Storytelling Week 6: Anansi's Change of Heart

Anansi, his family, and his village were struggling due to a long famine that had been plaguing the land. They hadn't eaten in forever and were so hungry. One day, while he was desperately searching for food, Anansi saw an island far away with a palm tree on it. Seeing it as his last resort, he decided that he would sail out to the island in hopes of finding food. 

When the day arrived to set sail, all Anansi could find was an old broken down boat. He decided he would have to take it because he had to get to the island. He climbed in and tried to set sail, but the waves knocked him back everytime. After SEVEN attempts to put off from shore and a lot of spent energy, Anansi finally found his chance to sail into the water. After a bumpy trip, he finally made it to the island.

Ansani's boat on the island

Once he was there, he climbed the palm tree and found nuts. He couldn't help but rejoice. He was so hungry that even the few nuts felt like they would be a feast fit for a king. The only challenge now was to get the nuts into the boat. 

That'll be easy! I'll just climb up and drop them in!

Anansi climbed the tree and proceeded to drop the nuts in. However, to his complete dismay, each and every nut missed the boat and fell to the bottom of the ocean. All of his hopes for food were gone. The idea was so devastating to him that he decided to throw his body into the water and proceeded to do just that. He closed his eyes and let go of the tree, allowing his body to fall. However, when he hit the water, he was amazed because he was not drowning. Rather, he found himself standing underwater next to a cottage.

What on Earth is going on??

Shortly, a man named Thunder walked out and asked Anansi what he was doing at his cottage. Anansi explained his situation and Thunder took pity on him. He welcomed him into his underwater home and presented Anansi with a gold cooking pot. With the pot, he gave him a promise that he would never be hungry again. Anansi could not believe it.

Never be hungry again? How could this be?

Anansi could only wait until he was back on his rickety old boat to try the pot. All he had to do was ask and a huge meal appeared right before his eyes. He ate to his heart's content and felt such relief that he was finally full. 

When he arrived back at the mainland, he started to feel scared. What if the magic of the pot wore off? What if it could only provide a certain number of meals? His first instinct was to hide the pot so that he would be ensured meals forever. He was so afraid of being hungry again. However, upon second thought, he realized that he needed to take care of his family and maybe even the village as well. He had learned his lesson through his past experiences that greed would get him no where. So, he ran home to his family and provided them with a wonderful meal that filled not only their stomachs but also their hearts, restoring hope that the famine would one day be over. 

Black and white photo of the magical pot 

After his family had been fed, Anansi went out into the village and the pot provided them with a meal as well. To Anansi's surprise, the pot actually produced more food this time due to its pleasure at Anansi's good deeds.

Because of his generosity and selflessness, the pot produced larger and larger meals each time it was asked. The village remained healthy and fed until the famine was over and they could start producing their own food again. While the pot resting now, the village will always think of Anansi fondly and will remember the time he came home with the golden pot that saved them all.

Author's Note:
The original story is Thunder and Anansi from the West African Folktales storybook. In the original story, Anansi does travel to the island in desperate hopes to find food. He does find nuts but accidentally drops them into the water and decides to throw himself in as well. However, when he meets Thunder and receives the pot, he decides to hide it for himself. As he gets plumper and his family grows thinner, his son, Kweku Tsin, became suspicious and transformed himself into a tiny fly and followed his father until he discovered the secret of the pot. Then, while his father was out, he took it from it's hiding place and provided the family with a good meal. Then, they decided to feed the village as well; however, the pot overheated and melted. When Anansi returned to the missing pot, he snuck out back to Thunder's cottage in hopes of another gift. This time, though, Thunder presented him with a stick. When Anansi asked a favor of the stick, it proceeded to beat him repeatedly which forced him to jump out of the boat and swim to shore. The story ended with a very bruised Anansi regretting his decision to not act more wisely from the start.

I decided to change the ending of the story because Anansi's selfishness really bothered me. In almost every story, he was actions proved that he only cared about himself. Selfish people really get under my skin, so I decided to change the ending to the opposite of the original. In my version, Anansi is tempted to act selfishly, but then remembers the lessons he had learned from the past and decided to share. In the end, instead of regretting his actions, he actually was proud of them because he was so blessed by his gifts.

Bibliography: 
Thunder and Anansi from West African Folktales by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair (1917). 

Reading Diary Week 6, continued: West African Folktales

I am continuing to read the West African Folktales by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair. 

