Anansi and Tiger went hunting.
Tiger caught a goat, but Anansi didn't catch anything.
Anansi didn't like that, so he decided to trick Tiger.
"That's a nice goat!" Anansi said.
"I'm going to take this goat home, kill it, and cook it," said Tiger.
"Did you say grace yet?" Anansi asked him.
Tiger looked ashamed. "No, Anansi, I didn't say grace yet."
"You better say grace right away!" said Anansi. "Put your hands together and say: Thank the Lord."
When Tiger put his hands together, the goat got free and ran off.
Tiger was left with nothing.
Anansi just laughed!
Inspired by: Jamaica Anansi Stories by Martha Warren Beckwith
Notes: This is story 12b in the book. Beckwith heard this story from Henry Spence; additional information in Beckwith's notes. In the original, Anansi is telling Tiger what to do next time, but I had just one goat in the story, not two. The original is very short; here is what appears in Beckwith:
Anansi and Tiger go out hunting one day. Tiger catch one wild goat, Anansi no catch one. Anansi say to him, "Brar Tiger, wha' you say when you catch dis goat?" So Tiger say, "Not'ing!" Anansi say, "Brar Tiger, nex' time when you catch goat so, you mus' put goat under yo' arm an' knockey han' at top say, 'T'ank de Lord!'" An' Tiger did so an' de goat get away gone; de two lose.
It serves Tiger being right for being so gullible and so religious. I bet Anansi couldn't wait to get back to his intelligent friends and tell them about how he conned Tiger!
ReplyDeleteCruel trick that
ReplyDeleteYou're just jealous that you wouldn't think of anything like that!
DeleteI wouldn't trick someone like that even if I was clever enough.
Delete