ANANZI and the LION
by Unknown · from Folk Tales Every Child Should Know
Adapted Version
Anansi the spider was very, very hungry. He wanted a big, big meal. He had a clever idea. He bought sacks and a big pan. He called Green Eel, a fish.
Anansi told Green Eel a lie. "The King wants all fish." Fish came out. Anansi put them in a pan. He made a big meal. Green Eel swam away fast.
Anansi put the fish in sacks. He went to the mountains. He met Lion there.
Lion asked. Anansi said rocks. Lion doubted. He followed Anansi.
Anansi stopped to eat a fish. Lion came. Lion said, "You lied!" Lion wanted fish.
Lion ate many, many fish. He ate very fast. Anansi was angry. He made a new plan.
Anansi said, "Who is stronger? Let's tie."
Lion tied Anansi. The rope was loose. Anansi broke free fast. Anansi tied Lion. He tied him very tight. Lion could not get free. Anansi left him sad.
Miss Nancy walked in the wood. She saw Lion. Lion was tied to a tree. He asked, "Free me! I will not eat."
Miss Nancy freed Lion. Lion looked very hungry. He growled loudly at her. The trees cried, "Shame! Shame!" Lion stopped. He did not eat her.
Lion went home. He told his family. He wanted to thank Miss Nancy. They planned a big dinner.
Anansi heard about the dinner. He wanted to go. He wanted more food. He changed into a baby. Miss Nancy took him.
At dinner, Lion's son looked. "That is not a baby," he said. "It is Anansi!" Lion ran after them.
Anansi told her, "Put me down!" He ran fast. He changed into an old man. He carried wood.
Lion saw the old man. Lion asked. Old man said no. Lion left.
Anansi ran and ran. He was safe, for now. But Anansi always had new tricks!
Original Story
ANANZI AND THE LION
Once on a time Ananzi planned a scheme. He went to town and bought ever so many firkins of fat, and ever so many sacks, and ever so many balls of string, and a very big frying pan, then he went to the bay and blew a shell, and called the Head-fish in the sea, "Green Eel," to him. Then he said to the fish, "The King sends me to tell you that you must bring all the fish on shore, for he wants to give them new life."
So "Green Eel" said he would, and went to call them. Meanwhile Ananzi lighted a fire, and took out some of the fat, and got his frying pan ready, and as fast as the fish came out of the water he caught them and put them into the frying pan, and so he did with all of them until he got to the Head-fish, who was so slippery that he couldn't hold him, and he got back again into the water.
When Ananzi had fried all the fish, he put them into the sacks, and took the sacks on his back, and set off to the mountains. He had not gone very far when he met Lion, and Lion said to him:
"Well, brother Ananzi, where have you been? I have not seen you a long time."
Ananzi said, "I have been travelling about."
"Oh! But what have you got there?" said the Lion.
"Oh! I have got my mother's bones—she has been dead these forty-eleven years, and they say I must not keep her here, so I am taking her up into the middle of the mountains to bury her."
Then they parted. After he had gone a little way, the Lion said: "I know that Ananzi is a great rogue; I dare say he has got something there that he doesn't want me to see, and I will just follow him;" but he took care not to let Ananzi see him.
Now, when Ananzi got into the wood, he set his sacks down, and took one fish out and began to eat; then a fly came, and Ananzi said, "I cannot eat any more, for there is some one near;" so he tied the sack up, and went on farther into the mountains, where he set his sacks down, and took out two fish which he ate; and no fly came. He said, "There is no one near;" so he took out more fish. But when he had eaten about half a dozen the Lion came up and said:
"Well, brother Ananzi, a pretty tale you have told me."
"Oh! brother Lion, I am so glad you have come; never mind what tale I have told you, but come and sit down—it was only my fun."
So Lion sat down and began to eat; but before Ananzi had eaten two fish, Lion had emptied one of the sacks. Then said Ananzi to himself:
"Greedy fellow, eating up all my fish."
"What do you say, sir?"
"I only said you do not eat half fast enough," for he was afraid the Lion would eat him up.
Then they went on eating, but Ananzi wanted to revenge himself, and he said to the Lion, "Which of us do you think is the stronger?"
The Lion said, "Why, I am, of course."
Then Ananzi said, "We will tie one another to the tree, and we shall see which is the stronger."
Now they agreed that the Lion should tie Ananzi first, and he tied him with some very fine string, and did not tie him tight. Ananzi twisted himself about two or three times, and the string broke.
Then it was Ananzi's turn to tie the Lion, and he took some very strong cord. The Lion said, "You must not tie me tight, for I did not tie you tight." And Ananzi said, "Oh! no, to be sure, I will not." But he tied him as tight as ever he could, and then told him to try and get loose.
