AFRICAN NARRATIVES

    Famine in a strange land had lasted nearly three years. In that land lived a man called Kweku Tsin. As he was very hungry, Kweku Tsin looked daily in the forest to find food.  One day he happened to see three palm kernels on the ground. He picked up two stones with which to crack them. The first nut, however, slipped when he hit it, and rolled into a hole behind him. The same thing hap- pened to the second and to the third. This annoyed Kweku very much, and he determined to go down the hole to seek his lost palm kernels.   When he reached the hole, however, he was surprised to learn that it was the entrance to a town, of which he had never before even heard. When he entered it he found deathlike silence everywhere. He cried aloud, “Is there nobody in this town?” And soon he heard a voice in reply. He went in that direction and found an old woman creeping along one of the streets. She stopped and asked why he had come there, and he quickly told her.   The old woman was very

  NEAR Anansi’s miserable little hut there was a fine palace where lived a very rich man called Nothing. Nothing and Anansi proposed, one day, to go to the neighbouring town to get some wives. Accordingly, they set off together. Nothing, being a rich man, wore a very fine velvet cloth, while Anansi had a ragged cotton one. While they were on their way Anansi persuaded Nothing to change clothes for a little while, promising to give back the fine velvet before they reached the town. He delayed doing this, however, first on one pretext, then on another—till they arrived at their destination. Anansi, being dressed in such a fine garment, found no difficulty in getting as many wives as he wished. Poor Nothing, with his ragged and miserable cloth, was treated with great contempt. At first he could not get even one wife. At last, however, a woman took pity on him and gave him her daughter. The poor girl was laughed at very heartily by Anansi’s wives for choosing such a beggar as Nothing

  THERE had been a long and severe famine in the land where Anansi lived. He had been quite unable to obtain food for his poor wife and family. One day, gazing desperately out to sea, he saw, rising from the midst of the water, a tiny island with a tall palm-tree upon it. He determined to reach this tree—if any means proved possible—and climb it, in the hope of finding a few nuts to reward him. How to get there was the difficulty. This, however, solved itself when he reached the beach, for there lay the means to his hand, in the shape of an old broken boat. It certainly did not look very strong, but Anansi decided to try it. His first six attempts were unsuccessful—a great wave dashed him back on the beach each time he tried to put off. He was persevering, however, and at the seventh trial was successful in getting away. He steered the battered old boat as best he could, and at length reached the palm-tree of his desire. Having tied the boat to the trunk of the tree—which grew

THERE once lived, in Fanti-land, a man named Father Anansi. He possessed all the wisdom in the world. People came to him daily for advice and help. One day the men of the country were unfortunate enough to offend Father Anansi, who immediately resolved to punish them. After much thought he decided that the severest penalty he could inflict would be to hide all his wisdom from them. He set to work at once to gather again all that he had already given. When he had succeeded, as he thought, in collecting it, he placed all in one great pot. This he carefully sealed, and determined to put it in a spot where no human being could reach it. Now, Father Anansi had a son, whose name was Kweku Tsin. This boy began to suspect his father of some secret design, so he made up his mind to watch carefully. Next day he saw his father quietly slip out of the house, with his precious pot hung round his neck. Kweku Tsin followed. Father Anansi went through the forest till he had left the village far

IN the olden days all the stories which men told were stories of Nyankupon, the chief of the gods. Spider, who was very conceited, wanted the stories to be told about him. Accordingly, one day he went to Nyankupon and asked that, in future, all tales told by men might be Anansi stories, instead of Nyankupon stories. Nyankupon agreed, on one condition. He told Spider (or Anansi) that he must bring him three things: the first was a jar full of live bees, the second was a boa-constrictor, and the third a tiger. Spider gave his promise. He took an earthen vessel and set out for a place where he knew were numbers of bees. When he came in sight of the bees he began saying to himself, “They will not be able to fill this jar”— “Yes, they will be able”—“No, they will not be able,” until the bees came up to him and said, “What are you talking about, Mr. Anansi?” He thereupon explained to them that Nyankupon and he had had a great dispute. Nyankupon had said the bees could not fly into

