Reading Notes Week 9: West African Folktales, Part A

hunts the animals and sells the meat to hungry villagers
becomes rich from the sales
Anansi becomes jealous of his son and is determined to find this hunting place
Kweku Tsin will no tell his father because he knows of his father's wicked ways
Anansi sneaks ashes into Kweku's bag and pokes a hole in it so that it'll make a trail for him to follow
Anansi discovers Kweku's hunting place and kicks him out
Kweku is determined to get his hunting place back

Kweku Tsin makes a dummy-like image and hangs it in the path back from the hunting ground

after Anansi has slaughtered the animals and is trying to return to his village to sell the meat he runs into this image
thinks it is an angry god
offers it some of his meat, then half of his meat, then all of the meat to please the angry god
Anansi announces that tomorrow he will take the meat to another village

the image is there again, Anansi loses all his meat again
this continues several times
Kweku gets his hunting place back
after the famine is over Kweku has a great feast and tells the whole village how he was able to outsmart his tricky father
Anansi is embarrassed and vows to give up his wicked ways
Naturally, he doesn't keep his promise for very long

the squirrel does not bother making a road to his farm because he uses the trees
Spider discovers the farm one day but can find no road
he tells his family of the farm and takes them there
they clear a road and begin harvesting corn from the far and carrying it off
the squirrel notices his farm is being robbed but doesn't know who the thief is
he waits to catch the thief and discovers Spider and his family carrying off his corn
he says that Spider is stealing from his farm

Spider says it's his farm
they dispute the ownership of the farm
the courts rule in Spider's favor because no one has ever heard of a farm without a road before

when Spider and his family are hauling away the last harvest a great storm blows in
Spider and his family leave their bundles on the road to find shelter
when they go back after their loads they find Father Crow shielding the packs from the storm with his wings
Spider thanks Crow for protecting their property

claims the property because no one has ever heard of someone leaving bundles of corn on the roadside

I like both of these stories because Anansi or Spider (usually one and the same) reaps what he sows so to speak. He gets away with his antics sometimes but in these two stories, in particular, he is somehow punished for his thieving and greed. I was thinking about combining these two stories - or others - and making them into a fable-like story that teaches a lesson. I also may modernize the story and set it in a city rather than the wild.

Bibliography: West African Folktales by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair (1917)

Mythology & Folklore