The Scarecrow
Once upon a time the Spider, Anaanu, made a hugc yam farm, together
with his wife Kornorley and his son Kwakutc. Whcn the time for harvesting was drawing near, Anaanu called his family together, and whcn they
had all assembled, he told them that hc believed hc was about to die. He
told them that his wish was to be laid in a coffin, after his death, and for
the coffin to be left in the middle of their beloved farm. The lid of the
coffin was not to be nailed down. And inside the coffin, to accompany him
to the land of the dead, his family were to put a grinding-bowl and ladle
and all the other cooking utensils.
Three days later, Anaanu died. His family had already found a coffin and
all the cooking utensils. His instructions wcrc followed faithfully, as is
proper whcn an elderly person, and particularly the head of a family,
departs from this world. The coffin was taken to the farm unsealed and left
in the middle of the place, right there among the yams.
In the middle of the night, Anaanu got up, came out of the coffin,
uprooted some yams, and cooked and ate them. Then he retired to a wellfed rest inside his coffin.
In the morning, when his family came to the farm, they noticed that
some of the yams had been uprooted, but they said nothing. That night, Anaanu did just thc same, and the following morning his
family again noticed that more yams had disappeared. But again they went
away in silence.
This went on day after day and night after night, with Anaanu stuffing
himself, and his family getting more and more worried about the way thc
yams were disappearing.
When the yams were almost all gone, Kwakutc said he couldn’t let
things go on this way any longer. He had thought up a plan by which
they might be able to do something about the thefts. The family made a
scarecrow, a man’s figure, of sticky, gluey rubber and left the figure on
the farm.
At night, when Anaanu came out of his coffin as usual to eat the yams,
he saw this human figure standing among the yams. He was annoyed and
shouted, “Who arc you?” The figure didn’t answer. Anaanu wasn’t going
to leave it at that. “If you do not answer me,” he said, “I’ll slap you with my
right hand.”
The figure didn’t say a word, so Anaanu slapped it with his right hand,
and the hand got stuck in the glue. Now he said, “If you don’t let go of my
right hand, I’ll slap you with my left.” The figure didn’t move. So Anaanu
slapped it with his left hand, and that got stuck, too. And now, more
furious than ever, “Unless you let go of my hands immediately, I’ll kick you
with my right foot.” The figure didn’t move. So Anaanu kicked it with his
right foot, and that became stuck even harder than his right hand. With
furious exclamations, Anaanu kicked with his left foot, and that got stuck,
too.
Finally he threatened loudly, “Unwent by. And a week. And another. Because just as one set of footprints
were got rid of, another set appeared. By the end of the second week, in
fact, the fairies had covered the entire plot with footprints. At last they
gave up and let the woman live.
That is why even today, children who do not do well arc not cast out,
but treated fairly. Wisdom hides in many places.
The Wise Fool
A poor peasant woman bore many sons. All except one lived normal,
useful lives and did well. Naturally their mother loved them. One of them
was born a fool, and he was neglected and left to shift for himself as best he
could. All day long he worked on a large patch of sandy soil, not far from
the village. Everybody laughed at him all the time.
One day the mother went to her garden and there found a baby with
very long hair lying on its back under a big tree. It was crying and kicking.
It looked hungry and neglected. The woman fed and nursed it, and soon it
fell asleep. She worked all day on the farm and no one came for the baby.
When night began to fall, the woman took the child home with her. Again
the next day nobody came for the baby, so she cut its long hair.
Soon afterward, a troupe of fairy people came to the village to claim the
baby. When they found that its hair had been cut, they demanded that it be
put back. This, of course, was impossible. They demanded that if the
woman could not make the baby’s hair grow again, she was to be taken
away and killed. The chief and the elders did everything in their power to
appease the fairies. They offered gifts—gold ornaments, land, slaves—
everything to no avail. The fairies were adamant. The woman must die!
Further discussion seemed useless, and the meeting was just about to
break up when the fool walked up and demanded to be heard. “Listen to
me,” he said. “The fairies say my mother should die. It is a fair punishment
for her crime. But the fairies walked across my land as they came to the
village. I demand that they rub out their footprints before they are allowed
to take mother away.” It seemed a foolish, meaningless demand, and everyone said, “How simple!” The fairies agreed.
