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Words I
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<blockquote data-quote="TITOR RIGHT" data-source="post: 38514" data-attributes="member: 1031"><p><strong>Re: Words I</strong></p><p></p><p>[FONT=Arial Black, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 15px"><strong>I guess I should talk a little bit about Jotts & tiddles, the last forum I used, there were users that could edit a dictionary. So if you wanted to try to communicate with them, you had to play their games. My writing skills are not quite what they should be, hey I'm working on it. I do not make a living on a computer. I really only use it for two things , sharing ideas with others and research/news. </strong></span>[/FONT] </p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial Black, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 15px"><strong>I have a habit of just sitting down and banging out the stock idea, often even though I edit the piece, I will miss a few words (usually wrong form). I think your brain just goes brain dead right after you write something. If you read it right after you wrote it, your mind tries to plow through to quick and I seem to miss the obvious mistakes. However when I read something much later the errors stand out. That's when you realize why you should write something and hold it for a while, till your mind forgets what you were trying to say and read what you really wrote. Please if I leave a Jott & tiddle mistake to long inform me, I am not embarrassed by my need for improvement, it has been stated here before my “stuff is kind of rough “.</strong></span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial Black, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 15px"><strong>OK I told you we would speak of the “ Anansi ” The spider . First lets see if I can find a page for a source. </strong></span>[/FONT] </p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial Black, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 15px"><strong><a href="http://anansi-web.com/anansi.html" target="_blank">The Story of Anansi</a></strong></span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px"><strong>The Story of Anansi</strong></span>[/FONT]</p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">Anansi (ah-NAHN-see), the spider, is a popular figure in the folklore of parts of West Africa (the stories later came with slaves to the Caribbean islands.) Like Brer Rabbit in America, Anansi is a 'trickster' figure - clever, cunning, sometimes mischievous - who uses his wits to make up for what he lacks in size and strength.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">The following story tells how Anansi became the 'owner' of all stories.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">All Stories are Anansi's</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">In the beginning, all tales and stories belonged to Nyame, the Sky God. But Kwaku Anansi, the spider, yearned to be the owner of all the stories known in the world, and he went to Nyame and offered to buy them.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">The Sky God said: "I am willing to sell the stories, but the price is high. Many people have come to me offering to buy, but the price was too high for them. Rich and powerful families have not been able to pay. Do you think you can do it?"</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">Anansi replied to the Sky God: "I can do it. What is the price?"</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">"My price is three things," the Sky God said. "I must first have Mmoboro, the hornets. I must then have Onini, the great python. I must then have Osebo, the leopard. For these thing I will sell you the right to tell all the stories."</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">Anansi said: "I will bring them."</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">He went home and made his plans. He first cut a gourd from a vine and made a small hole in it. He took a large bowl and filled it with water. He went to the tree where the hornets lived. He poured some of the water over himself, so that he was dripping. He threw some water over the hornets, so that they too were dripping. Then he put the bowl on his head, as thought to protect himself from a storm, and called out to the hornets: "Are you foolish people? Why do you stay in the rain that is falling?"</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">The hornets answered: "Where shall we go?"</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">"Go here, in this dry gourd," Anansi told them.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">The hornets thanked him and flew into the gourd through the small hole. When the last of them had entered, Anansi plugged the hole with a ball of grass, saying: "Oh, yes, but you are really foolish people!"</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">He took his gourd full of hornets to Nyame, the Sky God. The Sky God accepted them. He said: "There are two more things."