Tiny Tales: Traditional Stories in 100 Words: artist: PCSmith

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~ 83. Anansi, Rabbit, and Horse-Fly ~

Laura Gibbs · 83. Anansi, Rabbit, and Horse-Fly

Anansi visited Godfather Rabbit and Godmother Rabbit.

When Godmother Rabbit went to fetch water, Anansi hit Godfather Rabbit on the head and killed him.

Godmother Rabbit came back and found her husband dead.

"You must bury him, Anansi!" she said.

"I will," said Anansi. "Just give me some lard and a frying pan. Horse-Fly will help me."

Anansi and Horse-Fly took Rabbit into the woods where they cooked him and ate him.

"I'll tell Mrs. Rabbit he was delicious!" said Horse-Fly.

"No, you won't!" shouted Anansi.

Then Anansi cut out Horse-Fly's tongue, which is why Horse-Fly only says bzzz-bzzz-bzzz now.

Inspired by: Annancy Stories by Pamela Colman Smith

Notes: You can read the story online: Annancy and Gingy Fly. The Bantu word for "fly" is ginggi. Here are Smith's illustrations:

~ 27. Anansi's Magic Yams ~

Laura Gibbs · 27. Tiger and Anansi's Yams

Anansi's yams were magic! Only Anansi could pull them out of the ground.

Tiger was hungry. "Let me harvest your yams," he begged Anansi.

Anansi laughed. "You can try!"

Tiger dug and dug. The yams wouldn't come out.

Tiger got angry and started slicing yams with his machete.

Then the yams jumped up and chased Tiger.

"Ticky-Picky-Boom-Boom!" they shouted. "TICKY-PICKY-BOOM-BOOM!"

Tiger ran. The yams ran too.

"Help me, Goat!" shouted Tiger. Goat butted the yams into the river.

The yams drowned.

Tiger and Goat fished out the yams and ate them up.

But Tiger still has bad yam dreams: Ticky-Picky-BOOM-BOOM!

Inspired by: Anansi the Spider Man by Philip Sherlock
Notes: This story is on p. 76 of the book: Ticky-Picky-Boom-Boom. In Sherlock's version, Tiger asks Dog and Duck to help him before he gets help from Goat. Here is Tiger hiding from the yams in Pamela Colman Smith's illustration:

~ 107. Anansi and John Crow ~

Laura Gibbs · 107. Anansi and John Crow

Anansi threw a big party, and John Crow was the best dancer there.

John Crow danced even better than Anansi, and that made Anansi mad.

As soon as the porridge was hot, Anansi said, "Dance on up here, John Crow, and I'll give you some of this hot porridge."

So John Crow went strutting up to the porridge pot.

Then Anansi grabbed the ladle and poured hot porridge on John Crow's head, and it stripped his head feathers clean off.

That's why John Crow has a bald head to this day: Anansi burned his feathers off with the hot porridge!

Inspired by: Jamaica Anansi Stories by Martha Warren Beckwith
Notes: This is story 47 in the book. Beckwith heard this story from Henry Spence; additional information in Beckwith's notes. Spence just says the "pop" was ready ("pop" is a variant spelling for "pap"), so I rendered that as porridge; more about porridges around the world at Wikipedia. Beckwith has another version of the story where Anansi christens John Crow with hot water, and that version also appears in Pamela Colman Smith's version which is about John Crow and all his family and friends:

The "John Crow" is a red-headed turkey buzzard or "carrion crow" also called "cyancro" and "John Crow." Beckwith collected a song about Kyan-Crow: story 145. In Sherlocks "Anansi and the Old Hag," Anansi loses all his winnings when he makes fun of Turkey being bald.

(turkey buzzard)

~ 121. Anansi and the Fish-Children ~

Laura Gibbs · 121. Anansi and the Fish-Children

"Our mother's sick!" said the Fish-children.

"I'll cure her," Anansi said. "Give me a frying pan and some oil. I'll tell you when she's cured."

The Fish-children agreed, and Anansi fried the mother and ate her.

"Come in now!" he said.

"Where's our mother?" said the Fish-children.

"I ate her!" said Anansi.

The Fish were angry. "We're going to kill you!" they said, and they grabbed Anansi.

"Just don't burn me in the trash-heap!" shouted Anansi. "Whatever you do, don't burn me in the trash-heap!"

When the Fish-children put him in the trash-heap, Anansi scurried away, laughing at the Fish-children.

Inspired by: Jamaica Anansi Stories by Martha Warren Beckwith
Notes: This is story 38 in the book. Beckwith heard this story from Rennie Macfarlane; additional information in Beckwith's notes. In Macfarlane's version, Anansi runs away and the fish get help from mule to catch him, but I left that part out. Here is Pamela Colman Smith's illustration:

~ 40. Anansi and the Yam-Hills ~

Laura Gibbs · 40. Unlucky Number Five

Saying the number five was bad luck. Anyone who said "five" dropped down dead!