At sundown the fairies were still working on the sandy plot. Two days went by. And a week. And another. Because just as one set of footprints
were got rid of, another set appeared. By the end of the second week, in
fact, the fairies had covered the entire plot with footprints. At last they
gave up and let the woman live.
That is why even today, children who do not do well arc not cast out,
but treated fairly. Wisdom hides in many places.
Why We Tell Stories About Spider
In the olden days stories were told about God, not about Anaanu, the
Spider. One day, Anaanu felt a very strong desire to have stories told about
him. So he went to God and said, “Dear God, I want to have your stories
told about me.”
And God said, “My dear Anaanu, to have stories told about you is a very
heavy responsibility. If you want it, I will let you have it, but first you must
prove to me that you arc fit to have it. I want you to bring me three things:
first, a swarm of bees; second, a live python; third, a live leopard, the King
of the Forest himself. If you can bring me these three things, I will allow
the stories that are told about me to be told about you instead.”
Anaanu went away and sat down and thought. For three whole days he
sat and thought. Then he got up, smiling, and took a huge calabash with a
lid. He put some honey in this calabash, set it on his head, and he walked
into the forest. He came to a place where a swarm of bees was hovering
around some branches. Then he took the calabash off his head, opened the
lid, and started saying loudly to himself while looking into the calabash,
`They can fill it; they can’t fill it; they can fill it; they can’t fill it.”
The bees heard him and asked, “Anaanu, what are you talking about?”
And Anaanu said, “Oh, it would be nothing if it were not for that
foolish friend of mine. We had an argument. I said that, despite the honey
in the calabash, there is still enough space for the makers of the honey to
go into the calabash. But he said you arc too many, that you cannot go
inside the space that is left. I say you can fill it; he says you can’t.”
Then the leader of the bees said, “Ho! That is easily proved. We can go inside.” So he flew into the calabash. And all the bees flew in after him. As
soon as they were all inside, Anaanu clapped the lid onto the calabash, very
tightly, and took the calabash to God. He said, “I have brought you the
first thing, the swarm of becs.” And God looked insidc the calabash and
said, “Well done, Anaanu, but where are the python and the leopard?”
Anaanu went away into the forest and cut a long stick from a branch of a
tree. He scraped all the bark off this stick so that it became a long white
pole. Then he went deeper into the forest, carrying the pole and shouting
to himself, “It is longer than he; it is not longer than he; it is longer than
he; it is not longer than he.”
Now the python, who was very proud of his length, for which he was
feared throughout the forest, was lying down curled up and resting. When
he saw Anaanu, he said, “What are you talking about, Anaanu?”
And Anaanu said, “Oh, it is nothing but an argument that I had with a
very ignorant and foolish friend of mine. Do you know that when I told
him that you are longer than this stick, from the black mark to the other
end, he refused to believe me, and said the stick is longer than you? I say
you are longer; he says you arc not.”
The python growled and said, “What! There is nobody in this world
longer than I. As for that stick, bah! I shall soon show you who is longer.”
So saying, Python stretched himself beside the stick, putting his head on
the black mark. Anaanu said, “To be sure I get the correct length by which
you exceed the stick, let me tie you closely to the stick so you won’t wiggle
and seem shorter.” So Anaanu tied Python firmly to the stick. But as soon
as Anaanu had finished doing so, he lifted the stick onto his shoulder and
said, “Now, my friend, we will go on a little journey.” Then he took the
python to God and said, “I have brought you the second thing, the
python.”
And God looked at the long pole with its burden and said, “Well donc,
Anaanu, but you still have to bring me Leopard, the King of the Forest
himself.”
Anaanu went away and dug a deep pit in the forest, on Leopard’s path,
and covered the pit with sticks and leaves. Leopard, who was going hunting for his food, soon came along the trail and fell into the pit. He was
trapped and couldn’t get out. Anaanu soon appeared, as if by chance, and
said, “Eh, is this King Leopard himself? Well, well, well! But if I am kind
enough to bring my family to help me get you out of this pit, you will
reward us by eating us all.” But Leopard replied, “How can you talk like that, Anaanu? How could I
do such a thing after you have saved my life? I promise that, if you get me
out of this pit, no leopard will ever cat a spider again.”
