Week 7 Storytelling : The spider tales

There was a party. The part was held in the house of Nyankupon. Nyankupon prepared many stuffs for his guests. The most delicious foods were served to his guests, and the most pleasant views were shown in the eyes of his guests. All guests were having a great time. They were dancing and singing along with music. While enjoying the party of Nyankupon, three of guests gathered. First one was the bee. The bee with the golden crown on top of his head. Many other bees were following him as if they were worshiping him. The second one was the snake. His body was longer than any other snake. He had a long stick behind his back. The third one was the tiger. The tiger with weird looking eyes. 

"So how did you guys end up here?"

The bee, who was in charge of all bees in the world spoke. Others, the snake and the tiger, stayed silent. They did not want to talk. The bee figured they would not speak unless he started. 

"Bring the jar!"

The bee ordered the jar. Other bees brought the jar and placed it in front of three. 

"I came here, to Nyankupon's world, in this jar."

"A bee in a jar?"

The snake asked as if he could not believe what he heard. 

"Yes. I was tricked by the spider. This spider told me he had a dispute with Nyankupon. Of course, there was no such dispute. He lied so he could put me, and my friend into this jar. Then he sent us to Nyankupon. Nyankupon was nice enough to let us free and gave us a new hive."

"Interesting."

The snake moved his tongue. He licked the jar as if he could tasted it. 

"I was tricked by the spider as well. He told me he had a dispute with Nyankupon. I wanted to prove that I was long than the stick. When I straighten myself to prove that I was longer, he tied me to the stick and gave me to Nyankupon. He told me there was no dispute between him and the spider."

The snake showed his stick to the bee and the tiger. 

"That spider!"

Suddenly, the tiger growled. His voice was full of anger.

"That spider is the evil one! He tricked me as well!"

The tiger smashed the table with his paws. The bee quickly grabbed his jar. 

"He told me that I would be able to see some surprising sights if I sewed my eyes!"

The tiger pointed his eyes. Although most of the strings that were used to sew his eyes were gone, some of them remained. The snake and the bee shook their heads. They were all tricked by the spider.

"So what is this spider doing now?"

The bee asked. 

"I am not sure, but by giving us to Nyankupon, he got his name in all tales. People will know his name, and his name will be told."

The snake answered. Then he was trying to think of name of this spider. It took awhile but he remember what this spider was referred as. Anansi, that was the name of the spider.

(Anansi by Mariano Colantoni)

Author's note: This is the story that I wrote based on the reading of How We Got the Name "Spider Tales" from West Africa folktales. The original story focuses on how Anansi, the spider tricked others to have a permission over having his name for old tales. Nyankupon is the cheif of gods in the West Africa myth. Just like Zeus, or Odin from the other mythology, he was the most important character. However, Anansi, the spider wanted his name to be told. Because all stories that were told by men were stories of Nyankupon, Anansi had to convince him. To convince him, he tricked the bee to fly into the jar by saying he had a dispute with Nyankupon. He obtained bees in the jar which was the first thing Nyankupon asked. Then Anansi tricked the snake by saying he had a dispute with Nyankupon that the snake was not long as the stick. When the snake straighten him to prove that he was longer, Anansi tied him to this stack and gave it to Nyankupon. This was Anansi's second task, and finally Anansi tricked the tiger to sew his eyes by saying Anansi could see the most wonderful things because his eyes were sewed. Anansi completed his finally task by leading the tiger who could not see because of sewed eyes. I thought this was the most important story of West Africa Tales because Anansi Tales are the main tales in West African tales. 

Bibliography : West African Folktales : How We Got the Name "Spider Tales"