The first story of the reading that I enjoyed is How the Tortoise Got It's Shell. I thought this story was interesting because it tells the story of a tortoise before it had a shell, which I thought was an interesting aspect of West African culture. I have mentioned this in my reading diaries before, but I really enjoy stories that give insight as to how different cultures explain the natural occurrences around us. This story is a prime example of that. While I was reading it, I was wondering what the tortoise's thought process was while he was stuck outside the gate. Why didn't he try another way to get inside? A storytelling idea would be to write this from the tortoise's perspective and add in his inner dialogue.

The Tortoise

The Hunter and the Tortoise was a story that really brought things full circle. From the beginning, the tune of the tortoise was that man forces himself on things rather than the other way around. This prophecy came true in that the man tried to force the tortoise to sing and she refused. Had he just let it be, he could have enjoyed the music. I wold like to use this method in my storytelling of a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

I have noticed that a lot of the stories in this storybook come full circle. Just as in The Hunter and the Tortoise, The Ungrateful Man also experienced what he deserved after he was killed as a traitor. Since this is included in so many of their tales, I have to wonder if honesty and loyalty are of high value in their culture. Also, many of the stories include they influence of animals. Was it believed that animals and humans used to be able to communicate in ancient times? I wonder only because this is included in so many different tales from different cultures. Or is it just a convenient method of storytelling?

An idea for story telling from this unit would be to replace some of the animal characters with humans and vice versa. Would humans be personified differently than the animals would?

I also loved the story Why Tigers Never Attack Unless Provoked. I thought it was so cool that the man and the tiger were such good friends. I would like to use this in my storytelling to bring two characters together. They had such a connection that the man was actually very upset at the thought of the tiger dying and watched over his cub. This kind of emotional appeal is something I would definitely like to include in my stories as well since it does a great job of grabbing the audience's attention and keeping them engaged. 

The Tiger

Reading Diary Week 6: West African Folktales

This week, I am reading the West African Folktales story by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair. The first story of the unit is called How We Got the Name "Spider Tales". I really enjoyed this story because of how clever the spider is. He tricked such large, ferocious animals into submitting to him. Thinking about it logically, a lion and boa would probably either eat, squish, or not even notice the spider. However, through these stories he was cunning enough into tricking them into defeat. It reminds me of the stories with the fox from the previous unit, The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs. 

The second story that grabbed my attention was the story of Anansi and Nothing. I liked how in the end, the story concluded with the assertion that children are often said to be "crying for nothing" because of Nothing in the story. It also struck me as comical that someone would be named "Nothing". Lastly, I think there is a good lesson in this story that not everything is what it seems. It is imperative that one have the patience to wait different situations out so that they can be revealed for what they really are. In the case of Anansi and Nothing, it became clear that the real rich man was Nothing. However, this was not apparent to the wives at the beginning. I think this is valuable lesson that everyone should consider. A lot of times, a situation will evolved and result in something that you never would have thought.

A modern depiction of Anansi jealously staring after Nothing
Photo by: Gabriel S. Delgado C. (2010)

After reading Why the Lizard Moves His Head Up and Down and Thunder and Anansi, I have decided that I do not like Anansi one bit! He is so selfish and deceiving. It is very clear that he only cares about himself, especially in Thunder and Anansi since his entire family was starving and he still hid the pot from them. I would hate to have known him, much less have him in my family. Also, let's not forget that his poor starving wife didn't even know what she was getting herself into since she believed she was marrying a rich man at the time due to the fact that he was wearing Nothing's clothing. I really hope that something happens to him in the near future so that he is not a character in the stories anymore!

Finally, Anansi's evil ways were revealed in Tit for Tat! I also enjoyed how some of the West African beliefs were incorporated into the story. Since the image shaking meant that the Gods were angry, I am assuming that the West Africans believed that a shaking image meant the god was angry. I am curious how exactly these images manifested in real life for them to see. Maybe it was like a spirit standing before them?

Lastly, the story of Anansi turning into a spider made me laugh because he got what he deserved. I can't believe he was still up to his tricks and was so determined to steal food from his family. Especially since it sounded like they had plenty to go around. Also, this story really resonated with me because my boyfriend is terrified of spiders and always has me sweep the webs down from the corners to make sure that they do not have a place to take refuge in his room. I told him this story as a way to explain to him that the spiders in the corner are not harmful. In fact, they are actually trying to hide and avoid being noticed!