And Anaanu said, “All right, I believe you. I will call my family to help
get you out of this pit.” So Anaanu brought his family and also a heavy
stick and a lot of rope. He threw the stick into the pit and jumped in after
it. And he told Leopard, “Since you are so heavy, we will have to hoist you
out with this stick and some ropes.” So Leopard took hold of the stick
between his four paws. Anaanu tied first his two front paws to the stick
and then his two hind paws, all very firmly. Then his family hoisted them
both out of the pit. But as soon as they came out, Anaanu jumped off and
grabbed the tail end of the pole. He told Leopard, “Now we will go and
visit someone you know.” So saying, he dragged the stick with its load to
God and said, “I have brought you Leopard, the King of the Forest
himself” And God looked at Anaanu and said, “You have done very well,
Anaanu. You have achieved the impossible. You deserve to have stories told
about you. So from today I decree that the stories that were once told
about me shall be told about you.”
And that is why stories are told about Anaanu, the spider.
How Tortoise Won by Losing
Tortoise and his wife had no food to cat. Tortoise therefore decided that he
would approach his father-in-law and beg for food. He did so, and his
father-in-law was very happy to offer Tortoise yams, corn, and vegetables.
He took Tortoise to his farm and showed him all around it and let Tortoise
take what he wanted.
Within a few days, Tortoise and his wife had finished the food given to
them, and they became very hungry again. They wanted more food, but
Tortoise was ashamed to go back to his father-in-law to ask for more. He
decided to help himself. Tortoise left his house at midnight and went
straight to his father-in-law’s farm. There he took yams, corn, vegetables,
and other things, packed them in a big basket, and tried to lift the load onto his head, but the load was too heavy, and he could not lift it. He kept
on trying and trying until morning, when his father-in-law saw him and
seized him.
The father-in-law then tied Tortoise to a tree by the side of the road
where everybody would sec him. When people saw Tortoise disgraced
thus, they asked his father-in-law what he had done. He told them that
Tortoise had stolen his crops. Then they praised him for being able to
catch such a sly thief as Tortoise. But the same people who had praised him
in the morning were returning from their farms in the evening and found
Tortoise still tied to the same tree, and they went to the father-in-law and
asked, “Is Tortoise not your son-in-law? Why should you tie a man with
ropes to a tree from morning till evening, even if that man is a thief? Do.
you want to kill him? Surely you have shown yourself to be more evil than
the thief.”
So in this way Tortoise’s wrongdoing was shifted to his father-in-law.
This is an example of how someone can make himself unpopular by
placing his rights before his human feelings.
The Power of the Temper
Then he got a long pole and released the man and all the animals from the
hole.
When the creatures came out of the hole, they were very happy and very
grateful to the hunter. Each of them brought him some presents. He
received much gold and silver, and many precious jewels. He became a rich
man. Snake, who was one of those released, brought him some medicine
that could cure any snakebite. Snake said it was the best he could give, and
it should be very useful for a hunter.
Now the chief of the village also had some jewels. And one day he found
that all his jewels had been stolen. He sent out messages about his jewels.
A friend of the hunter’s heard this message, and he went straight to the
chief and told him that he knew where the jewels were. He said they were
with the hunter. The chief sent people at once to ask the hunter whether
he had any jewels in his possession. When the hunter said yes, they immediately took him to the palace and condemned him to death.
Just as the hunter was about to be executed, some people came in and
said that the chiefs daughter had been bitten by a snake. Now the palace
was thrown into confusion, for no one could do anything to save the
chiefs daughter from dying. The chief was mad with grief. Then the
hunter remembered the medicine that Snake had given him. He gave it to
the chiefs daughter and cured her. The chief was very pleased with him
and set him free.
The friend who went to tell the chief that the hunter had stolen his
jewels was arrested and taken to the palace and beheaded.
