Anansi the Spider and His Offspring
It befell upon a day of feasting, wherein the cooks of the entire township busied themselves with their culinary endeavours. Anansi, possessed of an insatiable appetite, yearned to partake of every dish, yet pondered which comestible would reach readiness afore the others.
Anansi, with due haste, convened his progeny and entrusted unto each a length of rope, securing the selfsame ropes about his own midriff. “Attend with diligence!” quoth he. “Upon the attainment of readiness by the victuals, exert a pull upon the rope, thereby conveying me hence.”
Anansi, in a state of patient anticipation, did tarry.
Pepper-soup: declared to be in a state of readiness!
Pumpkin-stew: likewise declared to be in a state of readiness!
Fry-fry, foo-foo, binch-beans: all attained a state of readiness!
The offspring of Anansi, with simultaneous and uncoordinated fervour, did each exert a pull: hither, thither, and every which way! Pulled in every direction withal, Anansi was prevented from partaking of any sustenance, and his waist doth yet retain its narrow dimension, owing to the constricting force of those selfsame ropes.
Anansi the Spider and the Vocal Apparitions
One eve, Anansi did venture forth alone to the river's edge.
There, he did perceive the sound of singing. Apparitions, they were, engaged in vocalisation!
Departed souls, utilising craniums as vessels, did scoop, scoop, scoop, the waters hence.
Anansi, his spirit ignited with fervour, did desire to partake in the spectral chorus.
Nay, quoth they, for such an act would cause thine own cranium to burst asunder.
Yet, Anansi, unable to resist temptation, did commence to sing.
Lo, his head did explode, whereupon the phantoms did restore it to its former state.
Mark well, they cautioned, we shall not be present to render assistance on a future occasion.
Despite this admonition, Anansi could not restrain himself. On the subsequent day, he recommenced his vocal rendition of the spectral tune: Scoop-scoop-scoop.
Again, his head did suffer an explosive event.
Help, phantoms! he did exclaim in desperation.
But it was daytime, and the shades did not hear his plea.
And thus, it is explained why Anansi possesses such a diminutive cranium.
Concerning the Acquisition of Tails by Monkeys
In the annals of creation, the Divine Being fashioned both humankind and the simian race.
Furthermore, the Almighty brought forth tails, yet these appendages were created in isolation, lying unattached upon the terrestrial sphere.
The monkeys, possessed of an inquisitive nature, were wont to manipulate objects found unattended; thus, they gathered these tails and commenced toying with them.
A particular monkey affixed a tail to its posterior.
Thereafter, the remaining monkeys, in a display of mimicry, replicated the aforementioned action, only to find that the tails were rendered irremovable.
Consequently, monkeys are, to this very day, possessed of tails, a characteristic absent in humankind.
How the Animals Acquired Their Tails
In days of yore, the animal kingdom existed devoid of caudal appendages.
Thereupon, the Chief of the animals did issue a proclamation, declaring, “Attend ye, and receive your tails!”
All the animals, bar the Elephant, duly presented themselves.
The Elephant, being thus indisposed, did dispatch the Jackal as his emissary to procure his tail.
The Jackal, arriving before the Chief, did first select a lengthy tail for his own person, whereafter he procured a diminutive tail to convey back to the Elephant.
The Elephant, in a voice resonant with displeasure, exclaimed, “This is not what I did desire!”
To which the Jackal retorted, “Yet it is what thou shalt receive,”
By reason of the Elephant's failure to attend in person, he is now possessed of but a short tail.
The Elephant ought, by rights, to have attended to the selection of his own tail.
Wherefore, a proverb has arisen: The Elephant is wanting of a tail of proper length because he elected to send a messenger in his stead.
Of Rabbits and Elephants
It so happened that the excrement of an elephant did alight upon a young rabbit, crushing the poor creature to its demise.
“This is a declaration of war!” proclaimed the rabbits, forthwith launching an assault upon the elephants.
The elephants, with relative ease, vanquished the rabbits in the ensuing conflict, severing their tails as a form of chastisement, thus explaining the diminutive caudal appendages of rabbits in the present day.
Thereafter, the rabbits contrived a further scheme. “We shall amass all our dung in a single location until such time as we possess a sufficient quantity to crush a juvenile elephant,” they declared.
Thus, the rabbits deposit their excrement in the designated locale, yet ere they can accumulate an adequate amount, the rains invariably wash it hence.
Notwithstanding, the rabbits persist in their endeavours.