Sentence:  And let us begin with those sympathetic elements, the <WSD>tricksters</WSD> who obtain the lovers and the land, always at the expense of fools and knaves, sometimes at the expense of other <WSD>tricksters</WSD>. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Any of numerous figures featuring in various mythologies and folk traditions, who use guile and secret knowledge to challenge authority and play tricks and pranks on others; any similar figure in literature.