Anansi and the Moss-covered Rock

Anansi is a famous spider from African folklore. Here is a picture of that famous spider one of the things Anansi was famous for was being a very greedy spider. No matter how much food he had, he always wanted more.

One day he was walking down a path through the jungle in Africa and he was thinking about food. He was walking along saying to himself: "I wish I had a banana... a juicy mango would be very nice... or a yam... mmmm..." Suddenly, Anansi stopped. There was something there on the ground in the middle of the path. Was it food? No. It was only a rock. But when Anansi looked at that rock he saw that it was all covered with moss

He looked at the rock and he said: "My! What a strange moss-covered rock!"

And as soon as he said those words - down he fell on his back in a dead faint!

He fell asleep and slept for a long time. Finally, he woke up and got to his feet He looked at the rock, and he said: "My! What a strange moss-covered rock!"

And down he fell again. And again he slept for a very long time.

He woke up. He looked at the rock. He said: "My! What a...! Wait a minute! I better not say those words again. If I do, I will fall down and go to sleep. This must me some kind of magic rock... Hey! That gives me an idea!

And Anansi ran off and went to Elephant's house. He knew that Elephant had a lot of nice ripe bananas at his house. He knocked on the door and he said: "Elephant, it's me, Anansi! Come with me. I want to show you something. It's really neat!"

And he led Elephant off down the path to the rock When Elephant saw the rock, he said: "My! What a strange moss-covered rock."

 

And down he fell in a dead faint! And while he was sleeping, Anansi went back to Elephant's house and stole all of Elephant's bananas.

Now Anansi had lots of food, but he was a greedy spider and he wanted even more. He remembered that Leopard had a lot of juicy mangoes at his house. So he went to leopard’s house and he knocked on the door. "Leopard, it's me, Anansi! Come with me, Leopard. I have something interesting that I want to show you..."

And he led Leopard off down the path to the rock. When Leopard saw the rock, he said: "My! What a strange moss-covered rock."

And down he fell in a dead faint! And while he was sleeping, Anansi went back to Leopard's house and stole every one of those juicy mangoes. Well, this was such a good trick that Anansi figured he could even play it on...... Monkey. So he ran to Monkey's tree and he called up: "Monkey - down here on the ground - it's me, Anansi! Come with me, Monkey. I found something that you should see!"

Anansi led Monkey off down the path. But he didn't realize that someone had been watching. Little Bush Deer had been standing in the bushes watching and listening and he had heard what Anansi was saying to Monkey. When they headed off down the path, he followed along to see what was going to happen.

Little Bush Deer was hiding in the bushes, watching and listening, when they got to the rock. He heard Monkey say: "My! What a strange moss-covered rock!" And he saw Monkey fall down on his back in a dead faint.

And Bush Deer followed along and was watching when Anansi went to Monkey's tree and stole all his yams.

That greedy spider was very busy that day. He played that trick on Anteater and Frog and stole their food. He played that trick on Ostrich and Water Buffalo and......and Giraffe and stole all of their food. He even played that trick on...... Alligator.

Now Anansi had a ton of food, but he was so greedy that when he went past Bush Deer's house that afternoon he couldn't resist playing that trick on Bush Deer as well.

He knocked on the door and he said: "Bush Deer, it's me, Anansi! Come with me. I want to show you something. It's really neat!"

And he led Bush Deer off down the path to the rock. When Bush Deer saw the rock, he said: "What is that thing, Anansi?"

Anansi said: "No, no, Bush Dear, that's not what you're supposed to say..."

"Oh?" said Bush Deer. "What am I supposed to say?"

"You're supposed to say: 'My what a str...' Ummm... Ummm... You know! You know!"

"Alright," said Bush Deer, "If that will make you happy, Anansi, I will say it.... My what a str...' Ummm... Ummm... You know! You know!"

"NO!" cried Anansi. "You're supposed to say those magic words."

"Okay..." said Bush Deer. "...those magic words..."

"NO! NO! NO! You're supposed to say what all the other animals said, for goodness sake!"

"I will try, Anansi... what all the other animals said, for goodness sake!"

Anansi got very angry. He stamped his feet and he shouted: "Don't be stupid, Bush Deer! You're supposed to say: My! What a strange moss-covered rock!... Ooops!"

And down Anansi fell in a dead faint.

And while he was sleeping there, Elephant went to Anansi's house and got back all his bananas. Leopard went and got back all his mangoes. Monkey got back all his yams. In fact, all of the forest animals that Anansi had tricked that day got back all their food.

When Anansi woke up all he saw was that rock. All of his food was gone! He gave that rock a kick and went off down the path saying to himself: "I sure wish I had a banana, or a mango or a yam..."