 |
| Anansi (Rafiki Remembers) | |
|---|---|
| |
| Physical information | |
| Gender |
Male |
| Species |
Spider |
| Skin color |
Black, red, and white |
| Eye color |
Black |
| Distinguishing features |
• Red stripes on face |
| Biographical information | |
| Status |
Deceased |
| Relationship information | |
| Family |
Unnamed wife |
| Allies |
Anansi's son, Anansi's wife, Coucal, Lizard |
| Enemies |
Hyena, Leopard, Squirrel |
| “ | ” |
Anansi was a male spider.
Long ago, most tales were told about the Sky God, but Anansi asked to be made the subject of these stories instead. The Sky God relented, but only if Anansi could complete three difficult tasks: bring him a swarm of bees, a python, and a leopard. Despite his small size, Anansi was clever and managed to fulfill all three tasks. At their completion, the Sky God gave up his title to Anansi, who became the new subject of most tales.
Throughout his life, Anansi used his cunning and quick wit to trick other animals. However, when he attempted to use a bearded stone to kill Rabbit, he fell into his own trap and was killed.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Anansi married a female spider, with whom he had a son.[1]
Replacing the Sky God[]
Anansi begged the Sky God to let all the stories told about the god instead be told about Anansi. The Sky God agreed, but only if Anansi were to bring him a swarm of bees, a python, and a leopard. Anansi agreed and went home to think.
Anansi traps a swarm of bees in a gourd to take to the Sky God.
For the first task, Anansi put a drop of honey in an empty gourd and carried it around until he encountered a swarm of bees. After telling the bees that his friend did not believe that a swarm of bees could fit inside the gourd, the bees proved him wrong by flying inside, and Anansi shut them in, taking them to the Sky God. Next, Anansi cut himself a long stick and told a python that his friend believed that pythons and cobras were about equal in length. Indignant, the python stretched out to his full length and let Anansi tie him to the stick to stop him from squirming. With the python captured, Anansi carried him to the Sky God.
For the final task, Anansi dug a hole and waited for a leopard to fall into it. When a leopard at last fell for the trap, Anansi tied his feet to a stick to help him out of the hole. However, instead of letting the leopard free, Anansi took him to the Sky God, who finally granted him his wish.[2]
Learning to weave[]
Anansi learns to weave using a mysterious stranger's loom.
During a hunt, Anansi fell asleep at the foot of a tree. He awoke to find a beautiful piece of cloth next to him, which he took home and sold for a good price. The next day, he returned to the foot of the tree to see if he could spot the weaver of the cloth, but to no avail. Once again, Anansi fell asleep and awoke to find a beautiful piece of cloth next to him, this one even more beautiful than the last.
Anansi continued to visit the spot, hoping to catch sight of the weaver, until one day, he heard singing. He followed the voice to where a little man was swinging before a loom that was suspended between two trees, and watched him for a time. Soon after, Anansi returned to the tree and fell asleep. Upon awakening, he found another beautiful piece of cloth next to him.
The spider was so enthralled by the cloth that he resolved to weave some himself. The next day, he listened intently to the little man, who sang to weave and halted his work with a magic word. Once the man departed, Anansi climbed onto the loom and began to weave using the little man's song. Though at first unsure of himself, Anansi eventually picked up the little man's talent and began to swing wildly from the loom, weaving his own silken thread. His antics became so wild that he swung far over the waters, away from Africa, where his descendants still weave to this day.[3]
Spreading knowledge throughout the world[]
Anansi spreads knowledge throughout the world.
Anansi believed himself to possess the greatest knowledge in the world, making him the smartest of all the creatures. In order to keep this knowledge to himself, Anansi locked it away in a gourd and proceeded to hide it in a corner of the ceiling, where none of the other animals could reach it.
As he was climbing to the top of the ceiling, Anansi was approached by his son, who noticed his father struggling to carry the gourd. The young spider suggested his father swing the gourd over his shoulder in order to put the weight behind him, and Anansi gratefully took the youngster's advice. As the older spider climbed, however, he realized that his son had just taught him something that he had not known; thus, Anansi was no longer the chief champion of knowledge.
In a split-second decision, the spider reached the top of the ceiling and turned the gourd upside-down, pouring knowledge out onto the floor, where it spread among the animals. This is how knowledge was spread throughout the world.[4]
Anansi's shame[]
When the mother of Anansi's wife died, Anansi sent his wife ahead to arrange the funeral, while he stayed behind. A day after she departed, Anansi asked several animals to accompany him to the funeral to show what an important creature he was. The animals agreed, and the party arrived at the home of Anansi's wife, where they were greeted by the family.