The Lion tried and tried in vain—he could not get loose. Then Ananzi thought, now is my chance; so he got a big stick and beat him, and then went away and left him, for he was afraid to loose him lest he should kill him.
Now there was a woman called Miss Nancy, who was going out one morning to get some "callalou" (spinach) in the wood, and as she was going she heard some one say, "Good morning, Miss Nancy!" She could not tell who spoke to her, but she looked where the voice came from, and saw the Lion tied to the tree.
"Good morning, Mr. Lion, what are you doing there?"
He said, "It is all that fellow Ananzi who has tied me to the tree, but will you loose me?"
But she said, "No, for I am afraid, if I do, you will kill me." But he gave her his word he would not; still she could not trust him; but he begged her again and again, and said:
"Well, if I do try to eat you, I hope all the trees will cry out shame upon me."
So at last she consented; but she had no sooner loosed him, than he came up to her to eat her, for he had been so many days without food that he was quite ravenous, but the trees immediately cried out, "Shame," and so he could not eat her. Then she went away as fast as she could, and the Lion found his way home.
When Lion got home he told his wife and children all that happened to him, and how Miss Nancy had saved his life, so they said they would have a great dinner, and ask Miss Nancy. Now when Ananzi heard of it, he wanted to go to the dinner, so he went to Miss Nancy, and said she must take him with her as her child, but she said, "No." Then he said, "I can turn myself into quite a little child and then you can take me," and at last she said, "Yes;" and he told her, when she was asked what pap her baby ate, she must be sure to tell them it did not eat pap, but the same food as every one else; and so they went, and had a very good dinner, and set off home again—but somehow one of the Lion's sons fancied that all was not right, and he told his father he was sure it was Ananzi, and the Lion set out after him.
Now as they were going along, before the Lion got up to them, Ananzi begged Miss Nancy to put him down, that he might run, which he did, and he got away and ran along the wood, and the Lion ran after him. When he found the Lion was overtaking him, he turned himself into an old man with a bundle of wood on his head—and when the Lion got up to him, he said, "Good morning, Mr. Lion," and the Lion said, "Good morning, old gentleman."
Then the old man said, "What are you after now?" and the Lion asked if he had seen Ananzi pass that way, but the old man said, "No, that fellow Ananzi is always meddling with some one; what mischief has he been up to now?"
Then the Lion told him, but the old man said it was no use to follow him any more, for he would never catch him, and so the Lion wished him good-day, and turned and went home again.
VI
Story DNA
Moral
Cleverness and trickery can overcome brute strength, but deceit often leads to further trouble.
Plot Summary
Ananzi the trickster lures all the fish from the sea, fries them, and packs them in sacks. He tricks Lion into believing the sacks contain his mother's bones, but Lion follows him, discovers the fish, and greedily eats most of them. Ananzi, seeking revenge, tricks Lion into a strength contest where he ties Lion tightly to a tree, beats him, and leaves him. Miss Nancy frees the starving Lion, who tries to eat her, but the trees cry 'Shame!' to stop him. Lion plans a thank-you dinner for Miss Nancy, which Ananzi attends disguised as her baby, but he is recognized and escapes Lion's pursuit by shapeshifting into an old man.
Themes
Emotional Arc
cunning to triumph, then fear to escape
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
Anansi stories originated with the Ashanti people in Ghana and spread through the transatlantic slave trade, becoming a significant part of Caribbean and African diaspora folklore.
Plot Beats (15)
- Ananzi plans to trick fish, buys supplies, and calls the Head-fish, Green Eel.
- Ananzi tells Green Eel the King wants to give all fish new life, then fries them as they come ashore, except for the slippery Head-fish.
- Ananzi puts the fried fish in sacks and heads to the mountains, where he meets Lion.
- Ananzi lies to Lion, claiming the sacks contain his dead mother's bones, but Lion, suspicious, secretly follows him.
- Ananzi stops to eat the fish, and Lion confronts him, demanding to share the meal.
- Lion greedily eats most of the fish, angering Ananzi, who plots revenge.
- Ananzi challenges Lion to a strength contest, suggesting they tie each other to a tree.
- Lion ties Ananzi loosely, who easily breaks free; Ananzi then ties Lion tightly with strong cord, beats him, and leaves him trapped.
- Miss Nancy finds the trapped Lion, who begs her to free him, promising not to eat her.
- Miss Nancy frees Lion, who immediately tries to eat her, but the trees cry 'Shame!', preventing him.
- Lion returns home, tells his family, and plans a dinner for Miss Nancy to thank her.
- Ananzi, hearing of the dinner, disguises himself as Miss Nancy's baby to attend and eat more food.
- During the dinner, one of Lion's sons suspects the 'baby' is Ananzi, and Lion pursues them.
