Anansi and the Box of Stories

An African Folktale

Long ago there were no stories in this world. Not one. Because all the stories were kept in
a big box high up in the sky. This box of stories belonged to the great Sky God Nyame.
Nyame was big and powerful and he would not share his stories with anyone.

Anansi wanted to tell stories. He was only a spider, but he was brave and more than a little
mischievous. So he decided to visit Nyame. He climbed up and up and up, higher than the
clouds. And when he saw the great Sky God Nyame he bowed down.

'Nyame' said Anansi with a smile upon his face. 'Good to see you. I just wondered, could I
please have a few of your stories from your big box, to share with all the people in the
world?'

And what do you think Nyame said?

'NO!' said Nyame. 'No one hears those stories but me.'

But Anansi would not give up. 'Nyame, please. I will do whatever you ask. Just let me have
some stories to share with all the boys and girls in the world.'

Nyame paced up and down thinking. Then he began to laugh. 'Alright, Anansi' he said.
'You can have my box of stories. If you bring me four things… One, bring for me the
longest snake in the jungle. Two, bring for me the leopard with teeth like daggers. Three,
bring for me the bees that sting like fire. And four, bring me the fairy that nobody sees.
Bring me these four things Anansi, and then I will give you my stories.'
Anansi was up for the challenge! He immediately began to climb down and down until he
found himself deep on the jungle. There, he saw a tall tree that had fallen down onto the
ground. Anansi climbed up on the tree and, knowing that snake was listening in the grass,
said in loud voice,

'Look at this tree! This tree is so long, it goes all the way from over here to over there! This
must be the longest thing in the jungle, I don't think anything can be longer than this tree!'

Snake began to slither out of the grass, and up onto the tree. He hissed at Anansi. 'You
think the longest thing in the jungle is this tree? I'll show you that nothing is longer than
me!'

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And snake began to slither along the length of the tree. He stretched and stretched and he
was indeed longer than the tree. But quick as a flash, Anansi took his spiders thread and
wrapped it around and around the snake, until he was completely stuck. Then Anansi took
that snake up and up past the clouds, and when he saw the great Sky God Nyame, he
bowed down.

'Nyame!' He said with a smile. 'Its me, Anansi. Remember you asked for the snake, the
longest in the jungle? Well I have it right here. Do you think I can have one small story
now? Please?'

And what do you think Nyame said?

'NO! I can see what you have brought for me, but what have you not brought for me?'

Can you remember what else Anansi needed to bring? The leopard! The leopard with with
teeth like daggers. Anansi climbed down and down, back into the jungle. And there he
began to dig into the forest floor. He dug an enormous hole, wide and deep. Then he
covered the hole with long grasses, huge leaves and twigs. Why would Anansi do that?
Yes, it was trap! Anansi backed into the undergrowth and he waited. And after a while, he
heard the sound of paws walking through the trees. It was Leopard. Suddenly there was a
CRACK and a SNAP. The leopard fell down down down into the hole with a thud. Anansi
peered over the edge of the hole and said with a smile.

'Leopard! What are you doing down that hole?'

Leopard gave a huge roar.

'Anansi' he growled. 'You had better help me. I know you can come down here and pull me
out of this hole with your spider's thread.'

Anansi shook his head. 'Come down there? Leopard, if I come down you will bite me with
your jaws and scratch me with your claws.'

Leopard thought for a moment. 'Alright Anansi', he said. 'You can tie up my jaws and tie up
my claws. Just get me out!'

So Anansi crawled into the hole and wound his spider's thread around the Leopard's claws
and around the Leopard's jaws. Then he pulled that Leopard out of the hole. Do you think
Anansi untied him and let him go? Oh no. He took Leopard up and up, higher than the
clouds. And when he saw the great Sky God Nyame, he bowed down.

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'Nyame' said Anansi with a smile.'It's me Anansi. I have brought you the Leopard you
asked for. You know the one with teeth like daggers. Do you think I could have one small
story now?'

And what do you think Nyame said?

'NO! I can see what you have brought for me, but what have you not brought for me?'

Can you remember what else Anansi had to bring? That's right! The bees that sting like
fire. Anansi sighed, and began to climb down and down again, until he found himself
beneath a tall tree. High up in the branches was the bee hive. Anansi could hear the sound
of them buzzing. The tree stood next to a long cool river. Now, Anansi knew one thing
about bees. They hate to get wet. Anansi took a big calabash and filled it with water from
the river. Then he took a big wide leaf from a banana tree. Anansi took that calabash full of
water and poured it over his head. Water dripped from Anansi's many legs, from his body,
from his head. Anansi held the banana leaf over his head, and using his biggest voice he
called up to the bees in their hive.