</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">Anansi returned to the forest and cut a long bamboo pole and some strong vines. Then he walked toward the house of Onini, the python, talking to himself. He seemed to be talking about an argument with his wife. He said: "My wife is wrong. I say he is longer and stronger. My wife says he is shorter and weaker. I give him more respect. She gives him less respect. Is she right or am I right? I am right, he is longer. I am right, he is stronger."</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">When Onini, the python, heard Anansi talking to himself, he said: "Why are you arguing this way with yourself?"</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">The spider replied: "Ah, I have had a dispute with my wife. She says you are shorter and weaker than this bamboo pole. I say you are longer and stronger."</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">Onini said: "It's useless and silly to argue when you can find out the truth. Bring the pole and we will measure."</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">So Anansi laid the pole on the ground, and the python came and stretched himself out beside it.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">"You seem a little short," Anansi said.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">The python stretched further.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">"A little more," Anansi said.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">"I can stretch no more," Onini said.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">"When you stretch at one end, you get shorter at the other end," Anansi said. "Let me tie you at the front so you don't slip."</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">He tied Onini's head to the pole. Then he went to the other end and tied the tail to the pole. He wrapped the vine all around Onini, until the python couldn't move.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">"Onini," Anansi said, "it turns out that my wife was right and I was wrong. You are shorter than the pole and weaker. My opinion wasn't as good as my wife's. But you were even more foolish than I, and you are now my prisoner."</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">Anansi carried the python to Nyame, the Sky God, who said: "There is one thing more."</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">Osebo, the leopard, was next. Anansi went into the forest and dug a deep pit where the leopard liked to walk. He covered it with small branches and leaves and put dust on it, so that it was impossible to tell where the pit was. Anansi went away and hid. When Osebo came prowling in the black of night, he stepped into the trap Anansi had prepared and fell to the bottom. Anansi heard the sound of the leopard falling and he said: "Ah, Osebo, you are half-foolish!"</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">When morning came, Anansi went to the pit and saw the leopard there.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">"Osebo," he asked, "what are you doing in this hole?"</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">"I have fallen into a trap," Osebo said. "Help me out."</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">"I would gladly help you," Anansi said. "But I'm sure that if I bring you out, I will have no thanks for it. You will get hungry, and later on you will be wanting to eat me and my children."</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">"I promise it won't happen!" Osebo said.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">"Very well. Since you promise it, I will take you out," Anansi said.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">He bent a tall green tree toward the ground, so that it's top was over the pit, and he tied it that way. Then he tied a rope to the top of the tree and dropped the other end of it into the pit.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">"Tie this to your tail," he said.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">Osebo tied the rope to his tail.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">"Is it well tied?" Anansi asked.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">"Yes, it is well tied," the leopard said.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">"In that case," Anansi said, "you are not merely half-foolish, you are all-foolish."</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">And he took his knife and cut the other rope, the one that held the tree bowed to the ground. The tree straightened up with a snap, pulling Osebo out of the hole. He hung in the air head downward, twisting and turning. As he twisted and turned, he got so dizzy that Anansi had no trouble tying the leopard's feet with vines.</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">Anansi took the dizzy leopard, all tied up, to Nyame, the Sky God, saying: "Here is the third thing. Now I have paid the price."</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">Nyame said to him: "Kwaku Anansi, great warriors and chiefs have tried, but they have been unable to do it. You have done it. Therefore, I will give you the stories. From this day onward, all stories belong to you. Whenever a man tells a story, he must acknowledge that it is Anansi's tale."