- Ananzi escapes by having Miss Nancy put him down, then shapeshifts into an old man carrying wood.
- Ananzi, disguised, misdirects Lion, who gives up the chase and returns home.
Characters
Ananzi
A small, wiry figure, often depicted as having a human-like form with spider-like characteristics, such as multiple limbs or a slightly hunched posture. His movements are quick and agile, reflecting his cunning nature. He is not physically imposing.
Attire: Simple, practical clothing that allows for quick movement and disguise. Perhaps a loose-fitting, earth-toned tunic and trousers made of rough-spun cotton or linen, suitable for a trickster who often needs to escape or blend into the environment.
Wants: To satisfy his own desires (like eating the fish) and to outsmart those stronger or more powerful than him, primarily for personal gain and survival.
Flaw: Cowardice and greed. He is easily frightened by those stronger than him and his desire for more often leads him into trouble.
He remains largely unchanged, continuing his trickster ways, though he narrowly escapes consequences for his actions, reinforcing his nature.
Cunning, deceitful, self-serving, quick-witted, and cowardly. He constantly seeks to gain an advantage over others through trickery.
Lion
A large, powerful, and majestic lion with a muscular build, golden-brown fur, and a thick, impressive mane. His movements are deliberate and powerful, reflecting his status as king of the jungle.
Attire: N/A (animal)
Wants: To assert his dominance, satisfy his hunger, and seek revenge on those who wrong him.
Flaw: His pride makes him susceptible to Ananzi's tricks, and his hunger can make him desperate.
He is repeatedly tricked and humiliated by Ananzi, learning (with the help of the trees) a lesson about honor and keeping his word, though he still seeks revenge on Ananzi.
Proud, strong, somewhat gullible, vengeful, and ultimately honorable (due to the trees' intervention). He is easily angered when tricked.
Miss Nancy
A woman of average build, likely a peasant or villager, with a practical and unassuming appearance. Her movements are purposeful, reflecting her daily chores.
Attire: Simple, functional clothing typical of a West African villager, such as a wrap skirt (kanga or kitenge) and a loose-fitting blouse made of patterned cotton fabric, perhaps with a headwrap.
Wants: To gather food (callalou) and to help others when she can, while also protecting herself from danger.
Flaw: Her compassion can make her vulnerable to manipulation, as seen with the Lion and Ananzi.
She acts as a moral compass and a catalyst for the Lion's lesson, learning that even powerful creatures can be bound by promises, and that tricksters like Ananzi are relentless.
Kind-hearted, cautious, empathetic, and initially fearful but ultimately honorable in keeping her word (or being forced to by the trees).
Green Eel
A large, long, and exceptionally slippery eel with a vibrant green coloration. Its body is smooth and muscular, allowing for quick, fluid movements in water.
Attire: N/A (animal)
Wants: To obey the King's supposed command and lead its fellow fish.
Flaw: Gullibility and its inability to resist Ananzi's trickery until it's almost too late.
It is tricked by Ananzi, leading its community to their demise, but manages to escape itself, learning a harsh lesson about trusting strangers.
Obedient, trusting, and easily deceived. It follows instructions without question.
Locations
The Bay Shore
A sandy or rocky shore beside a body of water, likely a calm bay, where Ananzi calls the fish. The ground would be damp near the water's edge, possibly with some scattered shells or seaweed.
Mood: Initially industrious and deceptive, later becoming a scene of quick, efficient frying.
Ananzi tricks the 'Green Eel' into bringing all the fish ashore to be fried.
Mountain Wooded Path
A winding path through a dense, tropical or sub-tropical forest on a mountain slope. The ground is likely uneven, covered with fallen leaves and roots. Sunlight filters through a thick canopy, creating dappled light and shadow.
Mood: Initially secretive and tense, then shifting to a scene of trickery and confrontation.
Ananzi first encounters Lion, lies about his cargo, and later stops to eat the fish, only to be discovered by Lion.
Clearing in the Mountains
A small, secluded clearing deeper within the mountain woods, surrounded by tall trees. The ground is relatively flat, suitable for sitting. The light here is more open than on the path, but still filtered by the surrounding canopy.
Mood: Initially one of shared gluttony, quickly turning to cunning and betrayal.
Ananzi and Lion share the fish, then Ananzi tricks and ties Lion to a tree, beating him.
Callalou Patch in the Wood
A specific area within the wood where 'callalou' (spinach-like greens) grows abundantly. This implies a slightly more open or cultivated spot, perhaps near a water source, where the plants thrive. The ground would be rich and dark.
Mood: Initially serene and mundane, quickly becoming tense and miraculous.
Miss Nancy discovers the tied Lion while gathering callalou and is persuaded to free him, leading to the trees crying 'Shame'.