One son drank a river in their way. "Excellent, Drink-a-River!"
Another son saw the Red Diamond glowing on a mountaintop. "Excellent, Bright-Eyes!"
But when Bright-Eyes came down, he fell from the mountaintop.
His brother caught him. "Excellent, Catch-Cushion!"
All his sons were excellent.
So Anansi threw the silver ball up in the air. "Catch it if you can!" he shouted.
But the ball shattered: it became the stars and moon.
Inspired by: Cric Crac: A Acollection of West Indian Stories by Grace Hallworth
Notes: This is story 7 in the book: How the Stars Came into the Sky. Hallworth heard the story from Louise Williams. The full version of this Anansi-fairy-tale goes into lots of detail about the sons, and there are four, not three; the fourth son leaps over a mountain to get the jewel back to the king before the deadline, but I couldn't fit him into the story. Ishmael's The Magic Pot: Nansi Stories from the Caribbean has a version with six sons: Able to See Trouble, Road Builder, Able to Dry Rivers, Skinner of Game, Stone Thrower, and Lie on the Ground like a Cushion.
Notes: This is story 7 in the book: How the Stars Came into the Sky. Hallworth heard the story from Louise Williams. The full version of this Anansi-fairy-tale goes into lots of detail about the sons, and there are four, not three; the fourth son leaps over a mountain to get the jewel back to the king before the deadline, but I couldn't fit him into the story. Ishmael's The Magic Pot: Nansi Stories from the Caribbean has a version with six sons: Able to See Trouble, Road Builder, Able to Dry Rivers, Skinner of Game, Stone Thrower, and Lie on the Ground like a Cushion.
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