Anansi decided to play a trick. He dug five yam-hills, and then he sat beside his yam-field, weeping.

Hog walked by. "What's wrong?" Hog asked.

"I can't count my yam-hills," said Anansi.

"You fool!" said Hog. "I'll count: one-two-three-four-five."

When Hog said "five" he dropped down dead.

Anansi ate him. Goat too. Dog. Cow.

Then Monkey came. "One-two-three-four," Monkey said, "plus one more!"

"You fool!" shouted Anansi. "Can't you count? It goes like this: one-two-three-four-five!"

When Anansi said five, he fell down dead.

Monkey ate him.

Inspired by: Jamaica Anansi Stories by Martha Warren Beckwith
Notes: This is story 31 in the book. Beckwith heard this story from George Parkes; additional information in Beckwith's notes. The number varies from story to story; I went with five. In some versions of this story, the number is the name of a witch, which is why it is deadly to pronounce. Here are Pamela Colman Smith's illustrations:

~ 190. Anansi and Death's Barbecue ~

Laura Gibbs · 190. Anansi Meets Death

Anansi saw someone barbecuing meat. It was Death!

"Can I eat?" Anansi asked.

Death said nothing.

Anansi took some meat. "My daughter can cook for you," Anansi said, and Anansi brought his daughter to Death.

Later, Anansi saw his daughter wearing Death's ring. Anansi was angry! He grabbed Death's long hair and tied him to a tree. He lit a fire, but the fire just burned Death's hair.

Death got loose and chased Anansi.

Anansi's family hid from Death, but Death grabbed them one by one.

Only Anansi escaped; he hid in the dirt. Anansi still lives in the dirt.

Inspired by: Jamaica Anansi Stories by Martha Warren Beckwith
Notes: This is story 27a in the book. Beckwith heard this story from Grace Doran; additional information in Beckwith's notes. The story also appears in Jekyll: 9. Brother Annancy and Brother Death (very long, detailed version). Here is Pamela Colman Smith's illustration:

~ 167. Anansi and the Handsome Calabash ~

Laura Gibbs · 167. Anansi and the Handsome Calabash

Anansi saw a calabash tree.

When he grabbed a calabash, it said, "I'm handsome! I do handsome!"

"Show me, Handsome Calabash!" said Anansi.

A table covered with food appeared. Anansi ate, and then the table disappeared.

Anansi took Handsome Calabash home, hid it in the attic, and ate in secret.

But Anansi's wife spied on him.

When Anansi left, she said "Show me, Handsome Calabash!" But she dropped the calabash and it cracked.

Anansi came home and went to the attic. "Show me, Handsome Calabash!" he said.

No food!

Instead, Handsome Calabash whipped Anansi and ran back into the woods.

Inspired by: Jamaica Anansi Stories by Martha Warren Beckwith
Notes: This is story 25a in the book. Beckwith heard this story from Moses Hendricks; additional information in Beckwith's notes. I had to shorten this story: in the full version, Anansi goes on to plant the whipping calabash in the house so that when his family things they're getting food, they get whipped. In other versions of this story, Anansi gets a magic pot (or tablecloth) which he is not supposed to wash, but his wife washes it, and the magic power is gone. There are many versions of this story; here is an illustration from Pamela Colman Smith's version:

~ 159. Anansi's New Name ~

Laura Gibbs · 159. Anansi's New Name

Anansi, Tiger, and Parrot all changed their names: Anansi was Che-che-bun-da, Tiger was Yellow-prissenda, and Parrot was Green-corn-ero. If someone's mother didn't use the new name, they would eat her!

When Tiger's mother forgot to say "Yellow-prissenda," they ate her.

That night Anansi went secretly to his mother. "Remember: I'm Che-che-bun-da!" he said.

The next day Parrot's mother forgot to say "Green-corn-ero" and they ate her.

That night, Anansi went to his mother again. "Hello, Anansi!" she said.

"No! I'm Che-che-bun-da! Che-che-bun-da!"

The next day they went to Anansi's mother.

"Hello, Che-che-bun-da!" she said.

So they didn't eat Anansi's mother.

Inspired by: Jamaica Anansi Stories by Martha Warren Beckwith
Notes: This is story 14 in the book. Beckwith heard this story from Samuel Christie; additional information in Beckwith's notes. In the original it was Tacoomah as one of the friends also, but I shortened it by leaving him out. Here are Pamela Colman Smith's illustrations:

~ 2. Anansi's Riding-Horse ~

Laura Gibbs · 2. Anansi's Riding-Horse

Anansi kept saying Tiger was his father's riding-horse.

This made Tiger angry!

Tiger went to Anansi's house.

"Come with me!" Tiger said. "You're going to tell everybody the truth."

"I'm sick!" groaned Anansi. "I'm too weak to walk."

"Then get on my back," said Tiger.

Anansi fetched his saddle and bridle and spurs.

"What do you need all that for?" asked Tiger.

