the konte is not author of the tale about to be told. 1 Throughout the narration of the story the konte pauses strategically, usually at points of great suspense. Again the konte says Idi Kwik\At these times the konte is seeking encouragement to continue. The audience responds to this call for approbation with Kwak, this time confirming their interest in the story and reaffirming the skill of the konte in delivering a spell-binding tale. The konte ends the story with a final I di Kwik! now relieving self of responsibility for the tale's moral content. 2 The audience responds with a final Kwak, conveying delight in the captivating story told and accepting the konte's disclaimer. Kwik! Kwak! narratives have at their center the fantastic and the mythological. Usually the konte tells animal and human tales. In the animal tales, Kompe Lapin (Brer Rabbit) is the most popular character and his cunning manipulation of Kompe Tig and Kompe Makak is central to the plot. In human tales the main character is Ti Jean who like Kompe Lapin is astute and usually able to triumph over his more formidable adversaries because of man wit and native cunning. These folk