A wealthy woman had no children, and she wanted a baby.
Walking by the river one day, she found a baby.
She hired a nurse named Tamanty to take care of the baby, and she set Anansi to watch over Tamanty.
Anansi didn't like Tamanty, so he told her, "Hit the child with the broomstick."
Tamanty hit the child.
The little girl cried and then ran for the river, singing, "No-na-no, Tamanty! No-na-no, Anansi! I'm a river crawfish, without any mama. Poor me, river crawfish! River is my mama!"
The child ran right into the river and became a crawfish.
Inspired by: Jamaica Anansi Stories by Martha Warren Beckwith
Notes: This is story 99 in the book. Beckwith heard this story from Moses Hendricks; additional information in Beckwith's notes. Beckwith interprets this story as being a fragment of a more detailed supernatural prohibition story where breaking the prohibition sends the supernatural character back to their original home.
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