The Spider's Toes

Bushcat was tired of Anansi's tricks, so she decided to kill him.
"Six" is the name of Bushcat's mother; if you say that name in Bushcat's house, you fall down dead. So Bushcat invited Anansi to her house for dinner, and after dinner, she said to Anansi, "I've got five toes on my foot: one, two three, four, five. How many toes do you have, Anansi?"
Bushcat knew spiders have eight toes!
"Well," said Anansi, "this toe is one, and this is two, three, four, five, but I don't know the names of my other toes."
That's how Anansi escaped.



Inspired by: "Why the Bush-Cat Calls Hoo-I Hoo-I at Night" in We Two in West Africa by Decima Moore and F. G. Guggisberg, 1909.
Notes: You can read the original story online. The author notes: "A Kwahu story told by Mr. Crawther." But Bushcat doesn't give up; the story continues: Bushcat and Anansi.



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