</span>[/FONT]</p><p> </p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">And that is why, in parts of Africa, the people love to tell, and love to hear, the stories they call "spider stories." And now, you have heard one too. </span>[/FONT] </p><p> </p><p></p><p><a href="http://anansistories.com/Traditional_Stories.html" target="_blank">Traditional Anansi Stories</a></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><img src="http://anansistories.com/sitebuilder/images/Ananci_Mrs_Guineafowl_co_-631x483.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <strong><em>Mrs. Guinea fowl said, "1, 2, 3, 4..."</em></strong> <span style="font-size: 9px">Copyright by Michael Auld</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 9px"></span> </p><p> <img src="http://anansistories.com/sitebuilder/images/five-227x256.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </p><p> <strong><span style="font-size: 15px">Anansi and the Yam Hills</span></strong> by Michael Auld</p><p><span style="font-size: 18px">O</span>nce in a before time, there lived an old woman who </p><p>had magical powers. Her name was <strong><span style="font-size: 12px">5</span></strong>. She was also so </p><p>evil that some people called her a witch. <strong><span style="font-size: 12px">5 </span></strong>hated her </p><p>name. No one knows why her parents named her the </p><p>number <strong><span style="font-size: 12px">5.</span></strong> When she was a child, other children would </p><p>make fun of her name. Sometimes when she was within </p><p>earshot, they would look out the corner of their eyes and </p><p>giggle as they said.</p><p></p><p> </p><p></p><p> " Give me <strong><span style="font-size: 12px">5</span></strong>!" </p><p> </p><p> They would slap their hands with a quick handshake and burst out laughing. This taunting </p><p>always made <strong><span style="font-size: 12px">5</span></strong> angry.</p><p> </p><p> When she grew up, <strong><span style="font-size: 12px">5 </span></strong>decided to put an end to the name-calling. So, she created a weird spell.</p><p>"Anyone who says '<strong><span style="font-size: 12px">5</span></strong>' will drop dead,” she said. Then she changed her mind. “From this day on, </p><p>anyone who says ‘<strong><span style="font-size: 12px">5</span></strong>’ will disappear,"</p><p></p><p>This spell immediately caused a problem in the country. No one could say that number again </p><p>without disappearing. Children could no longer recite their five times tables. People had to drop </p><p>the word 'five' from their vocabulary. In <strong><span style="font-size: 12px">5</span></strong>’s village, the unlucky number was no longer <strong><span style="font-size: 12px">13</span></strong>.</p><p></p><p>Once a customer asked a merchant, “How much is that blue T-shirt?”</p><p></p><p>“That shirt is <strong><span style="font-size: 12px">5</span></strong> doh... ” Suddenly there was a loud “<strong>SWOOSH!</strong>” before the merchant could finish </p><p>his sentence. He disappeared right in front of the dumbfounded customer's eyes!</p><p></p><p></p><p>A crafty spider named Anansi lived in <strong><span style="font-size: 12px">5</span></strong>'s village. He had heard about the witch’s spell. Times </p><p>were very hard. Anansi was not a farmer and he had no food at all to eat. His wife and children </p><p>were starving. Since Anansi was small, and not a very good worker, he could only rely on his </p><p>brain to get whatever he needed to survive.</p><p></p><p>He said to himself. "Things are tough, boy! I <strong>must</strong> make this witch's spell work for me".</p><p></p><p>Anansi went to the road that led to the village's marketplace. He chose a spot on the side of the </p><p>road where everyone on the way to market would have to pass. There, near a large Guangu </p><p>tree, he decided to pile up five mounds of the rich brown soil. These mounds he called "yam </p><p>hills". In the top of each yam hill, he planted an African yellow yam. Then he drove a stake next </p><p>to the yam on which its vine could grow. Anansi carefully watered the yams until each one began </p><p>to sprout.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Anansi made a web-like a hammock in the Guangu tree and patiently waited for someone to </p><p>come by. Early one morning, after each yam shoot had poked its head out of a mound, Anansi </p><p>sat down next to his yam hills. Soon, Brother Dog came by on his way to the market. Dog </p><p>balanced a bankra basket of sweet-smelling fruits on his head as he walked down the road.</p><p></p><p>"Good morning Brother Dog," said Anansi in a sugary voice. "I know that you are busy, and I feel </p><p>so stupid. I am not an educated man like you. Would you help me to count how many yam hills </p><p>that I have planted here?" Anansi asked.</p><p></p><p>"You should have gone to school to learn how to count!" Brother Dog said grumpily as he </p><p>walked away from Anansi towards the market.</p><p></p><p>Anansi climbed up into the Guangu tree and waited.</p><p></p><p> The next person to come by</p><p> was Brother Bull. He carried a</p><p> large basket of fruits on</p><p> his head.