Ananse, the spider – stories from Ghana (West Africa) Ananse, also called the spider or translated from the Twi language: Anansi, also Ananse = spider, is an important figure in West African myths and is described as a clever spider who always comes up with something. This leads to funny incidents. In the religion of the Akan ethnic group (in Ghana and Ivory Coast, some islands in the Caribbean), Ananse is also the mediator of his father, the sky god Nyame, or rather his servant. These stories can be compared to fables where animals speak and take on the characteristics of humans. The second story here “Ananse and the Turtle” can be compared to Aesop’s fable “Fox and Stork”. The animals are very different and want to deepen a friendship. There is something to be learned at the end of every story.
1. Ananse and the Beans: One day Ananse visits his grandma, who always cooks delicious beans. She greets him warmly and asks him to plant bean seeds in the ground. But she has to go shopping again. Ananse smells the food and can't resist anymore. Suddenly birds come into the kitchen room and some people wonder what is going on. First, Ananse can hide the beans in his hat. As he gets hot, he starts dancing and people think he wants to do a new dance. Finally Ananse runs away and hides. In the end of the story there is a moral, and you can learn something from it.
Moral: Don't be so greedy! Learn to wait!
2. Ananse and the Turtle: Ananse invites the turtle to eat for dinner. Because she walks on all fours, for this reason her legs and `hands` are always dirty. Ananse requests to wash three times and Ananse was eating everything in the meantime. To follow eating rules means to be politely.
In the second part of the story, Ananse is invited by the turtle. She lives underwater in a pond in the forest. Because Ananse is too light, it cannot be submerged. Only when he packs stones into his jacket does he manage to get to the bottom at the table. Now the turtle tells him to be polite and take off his jacket. Suddenly the spider comes to the surface without having eaten anything.
Moral: If you invite a friend, you have to be able to adapt to them and share.
3. Ananse and the Talking Melon: Ananse watches the busy goat in her garden. She gets an appetite for a big sweet melon. When the goat leaves, it tries to get into a melon and eats its fill. She's gotten so fat and can't get out anymore. She begins to speak inside the melon and a sound comes out the hole. The astonished goat brings the melon to the queen. But the melon doesn't speak straight away and then the sound provokes the queen, so the queen throws the melon angrily out the window and the melon breaks on a tree! So finally Anansi is free again and runs home!
Moral: Always have a sense of humor! - This is how you find a good solution!
4. All stories belong to Ananse: Ananse wants, the holy big book of all stories. He goes to a ghost in a forest and asks him what to do. Now Anansi has to complete three tasks. Catch bees, catch a long snake and a tiger. Through deliberation and tricks he manages to do all these, so he brings all the captured animals and receives the “Book of All Stories”.
Moral: Have an idea for everything and then reach your goal!
5. Ananse and the elephant: One day the elephant goes to sleep and doesn't notice that Anansi is already lying there. The elephant thinks he is too small and weak. Anansi doesn't accept that, he wants to show how strong he is and prepares a showdown. The idea is a tug of war with an orca in the sea, where neither of them can see each other. The elephant and orca move back and forth for many hours until they are completely exhausted. Finally Anansi shows himself and the big animals gain respect for him.
Moral: Sometimes even a small one can defeat a big one!
6. Ananse and the light: One day it remains dark and the animals of the forest discuss who could bring the light from above from the god of the clouds. Neither the eagle nor the monkey manages to get high enough. Anansi tries to get higher and higher with his friends, a mosquito and a fruit fly, which leads the thread to the top. Then they climb through a hole into the cloud where the god of clouds lives. He has to fulfill three tasks. It carries out these tasks with the help of fruit flies and mosquitoes. Ananse gets a small gray box with a rooster coming out of the bottom. When it is morning, the rooster starts to do his “kickeriki” and the sun comes out again!
Moral: Together you can accomplish even difficult tasks! Never underestimate the little ones!
7. Ananse and the Mosquito: A mosquito enters the house. It stabs a boy in the arm at night. The mother goes to the nurse the next day and they discover it is malaria. The next evening, Asnanse, the spider, comes into the house and tries to protect the boys with a web and thus drives away the mosquito. This protects the entire village.
Moral: A spider is also a useful animal!
8. Ananse is invited to dinner: Ananse is invited to dinner three times! And every time he accepts and could not say no! One by one so he ties three strings around his stomach so as not to miss the start of the meal. But then all three friends finish at the same time and pull on the cords very hard! So Ananse is torn back and forth and finally he become very thin around the stomach!
Moral: Don't accept 3 invitations at the same time! Don't be too greedy!
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