Anansi had a magic onion field: if you counted the onions up to seven, you fell down dead!
Goat came by and saw Anansi crying. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I don't know how to count my onions," Anansi said.
Goat counted, and when he said "seven," he fell down dead. Anansi ate him.
Same for Dog. Sheep. Cow.
Rabbit came. "One two three four five six plus one," he said.
"That's not right!" said Anansi.
Rabbit counted the same again.
"You fool! Can't you count?" Then Anansi counted. When he said "seven," he fell down dead, and Rabbit ate him.
Inspired by: Folklore of the Antilles by Elsie Clews Parsons.
Notes: Parsons collected this story in Grenada; you can find it online at Hathi Trust; she indexes it as: Fatal Count.
Anansi and Rabbit would be better up teaming up as con-artists rather than trying to outdo each other all the time!
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