Anansi and the Silent Child

The king had a daughter with golden teeth and a golden tongue but she never talked.
"I'll reward anyone who can make my child talk!" said the king.
So Anansi played on his fiddle:
Poly-don-ya-sin-do,
Merry-day-t'-day-ya,
    Sin-do, sin-do-o!"
The child smiled, but she didn't talk.
So Anansi played faster. Then she laughed; Anansi could see her golden teeth.
He played faster, and then the child was humming.
Faster! And then the child was singing too:
Poly-don-ya-sin-do,
Merry-day-t'-day-ya!
Faster! Faster!
Poly-don-ya-sin-do,
Poly-don-ya-sin-do,
Poly-don-ya-sin-do!
And then the girl just started talking, and Anansi got a big reward from the king.

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Inspired by: Jamaica Anansi Stories by Martha Warren Beckwith
Notes: This is story 95 in the book. Beckwith heard this story from George Parkes; additional information in Beckwith's notes. In Parkes's story, the girl is someone else's daughter but the king is offering the reward; I just made her the king's child to start with.