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A leopard with dark spots concealed in tall grass

Anansi catches the leopard

Anansi catches the leopard

So now Anansi the spider had the snake to give to the god Nyame. But he still needed the other three creatures. So Anansi went back down to earth to get the second creature for Nyame, which was the leopard with sharp teeth like a spear. Again he asked Aso, “Aso, how am I going to capture a leopard?”. And Aso said, “Go dig a big, deep hole… ” and she whispered the rest of the plan in Anansi’s ear. So Anansi did what Aso said, and he covered it with branches and dirt so it was hidden, and he went home for dinner. In the morning, sure enough, a leopard had fallen into his pit. Anansi offered to help the leopard get out of the pit, but as soon as the leopard got close enough, Anansi tied the leopard to long sticks with his sticky web, and took him up to heaven and gave him to Nyame. But Nyame just said, “Where’s the other two?”.

Anansi catches the hornets

So Anansi went back down to earth to get the third creature for Nyame, which was the hornet with the stinger. Again Aso told him what to do. She said, “Take a gourd full of water, and… ” she whispered the rest of the plan in Anansi’s ear. So Anansi went to the tree where the hornets lived, and he poured out some of the water all over their hive, and then he cut a leaf from a banana tree and held it over his head, and he poured the rest of the water all over himself. Then he called out to the hornets, “Hey hornets! Come see! It is raining! Quick – get inside my gourd here and it will keep all of you dry.” The hornets thought that was a good idea, so they all flew into Anansi’s gourd, and then he spun a web across the opening so the hornets couldn’t get out no matter how much they buzzed, and he carried them up to heaven and gave them to Nyame. But Nyame just said, “Where’s the last one?” (but he wasn’t laughing anymore now).

End of this story
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African languages and literature
Ancient Africa
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