Anansi and the Pudding-Tree

Anansi found a Pudding Tree, and he stuffed himself every night, bringing back just one pudding for his family to share.
Anansi's son Cunning-More-Than-Father filled Anansi's bag with ashes and cut a tiny hole so he could follow the trail to the tree. Then Cunning-More-Than-Father harvested all the puddings except one. "Pudding," he told the last one, "don't let my father Anansi get you!"
Anansi came, and the pudding ran away.
Dog ate the pudding, so Anansi chased Dog. He caught Dog and squeezed to make the pudding come out.
Where Anansi squeezed there are hollows in Dog's sides now.


Inspired byJamaica Anansi Stories by Martha Warren Beckwith
Notes: This is story 24 in the book. Beckwith heard this story from William Forbes; additional information in Beckwith's notes. This story names the son Tacoomah, but I used the name Cunning-More-Than-Father which appears in other stories. You can read more about this pudding, called Duckano, at Wikipedia. The story is in Johnson also: Why Dog Has a Hollow Around His Belly. Here are Pamela Colman Smith's illustrations:







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