Long ago, mankind often told tales to show praise to the gods as a sign of respect, and for as long man has existed these legends have been known as Nyankupon tales. He was the chief of all of the gods and demanded to be revered due to his powerful status. One day, the spider god known as Anansi approached Nyankupon pleading that he change the name of these stories to Anansi tales as the spider was extremely conceited. Nyankupon thought on the idea for some time then agreed, but only on the terms that Anansi bring him three different animals: a queen bee, an alligator, and a panther, as an offering before the sun set. Anansi agreed to the terms and swiftly went down to Earth to begin his mission. Anansi first set out for the queen bee as it was the smallest and he knew he could trick a bug. Anansi approached the hive which hung low on a leaning branch and set a web around the many entrances. Anansi knew the other bees were off scavenging food for their queen, so he then pretended to make noise outside as if he were the returning worker bees, as he had heard the sound many times in his home web. The queen bee rushed out of the hive only to be stuck in Anansi's web, who promptly sent the first of his gifts back up to Nyankupon. Anansi went to a nearby swamp to begin his search for an alligator when he suddenly saw a massive gator resting in the mud on the opposite bank. Anansi began to sneak around the swamp towards the gator when suddenly he heard a commotion break out and couldn't believe his luck, a panther was sizing the gator up and a fight was brewing. Anansi rushed over to the two killer beasts and began to holler and shout until they both turned to him. Anansi convinces the two predators to go prove who the better hunter is and sets the challenge to be whoever catches a rabbit first wins. Anansi declares the start of this competition and quickly sneaks away again only to set a massive web trap under some leaves after spotting a nearby rabbit. He rustles some bushes to attract the two beasts who promptly come racing for the innocent hare. Instantly they realize what happened, but a moment too late as they both become trapped in Anansi's web trap. Anansi overcome with joy rushes back to Nyankupon to show him his offerings and tell him off his trickery. Impressed with his wits and swiftness Nyankupon agrees to change the name of the legends to forever be known as Anansi tales.
Author's Notes:
Changed the offerings from a jar of bees to a queen bee as it is a harder to obtain and made more sense then using a jar for measurment. Also changed the tiger to a panther as well as he boa constrictor to an alligator to make the task seem more daunting for a spider. Changed how the two larger creatures were captured by playing into he spider's web abilities rather than have him sew his own eye shut and convince the tiger to sew his own in the original tale.
Bibliography:
West African Folktales from the UN-Textbook
(
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-west-african.html)
Hi Brandon!
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your retelling of this folktale. It's not one I've read so I was really interested in how it was going to turn out. I actually expected the spider to fail and learn some sort of lesson, but instead he succeeded!
I liked the change you made of how he captured the panther and alligator. The sewing his eye shut just sounds weird and I'm unsure how that worked.
My suggestions would be to indent throughout the story to make it easier for the reader, and also to add some dialogue to break up the narration.
Hi Brandon!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the stories! I agree with Jana that some indentation to break up the shorter stories within and to make it easier to read would be a good idea! I am not sure if dialogue is really necessary for this story as a whole.
I thought your changes to the story were very creative and gave the stories some extra drama. An alligator is more daunting than a boa constrictor...I think. I would not want to face either!