Monday, September 28, 2015

Reading Diary A Week 5: African Stories

Hogna lenta 18.jpg
A Wolf spider. Source
How We Got the Name "Spider Tales"
  • Nyankupon the chief of the gods
  • Spider that was conceited, wanted stories to be told about him
  • Nyankupon requested, a jar of live bees, a boa constrictor, and a tiger
  • He retrieved all the requested items and was rewarded for his cleverness
How Wisdom Became Property of the Human Race
  • Father named Anasai from Fanti-land
  • The country men anger Anasai and they were stripped of their wisdom
  • Anasai had a son named Kweku Tsin, he followed his father out the house
  • They went to the forest and climbed the highest most inaccessible tree
  • The pot that he carried stopped him from being able to climb the tree
  • Kweku Tsin asked his father what he was doing, and his father told him his son had more wisdom than he did
  • Anasai threw the pot down allowing the wisdom to escape into the world
Why the Lizard Moves His Head Up and Down
  • 3 daughters are kept hidden from the world but their family
  • They kept their names hidden, the father said if anyone can figure out their names, they can marry his daughter
  • Anasai hid in a tree with fruit, he poured honey over the fruit, dropped it from the tree, and waited for the daughters to find it.
  • The daughters all yelled out the others name
  • Anasai told the lizard the names, but the lizard stole the wives
  • Anasai wanted to seek revenge on the lizard
  • Anasai killed the king's rooster, put the feathers under the lizards bed, and poured boiling water down the lizards throat
  • Lizards have a way of moving their head
Tit for Tat
  • There was a great famine, meat was scarce. People were starving
  • Kweku-Tsin was Anasai's eldest son, he discovered a place where there were animals plentiful
  • He would take the meat and sell it to the poor people in town
  • Anasai wanted to know his sons ways
  • Anasai tricked his son into leaving the meat to him
  • When the famine was over, Kweky had a great feast for the village
Why White Ants Always Harm Man's Property
  • Bad famine, corn worth more than gold
  • The spider found a dead antelope that he placed on his head
  • He told everyone it was his dead grandfather
  • Wolf and Leopard didn't believe the spider
  • They took his antelope to eat it, then spider planned to get it back
  • An angry vowed to never help anyone again
  • Ants have been a pest to man since this day
The Grinding Stone That Ground Flour By Itself
  • Great famine.
  • One family was health, Anasai's cousin
  • Being greedy, he went to find their secret
  • He found out they were eating honey
  • He would feed his family to keep them healthy
  • Spider carried the stone to village selling flour unit his bag was full.
  • The stone killed the spider which is why we always find spiders under small rocks

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