Why Ananse Has Eight Thin Legs

Anansi, which means "spider" in the African language of Akaan, has always been a great trickster. Though he always had eight legs, once upon a time they were small and sturdy, not the long and spindly legs spiders have now. Anansi was proud of his legs and the story of how he lost them is an interesting one.

Anansi was always a lazy spider. Instead of cooking his own dinner, he liked to drop in on his neighbors houses and sample their suppers. One evening he followed the scent of boiling carrots to his friend Hare's house. "Those carrots smell delicious," said Anansi as he barged into Hare's house. "Anansi, what a pleasant surprise," cried Hare, who wasn't bright enough to know that Anansi was a terrible dinner guest. "I'm afraid that they're not quite done yet, but you're more than welcome to join me for dinner." "Wish I could, but I'm very busy," Anansi lied. He didn't have anything else to do but he knew if he waited around, Hare would ask him to help cook or set the table. If Anansi had wanted to do that, he would've just made his own dinner.

Then, he had a brilliant idea. "I know," he said. "I'll make a web and tie one end around my leg. You just hold onto the other end and when the carrots are ready, just give it a tug and I'll come back. " Hare agreed and Anansi went on his way.

"I smell beans" thought Anansi as he walked through the village. He stopped in front of monkey's house where the smell was coming from. "Would you like to join me for dinner," asked monkey politely. "The beans are almost done." "Ah, if only I could Monkey but I have many things to do," said Anansi. Once more, though, Anansi suggested attaching a web to his leg so that he could be alerted when the meal was ready. Monkey liked the idea and Anansi headed down the road laughing to himself, "Ha, ha, ha".

The next thing Anansi smelled was a pot of boiling potatoes. "Is someone boiling some potatoes," he asked. "What a nose you've got," called his friend hog. "I'm making some potatoes right now. I'd love for you to have some of them as I'm actually going on a diet quite soon." "Sounds like a plan," squealed Anansi, who attached another web to his leg and gave it to Hog.

He continued on like this until he had a web attached to each of his eight legs. Webs that each led to a free meal. Anansi decided he'd go lay down in the sun and take a nap before dinner. He was awoken from his sleep by a tugging at one of his legs. He looked down and saw it was one of the webs. He wondered who was pulling it. "Could it be Hare's carrots or Monkey's beans or Hog's potatoes?" He didn't have long to wonder which was done first because another web was being pulled. And then another. And then another. Soon Anansi was being pulled in eight different directions. When the eight different webs lifted him off the ground, he wondered if maybe this wasn't such a great idea. Eventually everyone stopped pulling on their webs but not before Anansi had been stretched out of proportion. And from that day on, Anansi had eight thin, longs legs and never tried to trick people for their food again.

This interesting story has already been posted by #Chinesta10. Check the stories section and act accordingly.