One night Anansi went to the river alone.
He heard singing. The ghosts were singing!
Dead men scooping water in skulls, scoop-scoop-scoop…
Anansi wanted to sing with the ghosts.
“No!” they told him. “Your head will explode.”
Anansi couldn’t resist; he started singing.
His head exploded, and the ghosts repaired it.
“We won’t be there to help you next time,” they warned him.
But Anansi couldn’t stop himself. The next day he started singing that song: Scoop-scoop-scoop…
His head exploded.
“Help, ghosts!” he shouted.
It was daytime; the ghosts didn’t hear him.
That’s why Anansi has such an itty-bitty head.
[a story from Ghana]
Inspired by: "Why the Spider's Head is Small" in We Two in West Africa by Decima Moore and F. G. Guggisberg, 1909.
Notes: You can read the original story online. It is a story from Ghana; no additional information about the source is provided.
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