What Spider Learned from Frog
A long time ago, Frog and Spider were the best of friends. They went
everywhere together and they did everything together. All the same, Spider used to treat Frog badly, even though he was his friend. For example,
he would always eat most of the fish or meat in their food before serving
the meal to Frog. Frog wasn’t like that at all. When he shared a meal with Spider, he always gave him a fair share of the meat or any other especially
good part.
One day, Frog decided he had had enough of this sort of treatment, and
he thought of a way to teach Spider a lesson. He told his wife to get a meal
ready for Spider and himself, and he especially asked her not to put too
much salt or pepper in the stew. By evening, Frog’s wife had finished
everything and had set out the food on the table. As they were waiting for
Spider, Frog pretended to think of something. He told his wife, “Look,
I’ve forgotten my hunting knife. I left it at the farm, and I think I had
better go back and get it. If Spider comes, welcome him and don’t wait for
me—serve the food immediately.” When his wife went back to the kitchen,
Frog jumped in the stew and hid there.
Along came Spider shortly after, and he was given the message and was
served the food. The first thing Spider did was to fish out all the meat from
the stew and gobble it down greedily. Doing this, he ate Frog, too, without even noticing.
When he had finished Spider got up to go, and he was just about to take
leave of Frog’s wife when he heard, “Greedeep! Greedcep!” in his stomach.
He was frightened and began to run, but the faster he ran, the more the
noise came from his stomach. “Greedeep! Greedeep!” This went on for
forty days. It kept him awake at night, and he had no sleep and could eat
no food. Spider could stand it no longer. He lay down and got ready for
death. Then, suddenly, Frog jumped out of his mouth and said to Spider,
“I have known for a long time about your greedy ways, and this should be
a lesson you will never forget.”
From this you should remember that when you are invited to share
food, let the one who provides serve it and divide it among the guests.
The Magic Contest
A long time ago there were two very powerful magicians living in the same
town. Each of them could perform wonderful feats of magic.
One day there was a big celebration in the town, and the chief, as part of eggs, all the vegetables, and all the nice things she left behind, !caving only
the skins and rinds for me.”
As she was singing she started to sink into the ground, and her voice
grew faint and more and more sorrowful. But she went on singing.
Soon she was waist-deep in the ground. In a few days she was neck-deep
in the ground. It was then that her mother appeared on the scene. Shc too
was weeping and shouting. Shc begged her daughter not to go away from
her. She promised her she would give her many nice things to eat if only
she would come back to her. The gods took pity on the poor mother. All
of a sudden the ground cracked, and her dear little daughter came back to
her.
Spider Finds a Fool
This is about Mr. Spider and his nephew, Oblcku, the coucal. One day
Spider went around the town saying that he was looking for a fool to be
his partner in setting a trap. He shouted and called out in the town for a
fool to help him in setting the trap, but he couldn’t find one.
Then Coucal said, “Why is it that my uncle is so anxious to find a fool
for a trap? I will go with him.” And so Coucal went with Spider, and they
went and cut the sticks used for setting the trap. When they had set the
trap they left it and went home. The following morning they went to look
at the trap, and it had caught an animal. The animal was a squirrel. Spider
called out and said, “My son, come and look at the animal we have
caught.”
Coucal went and looked at the squirrel and said, “This is called a squirrel.” Spider said, “So, what animal shall we catch tomorrow?” And Coucal
said, ‘Tomorrow we shall snare the grasscuttcr.” Spider said, “But isn’t a
grasscutter bigger than a squirrel?” And Coucal said, “Yes, it is bigger.”
And Spider said, “All right, in that case, you take the squirrel today, and
tomorrow when we catch the grasscuttcr, I will take that.” So Coucal took
the squirrel home and ate it. The following morning when they returned, indeed thcre was a
grasscuttcr in the trap. So Spider called to Coucal and said, “Come and
see, indeed we have got a grasscuttcr.” Thcn Coucal said, “Yes, and tomorrow we arc going to trap a duikcr.” Spider said to Coucal, “But a duiker is
bigger than the grasscuttcr, isn’t it?” And Coucal said, “Ycs, it is bigger.”