  Once upon a time, and a long, long time ago, the Tiger was king of the forest. At evening, when all the animals sat together in a circle and talked and laughed together, Snake would ask, “Who is the strongest of us all?” “Tiger is the strongest,” cried the dog. “When Tiger whispers, the trees listen. When Tiger is angry and cries out, the trees tremble.” “And who is the weakest of all?” asked Snake. “Anansi,” shouted Dog, and they all laughed together, “Anansi the spider is weakest of all. When he whispers, no one listens. When he shouts, everyone laughs.” Now one day the weakest and the strongest came face to face: Anansi and Tiger. They met in a clearing of the forest. The frogs hiding under the cool leaves saw them. The bright green parrots in the branches heard them. When they met, Anansi bowed so low that his forehead touched the ground. Tiger did not greet him. Tiger just looked at Anansi. “Good morning, Tiger,” cried Anansi. “I have a favor to ask.” “And what is it,

  A long time ago, A lion, an ass and a fox were hunting in company, and caught a large quantity of game. The ass was asked to divide the spoil. This he did very fairly, giving each an equal share. The fox was well satisfied, but the lion flew into a great rage over it, and with one stroke of his huge paw, he added the ass to the pile of the slain. Then he turned to the fox. “You divide it,” he roared angrily. The fox wasted no time in talking. He quickly piled all the game into one great heap. From this he took a very small portion for himself, such undesirable bits as the horns and hoofs of a mountain goat, and the end of an ox tail. The lion now recovered his good humor entirely. “Who taught you to divide so fairly?” he asked pleasantly. “I learned a lesson from the ass,” replied the fox, carefully edging away.

  One day, a long time ago, an old miller and his son were on their way to market with an ass which they hoped to sell. They drove him very slowly, for they thought they would have a better chance to sell him if they kept him in good condition. As they walked along the highway, some travelers laughed loudly at them. “What foolishness,” cried one, “to walk when they might as well ride. “The most stupid of the three is not the one you would expect it to be.” The miller did not like to be laughed at, so he told his son to climb up and ride. They had gone a little farther along the road, when three merchants passed by. “Oho, what have we here?” they cried. “Respect old age, young man! Get down and let the old man ride!” Though the miller was not tired, he made the boy get down and climbed up himself to ride, just to please the merchants. At the next turnstile they overtook some women carrying market baskets loaded with vegetables and other things to sell. “Look at that old fool

One bright morning as the fox was following his sharp nose through the wood in search of a bite to eat, he saw a crow on the limb of a tree overhead.  This was by no means the first crow the fox had ever seen. What caught his attention this time and made him stop for a second look, was that the lucky crow held a bit of cheese in her beak.  “No need to search any father,” thought the sly fox.  “Here is a dainty bite for my breakfast.”   Up he trotted to the foot of the tree in which the crow was sitting, and looking up admiringly, he cried, “Good morning, beautiful creature!” The crow, her head cocked on one side, watched the fox suspiciously. But she kept her beak tightly closed on the cheese and did not return his greeting.   “What a charming creature she is!” said the fox.  “How her feathers shine! What a beautiful form and what splendid wings! Such a wonderful bird should have a very lovely voice, since everything else about her is so perfect. Could she sing just one song, I know I

A hare was making fun of the tortoise one day for being so slow.   “Do you ever get anywhere?” he asked with a mocking laugh.   “Yes,” replied the tortoise, “and I get there sooner than you think. I’ll run you a race and prove it!”   The hare was much amused at the idea of running a race with the tortoise, but for the fun of the thing he agreed. So the fox, who had consented to act as judge, marked the distance and started the runners off.   The hare was soon far out of sight, and to make the tortoise feel very deeply how ridiculous it was for him to try a race with a hare, he lay down beside the course to take a nap until the tortoise should catch up.   The tortoise meanwhile kept going slowly but steadily, and, after a time, passed the place where the hare was sleeping. But the hare slept on very peacefully. When at last he did awaken, the tortoise was near the goal.  The hare now ran his swiftest, but he could not overtake the tortoise in time.