Anansi and Turtle
A Ghanaian Folktale
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Retold by The Legendary Connection
TLC#00022
One day, Anansi the spider was very excited. He had just picked some big, beautiful yams from his garden. They were the best yams he had ever grown, so he carefully baked them in the fire, making them even more delicious. He was just about to take his first bite when there was a knock at the door.
“Oh no!” thought Anansi. “Who could that be?” Reluctantly, he opened the door, and there stood Turtle. Turtle looked tired and worn out from walking such a long distance.
“Hello, Anansi,” said Turtle. “I’ve been walking for hours, and I’m so hungry and tired. Could you please share some of your food with me?”
Anansi didn't want to share his beautiful yams. He was selfish and wanted to eat them all by himself. But he couldn’t just say no, so he came up with a sneaky plan. Turtle sat down at the table, reaching out to take some yams, but Anansi stopped him.
“Turtle! Your hands are dirty! You can’t eat with dirty hands. Go wash them first.” Turtle’s hands really were dirty from his long journey, so he slowly crawled to the river to wash them. But while Turtle was gone, Anansi quickly gobbled up most of the yams.
By the time Turtle returned, only a few scraps were left. Turtle looked sadly at the empty plate, but he didn’t complain. Instead, he thanked Anansi kindly. “Thank you for inviting me to dinner. If you ever pass by my house, I would be happy to return the favor.” With that, Turtle slowly made his way back home.
Sometime later, Anansi started thinking about Turtle’s invitation. “Free dinner?” Anansi thought. “That sounds great!” So one evening, as the sun set over the river, Anansi walked to Turtle’s house. When he arrived, Turtle was sunbathing on a rock by the water. Turtle greeted him warmly. “Hello, Anansi! Are you here for dinner?”
“Yes, thank you!” said Anansi, his stomach growling with hunger.
Turtle smiled and said, “Wonderful! I’ll get everything ready.” Then Turtle dove down to the bottom of the river to prepare dinner.
Anansi waited by the shore, watching Turtle disappear underwater. A few moments later, Turtle popped back up. “Dinner is ready, Anansi! Please join me at the table,” he said before diving back down. But when Anansi tried to dive into the water to join Turtle, he found that he couldn’t sink! Every time he tried, he just floated back up to the surface.
Frustrated, Anansi had an idea. He filled his pockets with stones to make himself heavy enough to sink. At last, he was able to reach the bottom of the river where Turtle’s dinner table was set, full of delicious green leaves and other tasty treats. Just as Anansi was about to take a bite, Turtle stopped him. “Anansi, you can’t eat with your coat on. That’s not how we do things here.”
“Oh, of course,” Anansi said, feeling embarrassed. He quickly took off his coat.
But as soon as he did, without the heavy stones in his pockets, Anansi floated right back to the surface of the river! He tried to swim back down, but it was no use. He could only watch as Turtle calmly ate up all the delicious food.
Source: Ghanaian folktale. Lazy Anansi. African Storybook Initiative, 2015.