"To keep from falling off," Anansi said. "I feel so weak."

Anansi got in the saddle, and he spurred Tiger.

Tiger ran.

"Just like I said!" Anansi shouted. "Tiger was my father's riding-horse. And now he's mine too!"

Inspired by: Jamaica Anansi Stories by Martha Warren Beckwith
Notes: This is story 3 in the book. Beckwith heard this story from William Forbes; additional information in Beckwith's notes. In the original story, Tiger and Anansi are courting the same women, and Anansi boasts to the women about his father riding Tiger. Tiger then insists that Anansi go with him to see those women; I couldn't get all that in the story, so I just had Anansi boasting in general. Here is an illustration from Pamela Colman Smith's version of the story:

Anansi and the Five Doubloons

There was a woman with three daughters, and she allowed nobody to come into the house.

"I can get into that house!' shouted Anansi.

"You cannot!" everybody said.

"Want to be?"

They bet five golden doubloons.

Then Anansi went to the house and he sang and danced at the door, playing his fiddle. The daughters came to listen to the music. He sang and danced and fiddled, and the daughters begged their mother to let him come in.

So they let him in, had a big feast, and they danced all night long.

Anansi also won the five golden doubloons!

Inspired by: Annancy Stories by Pamela Colman Smith

Notes: You can read the story online: How Annancy Win De Five Dubbloon. Smith did the illustrations also:

Anansi and Kling-Kling

Anansi and the Kling-Kling bird played cards, and the winner took a bite of the loser. Kling-Kling kept winning and biting Anansi.
Then Anansi won, but Kling-Kling flew off before Anansi could take a bite.
Anansi went to Tiger. "Help me catch that no-good Kling-Kling," he said.
"Okay!" said Tiger. "I'll pretend to be dead. Everybody will come to the funeral."
Tiger stretched out, completely still.
All the animals came. Even Kling-Kling.
"Tiger's not dead!" shouted Kling-Kling. "Somebody dead gives one big last laugh."
Tiger let out a laugh.
"Told you he wasn't dead!" shouted Kling-Kling, and away he flew.

Inspired by: Anansi the Spider Man by Philip Sherlock
Notes: This story is on p. 41 of the book: The Kling-Kling Bird. The "Kling-Kling" bird is a kind of grackle. Here is an illustration by Pamela Colman Smith for her version of the story:

Rabbit, Dry-Bone, and Anansi

Rabbit went hunting and met Dry-Bone.

Rabbit grabbed Dry-Bone, shoved him in his bag, and headed home.

The bag got heavier and heavier.

"Can't put me down!" shouted Dry-Bone. "Pick me up, you pick up trouble!"

Anansi came along. "What's in your sack?" he asked.

"You can have it!" shouted Rabbit, and then Anansi was stuck with Dry-Bone.

Anansi carried Dry-Bone home. He had to get rid of him!

"What is smoother: your head or that rock?" asked Anansi.

"My head!" Dry-Bone replied.

"Let's see!" said Anansi.

He put Dry-Bone on the rock, called Hawk, and Hawk carried Dry-Bone away.

Inspired by: Jamaican Song and Story by Walter Jekyll
Notes: This is story 15 in the book. In Jekyll's story, Rabbit is hunting with Guinea-Pig, and Guinea-Pig knows better than to pick up Dry-Bone, and he laughs at Rabbit's trouble. When Dry-Bone gets to Anansi's house, he pays the Cock to keep an eye on Anansi, so when Anansi sends Dry-Bone away he also promises to pay Cock. In Berry's version, it is Dog instead of Rabbit who picks up Dry-Skull: Anancy, Dog and Old Higue Dry-Skull. Jekyll has Anansi luring Dry-Bone out into the sun, while the motif of comparing its head to a smooth stone is in Wona's version. Here is Pamela Colman Smith's illustration for Anansi and Dry-Kull (Dry-Skull):

Anansi and the Pudding-Tree

Anansi found a Pudding Tree, and he stuffed himself every night, bringing back just one pudding for his family to share.
Anansi's son Cunning-More-Than-Father filled Anansi's bag with ashes and cut a tiny hole so he could follow the trail to the tree. Then Cunning-More-Than-Father harvested all the puddings except one. "Pudding," he told the last one, "don't let my father Anansi get you!"
Anansi came, and the pudding ran away.
Dog ate the pudding, so Anansi chased Dog. He caught Dog and squeezed to make the pudding come out.
Where Anansi squeezed there are hollows in Dog's sides now.

Inspired by: Jamaica Anansi Stories by Martha Warren Beckwith
Notes: This is story 24 in the book. Beckwith heard this story from William Forbes; additional information in Beckwith's notes. This story names the son Tacoomah, but I used the name Cunning-More-Than-Father which appears in other stories. You can read more about this pudding, called Duckano, at Wikipedia. The story is in Johnson also: Why Dog Has a Hollow Around His Belly. Here are Pamela Colman Smith's illustrations: