The gingerbread man is a widely told story in Europe. In Slavic countries, it is a 'Kolobok', a round dough ball baked in the oven. The basic story is that an old woman bakes the gingerbread man, who, upon being taken out of the oven, runs away. It is chased by the old woman, her husband, various people and animals but none can catch him. The gingerbread man runs until he reaches a river, which he cannot cross. A fox comes along and offers to let the gingerbread man cross on his back. The gingerbread man accepts. Halfway across the fox suggests the gingerbread man move to his neck, then his head, then his nose, whereupon he flicks the gingerbread man into the air and eats him. End of gingerbread man. The gingerbread man can be thought of as some kind of potential - it is food that should be integrated into a human. However, it comes to life, and in the case of the gingerbread man, this could be because it was given eyes and a mouth - that is, given an identity. In the case of