And Spider said, “All right, in that case you take the grasscuttcr, and
tomorrow when we trap the duikcr I will take it.” And so Coucal took the
grasscuttcr.
When they got home, Spider’s wife, Konolc, asked him, “After all the
traps you have been setting, hasn’t your trap caught any animal at all?”
Spider said, “Have heart, be patient. The day I trap an animal and bring it
to this house you will be very happy.” Konolc said, “Go and look at the
coucal; his wife is curing meat, unheard-of meat. You know, the other day
they caught a grasscutter. Today they caught a duikcr.” Spider said, “You
just be patient.”
So Spider went and asked Coucal again, “What animal will we catch
tomorrow?” And Coucal said, "Tomorrow we will catch an antelope." The following morning they went and looked at the trap, and indeed they had caught an antelope. Spider said, "What animal arc we going to catch tomorrow?" And Coucal said,“Tomorrow we will catch the biggest antelope.” Spider said, “All right, in that case, take this antelope, and tomorrow when we get a real antelope, the biggest antelope, I will take that.” So
Coucal took the antelope home.
The following morning when they went to the trap, there was a real
antelope in it, the biggest antelope. Spider said, “Aha! After this antelope,
what can we catch again?” Coucal said, “Oh, tomorrow we can catch a
bush pig.” And Spider said, “But the bush pig is bigger than this antelope.” And Coucal said, “Ycs, it is bigger.” Spider said, “All right, take the antelope. Tomorrow when we catch the bush pig I will take that.” So
Coucal took the antelope away and ate it.
Now, Spider’s wife, Konolc, was feeling very distressed and irritated at
the way Coucal was bringing home meat every day when she wasn’t getting any meat at all. In fact, she lost her temper and had a little quarrel with
Spider about it.
In the morning when they wcnt, there was a bush pig in the trap. Spider
said, “What animal arc we going to catch tomorrow?” Coucal said, “We
shall catch a wild cow.” Spider said, “But a wild cow is greater than a bush pig.” Coucal said, “Yes.” And Spider said, “Then take the bush
pig.”
This game went on for some time between Coucal and Spider, Spider
who said he was looking for a fool to be his partner in setting a trap. They
went on with this game, animal after animal, until at last they trapped an
elephant, and then Spider asked Coucal, “What animal are we going to
catch tomorrow, after this elephant?” And Coucal said, “Tomorrow, the
animal we shall catch is called I-overwhelm-anything-even-an-elephant.”
Spider said, “If its name is I-overwhelm-anything-even-an-elephant, then
it must be greater than an elephant,” and Coucal said, “Yes, it can overwhelm an elephant.” And Spider said, “In that case, Coucal, you take the
elephant, and tomorrow when we catch I-overwhelm-anything-even-anelephant, I will take it.” And Coucal said, “All right.”
So Coucal took the elephant away. The next morning when they went to
look at the trap they had caught a mouse, a small mouse with a very long
nose and a very bad smell. This kind of mouse stinks so bad that when it
crosses the path in front of you, you almost fall down and die. That was the
animal they caught. So Spider shouted to Coucal and said, “Coucal, Coucal, Coucal! Come and see what animal we have caught!” So Coucal went
over there, looked at the animal, and said, “Oh yes, this is the animal that is
called I-overwhelm-anything-even-an-elephant.” So Spider said, “After
this animal what animal can we catch again?” And Coucal said, “Oh, we
trapped all the animals, and there is nonc left that we can trap again that is
of a magnitude greater than this mouse.” So Spider said, “In that case I
will take this animal.” Coucal said, “All right, you can have it.”
So, it was only with that mouse that Spider was able to take any meat
home so his wife could see that he too had brought some meat home from
the trapping. So when Konolc saw the mouse that smells she said, “Take it away! Take it away! We don’t want this animal here in this house.” So in
shame and grief Spider took this mouse and ran away with it and scurried
up the wall and went and hid in the eaves of the roof.
Because of this, if you are ever going to do any work with a partner, you
yourself ought not to go around saying that you arc looking for a fool to
be your partner in the work. You should just do the work with your
partner without cheating so you both can succeed.