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Kweku Ananse is a spider who is known for his cunning and crafty ways of getting what he wanted. He is known to be the greatest at the art of deception and can easily fool anyone. He dwells in the land of idiots and has several maneuvers when faced with a difficult task.
Once upon a time, Kwaku Ananse lived in Asanteman in a time when there were no stories. The people had no source of entertainment and whenever they prepared fire and gathered around it, they wish they had stories to cheer them up. Unfortunately, all the stories were with Nana Nyankopon (The Sky God) at the time. The chief of Asanteman therefore approached Kwaku Ananse with a task.
He gave Ananse some gold and asked him to buy Nana Nyankopon's stories from him. Ananse replied "I am the master craftsman and the seer of the unseen. With this wealth and my vast wisdom, I will bring all of Nana Nyankopon's stories to Asanteman." Ananse, with the aid of his webs was able to reach the tallest tree in the land in order to speak with the Nana Nyankopon, the Sky God.
Here is what transpired between them.
Ananse: Greetings Nana Nyankopon. I have come to buy all the stories in your possession with this pot of gold. Take it and let the people of Asanteman have your stories.
Nana Nyankopon: You cannot buy my stories with the gold you brought with you. Bigger towns like Bantama, Fomesua and Bekwai have all tried but failed.
Ananse: What then is the price of your stories?
Nana Nyankopon: My stories cannot be bought with money or gold. Instead, you must get me four things;
- Onini (the python)
- Osebo (the tiger)
- Mmotia (the fairy)
- Mmobro (the hornets)
Nana Nyankopon: Get me these things and all my stories will be yours.
Ananse then decided to first go after onini, the python. He reached the palm tree plantation where onini usually hangs out. He started speaking to himself "Is it true that a python is truly longer than the length of a palm tree?" Onini overhears this and approaches Ananse. Ananse then pleads with onini to help him satisfy his curiosity. Once Onini laid on the palm tree, Ananse tied her around the plam tree immediately and sent her to the Nana Nyankopon.
To capture Osebo, Ananse dug a big hole and covered it with tree branches. Unknowingly, Osebo tripped and fell inside this hole. Ananse, being the trickster he was offered to pull him out with his webs. Osebo agreed and reached for these webs. Whiles he was coming of this deep hole he got entangled in Ananse's webs and could no longer move when he was out. Ananse therefore captured him and sent him to the Sky God.
Ananse now went after Mmotia, the fairy. Since he new they normally worhip at the bottom of an odum tree (tree of life), he placed an idol there and poured some sticky fluid around it. He also place some food there and once the fairy saw the food, he approached it. Whiles he was eating, he thanked the idol but there was no reply. He therefore struck it with his palm and got stuck to it. He was also sent to the Sky God after that.
To get the hornets, Ananse located their nest on the top of a tree. He poured some water on their nest as well as the surrounding branches to create the impression that it was raining. He then placed a calabash at the bottom of the tree with a small opening and invited the hornets in. As soon as they got inside he captured them and delivered them to Nana Nyankopon, the Sky God.
The Sky God was very impressed with Ananse's efforts and had no option than to hand over the stories to him. These stories were then changed from being called "The Sky God's Stories" to "Kwaku Ananse Stories" and were brought to Asanteman.
Moral Lessons
Always analyse any request carefully before agreeing to it. Onini would not have been captured if she was extra careful with Ananse.
Be careful when accepting aid from a stranger because it might be a trap. Both mmobro (the hornets) and osebo (the tiger) would be safe had they not accepted aid from Ananse and were extra vigilant.
Be watchful of changes in your surroundings in order not to fall prey to anyone's trap. The fairy should not have sat and eat the food that was lying beneath the tree as he had no knowledge of where it came from. Also, he shouldn't have struck the idol when it failed to respond like they normally do.
I will like to hear your thoughts in the comments as well. Thank you for your attention.
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