Anansi throws off his hat, revealing the food he was stealing while pretending to fast.
Over dinner, the group discussed their roles in the funeral service, and Anansi volunteered to provide the coffin in which his mother-in-law would be buried and to pay for the funeral feast. The guests clapped for him, and he reveled in the attention, feeling important. After the meal, Anansi refused more food, declaring that he would not eat for a week due to his grief over his mother-in-law. Once again, the animals clapped, praising Anansi for his extraordinary character.
A few days later, Anansi began to feel hungry due to his fasting for his mother-in-law. Not wanting to be seen by the others, Anansi searched for food that he could eat in secret and found a bowl of hot porridge cooling outside. He filled his hat with the porridge, but as he was about to eat, he overheard voices. Quickly, he put the hat onto his head and approached his wife.
Anansi lied that he had to return home for a meeting, and his wife suggested that he eat something for the road. Though Anansi tried to escape, the other animals crowded around him, insisting he have something to eat. At last, the pain became too much for Anansi, and he threw off his hat, revealing the hot porridge on his head. The animals gaped at him and mocked him for pretending to mourn his mother-in-law while hoarding food for himself. Anansi was so ashamed that he hid himself in the grass, where spiders can be found to this day.[5]
Stealing beans[]
Anansi and his wife decided to buy a farm and grow vegetables. Though the spiders planted many different kinds of vegetables, Anansi loved the beans the most and plotted a way to keep them all to himself. One day, he told his wife that if he were to die, she should bury him on their farm with cooking things for his spirit.
Anansi springs from the grave in order to avoid being crushed by a fallen tree.
Just days later, Anansi grew sick and died, and his wife buried him according to his wishes. As was customary, the family left the farm for forty days to grieve, and Anansi, who had only been pretending to be dead, picked all the beans for himself and made a bean feast every night.
At the end of the forty days, Anansi's family returned, and his wife saw that all her beans had disappeared. She cursed the thief aloud, and a voice consoled her to mourn the death of her husband, not the disappearance of her beans. Recognizing the voice, Anansi's wife brought her son to the farm the next day and told him to cut down a tree near Anansi's grave. The son expressed concern that it would fall onto the grave, but his mother insisted that he cut it down anyway.
As Anansi's son started to cut down the tree, Anansi sprang from the grave and declared that he was a ghost. His wife, however, accused him of having stolen their beans and began to chase him across the farm, which prompted Anansi to hide in the leaves of a bush. To this day, spiders can be found hiding in the leaves.[1]
Coucal's trickery[]
In order to prove to his wife that he was the best at finding food, Anansi employed Coucal the bird to help him set traps. The first animal they caught was a squirrel. After this success, Anansi wondered what they would catch next, and Coucal predicted that they would catch a bushbuck. Anansi reasoned that a bushbuck was bigger than a squirrel, so he allowed Coucal to take the squirrel home for dinner.
The next day, Anansi and Coucal found a bushbuck in their trap. Once more, Anansi wondered what they would catch next, and Coucal said that they would probably catch a wildebeest. Since a wildebeest was larger than a bushbuck, Anansi decided that Coucal could take the bushbuck home, while he would wait for a wildebeest.
Anansi's wife drives him out of the house.
When Anansi returned home, his wife asked why Coucal had been feeding his family so well, while Anansi had been bringing home nothing. Anansi simply encouraged her to be patient, for he would soon bring home the most powerful animal of them all.
For days, Anansi and Coucal caught bigger and bigger animals, but still, Anansi waited for the best catch and allowed Coucal to bring the prey home. At last, Anansi and Coucal caught an elephant, which Anansi believed to be the most powerful animal ever, but Coucal explained that there was a more powerful animal still. Hearing this, Anansi let Coucal have the elephant.
When they returned to their trap the next day, the two found a foul-smelling mouse lying at the bottom. Coucal explained that the mouse's stench could overpower an elephant, and Anansi agreed to take it home. However, when he showed the mouse to his wife, she ordered him to take the mouse out of her house and to never come back. Anansi fled, dropping the mouse, and crept back into the house later that night to hide in the eaves. For the remainder of his life, that was where he stayed when he wished to remain out of sight.[6]
Stealing Squirrel's maize[]
Squirrel found himself a private plot of land, where he grew a fine crop of maize. One day, Anansi was hunting for food when he stumbled upon Squirrel's sweet-smelling maize. He wondered how the farmer was able to reach his field, as the maize had no clear path through it. Though he returned home afterward, he thought on the problem all evening until an idea came to him.
