ANANSI
THE
SPIDER
Once upon a time in a village far away,
it was time to eat lunch for the day.
Mr.
Turtle's tummy was a -rumbling.
He was ready to cook up something.
In his garden,
Mr.
Turtle trundled.
Under his flippers, yams he bundled.
I shall make a yam stew, said he.
A delicious feast just for me.
Into the pot the yams went smush
smash smash.
He whipped up the stew in it jiffy,
in a flash.
Yow!
It was hot and needed to chill,
so he left it on the windowsill.
And
Nancy, the trickster spider, was nearby.
He'd had no lunch, not even a fly.
Suddenly, a delicious smell of stew
in his nostrils grew and grew.
Sniff, sniff!
And
Nancy followed the smell towards
a house shaped like a shell.
There on the sill was a tasty stew.
And yam was his favourite stew too.
Anansi knock -knocked
on the house of shell.
Mr
Turtle appeared and sighed as well.
Can I eat some of your stew?
Anansi said.
But
Mr
Turtle just shook his head.
Mr
Turtle thought this was rude.
After all, the stew was his food.
No, you can't, he said to
Anansi.
This tasty feast is just for me.
Everyone knew
Anansi was cheeky.
He always made plans that were sneaky.
He suddenly thought of a cunning trick
to eat this stew ever so quick.
He said,
If I make something fly without wings,
Mr
Turtle,
can I try some of your delicious stew?
It seemed this couldn't be true.
Mr
Turtle laughed.
Something fly?
Without wings? I'd like to see you try!
If this thing can fly fast an d true,
then I'll give you all of my tasty stew !"
Tee hee hee!
Anansi chuckled then too.
He knew exactly what to do.
He shot a long spider string,
so thin you couldn't see a thing.
He shot it towards the window, where
the stew was ready to go.
And
Nancy glided on this spider string.
Whoosh!
It looked like he was flying!
And
Nancy slided and glided along.
The silk string was nice and strong.
Soon, he reached the stew pot,
and in his eight arms it was caught.
Mr
Turtle was so surprised,
he couldn't believe his turtle eyes.
Why, how did you do that?
said he.
And
Nancy giggled and danced with glee.
Mr.
Turtle felt sad and defeated.
Little did he know,
he'd just been cheated.
You can have all the yam stew.
You flew without wings, that is true.
I'd like to share this stew, said
Anansi.
Mr.
Turtle smiled.
Great idea, I agree.
Slurp!
They ate the tasty stew right up,
and often after, together would sup.