How Anansi Brought Stories to the World

Long, long ago, in a land where the sun was big and warm and the trees bore fruits so sweet that people slept better at night, there were no stories yet about animals or heroes. Every tale was about Nyankupon, the chief of the gods high up in the sky. In the evenings people gathered under the stars and whispered his name. But down in the grass lived a small spider called Kwaku Anansi. He had eight thin legs, bright shining eyes and a mind that never rested. And one evening Anansi had an idea so big that his little legs trembled.

'Why should every story be about Nyankupon?' thought Anansi, scratching his head. 'I am funny too. I am clever and quick and I think faster than the wind. The stories ought to be called Anansi stories.' And because Anansi was the kind of spider who never settled for only thinking, the very next morning he climbed up the tallest tree of all, on through the clouds, until he stood in front of Nyankupon's great golden house in the sky. He bowed low and said in his thinnest, politest voice: 'Chief, I have a request for you.'

Nyankupon looked down at the spider with a wide smile. His voice sounded like thunder rolling over a warm sea. 'And what do you want, little Anansi?' The spider straightened his back as best he could. 'Chief, I want every story from this day on to be called an Anansi story, instead of a Nyankupon story.' The chief of the gods laughed so hard the floor shook. 'Anansi, you are brave to ask such a thing. But I will not refuse you. I will give you three tasks. If you can do them, the stories shall carry your name forever. If you cannot, you go home and stay silent.' Anansi nodded eagerly.

'Listen carefully,' said Nyankupon. 'The first thing you must bring me is a jar full of living bees. The second is a long, long boa-constrictor, alive and whole. The third is a tiger, so strong and so wild that even I lose my breath.' Anansi blinked once, twice. Bees that stung. A boa-constrictor that crushed. A tiger with teeth like knives. Any other creature would have lowered its head and gone home. But Anansi smiled a small, sly smile. 'I promise, Chief,' he said, 'that all three will stand before you.' Then he climbed down a spider-thread, all the way down to the earth.