Long long ago people
didn't know anything. They
didn't know how to plant
crops, or how to weave
cloth, or how to make iron
tools.
The god Nyame up in the
sky had all the wisdom of
the world. He kept it safe
in a clay pot.
One day, Nyame decided
that he would give the pot
of wisdom to Anansi.
Every time Anansi looked
in the clay pot, he learned
something new. It was so
exciting!
Greedy Anansi thought,
"I'll keep the pot safe at
the top of a tall tree. Then
I can have it all to myself!"
He spun a long thread,
wound it round the clay
pot, and tied it to his
stomach.
He began to climb the
tree. But it was hard
climbing the tree with the
pot bumping him in the
knees all the time.
All the time Anansi's young
son had been standing at
the bottom of the tree
watching. He said,
"Wouldn't it be easier to
climb if you tied the pot to
your back instead?"
Anansi tried tying the clay
pot full of wisdom to his
back, and it really was a
lot easier.
In no time he reached the
top of the tree. But then he
stopped and thought, "I'm
supposed to be the one
with all the wisdom, and
here my son was cleverer
than me!"
Anansi was so angry
about this that he threw
the clay pot down out of
the tree.
It smashed into pieces on
the ground. The wisdom
was free for everyone to
share.
And that is how people
learned to farm, to weave
cloth, to make iron tools,
and all the other things
that people know how to
do.
Siddeeqah Davids- Anansi and wisdom