'Bees! Its me, Anansi! It is pouring with rain out here. It's really coming down. Why don't
you come and take shelter in my calabash? I'll keep you safe and dry!'

The bees peeped out of their hive, and they saw Anansi standing there with water dripping
from his many legs, from his body, from his head, holding a banana leaf over his head.
Why else would Anansi be soaking wet, if it wasn't for the rain? So they began to fly down
into the calabash. One by one they flew, buzzing as they went. When the last bee had
flown into the calabash, Anansi took that big banana leaf and slammed it over the top. He
used his spider's thread to tie around and around the calabash so that the bees could not
escape. Then he climbed up and up higher than the clouds. When he saw the great Sky
God Nyame, he bowed down.

'Nyame' said Anansi with a smile. 'Its me, Anansi! You remember you asked for the bees
that sting like fire? Well, here they are! Do you think I could have one little story now?'

And what do you think Nyame said?

'NO! I can see what you have brought for me, but what have you not brought for me?'

Can you remember what else Anansi had to bring? That's right, the fairy that nobody sees.
This was the hardest challenge of all, but Anansi would not give up.

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He climbed down and down until he came to an enchanted forest. This would be the
perfect place to catch a fairy. But if Anansi couldn't see the fairy, he had to find a very
clever way to trap her.

Anansi knew that fairies love to eat. Can you guess what a their favourite food is? Well,
Ashanti fairies love nothing more than pounded yams. So Anansi took some yams and he
pounded and pounded and pounded them until they were light and fluffy and delicious. He
put the bowl of pounded yams in front of a tree. Then he took a pretty little doll, and

covered the doll's arms, legs and belly with icky, sticky sap. Anansi put the doll in front of
the bowl of pounded yams. He tied one end of his spider's thread to the top of the doll's
head and climbed up into the branches of the tree above to wait. After a while, a fairy flew
past the doll and the bowl of yams. Now, Anansi couldn't see the fairy, but he could hear
the fairy. He could hear the sound of her giggling as she said;

'Ooooooooooh, pounded yams, my favourite! I absolutely LOVE pounded yams! You

wouldn't mind, would you, if I had an itsy bitsy little taste of your pounded yams,
pleeeeease?'

High up in the tree, and Anansi pulled his spider's thread up and down, up and down.
What was he making the doll say? He was making the doll say yes! The fairy answered
excitedly.

'Yes! Can I really have some pounded yams! Oh thank you thank so much'.

The fairy began to eat the pounded yams. And they were so delicious, she couldn't stop.
She ate and ate until there was none left.

'Oooooooooh' said the fairy. 'I seem to have eaten all of your pounded yams! I'm so sorry, I
really am. I didn't mean to, I'm very very sorry.'

And the fairy put one of her fairy hands on the arm of the doll. And what do you think
happened to her hand? It got stuck!
'Ooooooooh let me go! I said I was sorry about the pounded yams. Now let me go!. The
fairy put her other fairy hand on the other arm of the doll. And what do you think happened
to that hand? It got stuck!

'Ooooooooh I don't like this, I don't like it at all!'

The fairy put her fairy feet on the belly of the doll. And what do you think happened to her
feet?
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They got stuck! The fairy began to cry.

'Ooooooooh no no no! Let me go! I don't like this one little bit!'

Anansi came down from the treetop and wound his spider's thread around and around the
fairy and took her up and up past the highest clouds. When he saw the sky god Nyame, he
bowed down.

'Nyame' he said with a smile.'Its me, Anansi. You remember the fairy you asked for? The
one that nobody sees? Well here she is. I think that means I've brought you everything you

asked for. One, I brought you the longest snake in the jungle. Two, I brought you the
leopard with teeth like daggers. Three, I brought you the bees that sting like fire. And four, I
brought you the fairy that nobody sees. Do you think I can have some stories now?'

And what do you think Nyame said?

'YES! You have brought me all four things, and you can take the stories from my box.'

So Anansi climbed up into the box of stories and collected every kind of tale to share with
all the people in the world. So it is thanks to Anansi, the first Storyteller, that we have so
many wonderful stories to share all around the world.

Note:
Traditional tales are a good starting point for Storytelling. They were created within
orature, when written literature did not exist, as humanity did not write yet.
For this reason, these tales belong to humanity itself.
At the same time, this lack of a known author allows us, as storytellers, to intervene
this text with more freedom in order to prepare it for actual oral telling.

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