Anansi, Elephant, and Rabbit: Clever Tricks & Folk Tales

Anansi, procuring a lengthy rod, seated himself proximate to the Serpent's lair, uttering audibly, “Verily, he is! Or perchance he is not? He is, I say! Or mayhap not?”

The Serpent, in serpentine fashion, emerged from his abode, enquiring, “What troubles thee, Ananssssssssi?”

Anansi retorted, “The Almighty doth assert thou art not of such length as this selfsame rod, yet I contend that thou art.”

With a sibilant hiss, the Serpent proclaimed, “Of coursssssse I am asssss long as that sssssstick.”

Anansi, with alacrity, declared, “I shall furnish proof thereof!”

The Serpent, undulating sinuously, aligned himself with the aforementioned rod. Whereupon Anansi, seizing the Serpent's cranium and caudal appendage, did bind them securely to the stick.

Anansi, with mirthful countenance, hastened back to the Almighty, presenting the Serpent as an offering.

The Almighty, in response, commanded, “Now, fetch forth the Leopard!”

Anansi, with cunning intent, did construct a capacious cage. Thereafter, he did deliberately sew one of his ocular organs shut, and proceeded forthwith to the Leopard's den, emitting sounds of mirth and song.

“Pray, wherefore art thou in such a state of felicity?” enquired the Leopard, with manifest curiosity.

“I have, in sooth, performed a peculiar act; I have sutured my eye closed,” responded Anansi, “and as a consequence thereof, I am now privy to visions of the most beauteous and sublime nature. It is, in effect, a matter of enchantment!”

“Sew mine eye shut also, forthwith!” roared the Leopard, with considerable vehemence. “For I, too, desire to behold these exquisite spectacles!”

Anansi, acquiescing to the Leopard's demand, did duly sew shut one of the Leopard's eyes with meticulous care.

“'Tis not efficacious,” the Leopard growled, exhibiting marked displeasure.

“I shall, with alacrity, suture the other eye,” declared Anansi, with an air of helpfulness.

Whereupon, the Leopard was rendered wholly devoid of sight. Anansi, seizing the opportune moment, did readily ensnare the Leopard within the confines of the cage, and conveyed him thence to the presence of God.

Thus it came to pass that all narratives, henceforth, were designated as Anansi-stories!

The Elephant, being weary of the Spider's artifices, did harbour a desire for retribution, and did forthwith embark upon a quest to locate the aforementioned Spider.

Contemporaneously, the Spider, having chanced upon a desiccated antelope hide, did don the same and position himself upon the thoroughfare adjacent to the Elephant's abode.

As the Elephant ambled past, she exclaimed, 'Pray, Antelope! What mischance hath befallen thee? Thou appearest in a lamentable state.'

The Spider, affecting the timbre of the Antelope, did lament, 'I engaged in conflict with the Spider,' he groaned, 'and observe now my woeful condition! I apprehend... the terminus... is nigh...'

Whereupon the Spider feigned demise, and the Elephant, perceiving the Antelope thus, did presume him deceased.

'Alas, poor Antelope!' she uttered.

This event instilled within the Elephant a sense of apprehension towards the Spider, such that she did relinquish her pursuit of him.

The Elephant, burdened with a jar of honey upon its back, espied its acquaintance, the Rabbit, by the wayside.

Quoth the Rabbit, “Pray, grant me passage!”

The Elephant, assenting, conveyed the Rabbit onto its back, whereupon the Rabbit commenced to partake of the honey.

The Rabbit, after a time, proclaimed, “Procure for me stones to hurl at the avians,” and the Elephant duly obliged.

Anon, the Rabbit entreated, “ Furnish me with sand to cleanse my brow of perspiration,” a request to which the Elephant acceded.

The Rabbit then proceeded to fill the jar with stones, level it with sand, and smear a modicum of honey atop, before alighting from its perch.

The Rabbit had absconded long ere the Elephant apprehended the honey's disappearance.

Elephant and Rabbit were, indeed, amicable companions.

“Let us cultivate pumpkins with due haste!” Rabbit declared with considerable enthusiasm.

“I possess a predilection for the consumption of pumpkins,” Elephant avowed, “yet I remain quite unversed in the methods of their cultivation.”

“Fret not!” Rabbit responded with an air of sagacity. “I shall furnish thee with the requisite instruction. The crux of the matter lies in the roasting of the pumpkin-seeds ere their interment.”

Elephant, acting with appropriate diligence, procured a quantity of pumpkin-seeds, subjected them to the process of roasting, and duly planted the aforementioned roasted seeds within the prepared soil.

Rabbit, conversely, subjected but a modicum of his pumpkin-seeds to roasting, a portion of which he consumed, and thereafter interred the unroasted seeds within the bosom of the earth.

When Elephant observed that Rabbit's garden flourished with an abundance of pumpkins, whilst his own plot remained barren, he apprehended that Rabbit had, in fact, engaged in a subtle act of deception.