The next morning, Anansi led his family to the maize field, where they gleaned some of Squirrel's maize and took it home for dinner. This went on for several days, until Squirrel took notice and decided to lie in wait for the thief. Eventually, he caught Anansi in the act and demanded to know why he was stealing the maize for himself. Anansi asked how the maize could be Squirrel's, and Squirrel explained that he had planted and tended to the maize before Anansi had found it.
Squirrel accuses Anansi of stealing his maize.
Despite Squirrel's claims, Anansi declared that the maize was his, for he had cleared a path through the field himself. Squirrel explained that he did not need a path, for he tended the crops from the trees, and declared that he would be bringing Anansi before a court. However, when Anansi pointed out that no field lacked a path through it, the court ruled in his favor, and Squirrel had to watch as Anansi and his family took his hard-earned maize.
When Anansi and his family were bringing the last of the maize home, a storm hit, and the family abandoned the maize in the grass. After the storm, the family returned to find that their maize had been protected from the rain by a crow, who had spread his wings over it. Anansi started to thank the crow, but the crow simply stated that no one would leave their maize abandoned in a field, and he took off with it in his talons.
Without their maize, Anansi and his family returned home and found themselves hungry for the first time in weeks.[7]
Stealing Hyena and Leopard's kill[]
While hunting with his friend Lizard, Anansi spotted Hyena and Leopard in the distance. He suggested to Lizard that they try to steal some of Hyena and Leopard's meat, and the two crept closer to see that the predators had caught a crocodile.
A few minutes later, Lizard approached Leopard and told him that a crocodile tasted better if its teeth were painted. Leopard wondered how he could paint the crocodile's teeth, to which Lizard suggested that he let Anansi do the painting. Though displeased, Leopard agreed to let Anansi paint the crocodile's teeth while he and Hyena chatted.
Anansi paints the crocodile's teeth.
While in the midst of painting, Anansi told Hyena and Leopard that they were speaking too loudly and suggested that they go into the forest to collect firewood. After the two departed, Anansi and Lizard devoured the entire crocodile and hid in the forest. It was not long before Hyena and Leopard returned to their kill and found that it had been eaten by their supposed allies.
Furious, the two combed the brush for the thieves until they found them, after which they tied the two up until a decision could be made about their fate. Anansi fell before Leopard and begged to be punished, suggesting that he and Lizard be thrown into a crack in the earth where they would starve to death. Leopard agreed to this suggestion, and Hyena threw the two into a crack in the earth. However, this was where lizards and spiders liked to be, so the two only had to wait for Hyena and Leopard to leave before they escaped and went about their day.[8]
Death[]
Anansi the spider happened across a bearded stone that would strike dead anyone who said, "This stone has a beard." Wanting to use this to his advantage, Anansi tricked Little Buck into proclaiming that the stone had a beard, and the stone struck the buck dead. Anansi made quick work of the dead animal, using Little Buck's carcass to feed his family for days.
Anansi used this trick many more times, and his family feasted for many months. Finally, Anansi decided to use his trick on Rabbit, but when the clever rabbit did not comment on the stone's strange appearance, Anansi questioned Rabbit on whether the stone looked odd or not. Sensing a trap, Rabbit evaded all of Anansi's tricks, until Anansi could take no more and yelled at Rabbit to say, "This stone has a beard!" Hearing these fateful words, the stone struck Anansi dead, and Rabbit chuckled over his victory.[9]
Physical appearance[]
Anansi was quite large for a spider, being only slightly smaller than a buck. His head was white, his thorax was black and white, and his abdomen was red. He had several distinctions, including hairy black chelicerae and legs, red stripes on the sides of his face, and black hair that stuck straight up.[9]
Personality and traits[]
Anansi was well-known for his cunning nature. Despite being small and weak, he used his intelligence to his advantage in order to trick larger animals.[9] He was quite confident in himself and liked to be looked up to by other creatures. His concern was usually on his own reputation, as he only grieved for his mother-in-law in order to look good in front of the other guests.[5] Though boastful and shrewd, Anansi was self-reflecting and capable of humility, as seen when he was humbled by his son's advice.[4]
Appearances[]
Trivia[]
- Anansi's name means "spider" in Swahili.[10]
- Another character named Anansi appears in The Cave Monster.[11]
- Anansi is a real African legend, one of the most important characters in West African and Caribbean folklore.[12]
References[]
|