~ 168. Anansi's Fork ~


Anansi dropped his ax in the river. He dived in. 
No ax, but he found a fork. "I'll feed you!" it said.
"Feed me!" Anansi yelled, and there was food. Anansi ate and ate.
Anansi invited everybody to a party.
"Feed me!" he yelled. There was food for everybody.
Then the fork stopped working.
Anansi threw another ax in the river and dived in. No ax, no fork, but he found a whip.
"Feed me!" Anansi yelled. But the whip just beat him.
Anansi invited everybody to another party.
"Feed me!" he yelled, and the whip beat all the people.


Inspired byJamaica Anansi Stories by Martha Warren Beckwith
Notes: This is story 25b in the book. Beckwith heard this story from William Forbes; additional information in Beckwith's notes. I really had to shorten this story. In the original it's a knife and fork, not just a fork. The magic implements stop working because ants crawl on them and make their nest there. At the end, Anansi makes a big show of locking the door and windows at the party so that when the people try to escape the whip they are trapped and have to break the house down.


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