</p><p></p><p> "Good day Bro' Bull." Anansi</p><p> said in a sad voice. "Could you</p><p> just spare me one minute?"</p><p> Anansi begged.</p><p></p><p> "What can I do for you, Anansi?" </p><p> Bro' Bull asked.</p><p></p><p> " I was a *yikki and sickly child. </p><p> So, my parents did not send me</p><p> to school. I never learned my</p><p> ABC's. I planted all these yam</p><p> hills... Can you help me to count</p><p> them?" Anansi said.</p><p></p><p> "But, of course Anansi"</p><p> Bro' Bull replied.</p><p> "You have 1, 2, 3, 4, <strong><span style="font-size: 12px">5</span></strong>...."</p><p></p><p> As he said that number, Brother</p><p> Bull disappeared into thin air. </p><p> The basket of sweet ripe fruits</p><p> that he had been carrying on</p><p>his head, fell to the ground. Anansi snatched up the basket of fruits and rushed home to eat </p><p>them all.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 15px">F</span></strong>or a long time, Anansi did very well tricking some passersby into counting his yam hills. He </p><p>grew fat from all the baskets of food he had gathered. He had tricked Brothers Turtle, Owl, </p><p>Mongoose, Hare, Peenie-Wallie the firefly, and even the tough Bro' Scorpion.</p><p></p><p>Mrs. Guinea fowl was a nice young mother of newly hatched children. She could not say 'no' to </p><p>anyone. She and her husband shared the chore of selling their produce in the village. That day </p><p>it was her turn to go to the marketplace. She loaded up her hand basket and headed for the </p><p>market. As she got closer to the yam hills Anansi was nowhere in sight. Just as she was about to </p><p>pass yam hill number 4, Anansi the spider lowered himself down from his perch in the Guangu </p><p>tree. He called out in his sugary voice.</p><p></p><p>"Good morning Mrs. Guinea Fowl. Could you help me with a problem?"</p><p></p><p>"Of course Anansi". The polite Mrs. Guinea Fowl said.</p><p></p><p>"I have these yam hills here, and I don't know how to count ... would you help me... ? Pleeezz." </p><p>Anansi begged.</p><p></p><p> Mrs. Guinea Fowl, who had seen</p><p> Anansi trick Bro' Scorpian, walked over</p><p> to the last yam hill and climbed</p><p> up on top of it. She said.</p><p></p><p> “You have 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... and</p><p> the one I am standing on".</p><p></p><p> "What! <strong>What are you doing?</strong></p><p><strong> That is not the way you count!</strong>"</p><p> Anansi shouted angrily.</p><p></p><p> "What do you mean, Anansi?"</p><p> Mrs. Guinea Fowl said.</p><p></p><p> "I don't know of any number</p><p> called 'the one I'm standing on'.</p><p> Start again!” Anansi ordered.</p><p></p><p> Mrs. Guinea Fowl began again.</p><p> </p><p> "You have 1, 2, 3, 4 ... and the</p><p> one I am standing on".</p><p></p><p> "<strong>That is not what you are</strong></p><p><strong> supposed to say!</strong>" Anansi</p><p> shouted even more angrily.</p><p></p><p>"Well ... If you are so smart... What am I supposed to say?" Mrs. Guinea Fowl asked.</p><p></p><p>Anansi shouted, "<strong>You are supposed to say</strong><strong><span style="font-size: 12px"> 1</span></strong>, <strong><span style="font-size: 12px">2</span></strong>, <strong><span style="font-size: 12px">3</span></strong>, <strong><span style="font-size: 12px">4</span></strong>, <strong><span style="font-size: 15px">5</span></strong> ... Oops…” Suddenly, Anansi </p><p>disappeared, leaving Mrs. Guinea Fowl with all the loot that he had gotten from tricking his </p><p>victims.</p><p></p><p><em>* yikki = small</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em><strong>The moral of this story is: "Greedy choke puppy"</strong> (or, "A greedy puppy will soon choke").</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-family: 'Copperplate Gothic Light'"><span style="color: Black">Anansi and the Ear of Corn</span></span><span style="color: Black"> </span><span style="color: Black">Anansi was one of God's chosen, and he lived in human form before he became a spider. One day he asked God for a simple ear of corn, promising that he would repay God with one hundred servants. God was always amused by the boastful and resourceful Anansi, and gave him the ear of corn.</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="color: Black"> Anansi set out with the ear and came to a village to rest. He told the chief of the village that he had a sacred ear of corn from God and needed both a place to sleep for the night and a safe place to keep the treasure. The chief treated Anansi as an honored guest and gave him a thatched-roof house to stay in, showing him a hiding place in the roof.</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="color: Black">During the night, while the entire village was fast asleep, Anansi woke the village with his cries. "What happened to the sacred corn? Who stole it? Certainly God will bring great punishment on this village!" He made such a fuss that the villagers begged him to take a whole bushel of corn as a demonstration of their apologies.</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="color: Black">He then set down the road with the bushel of corn until it grew too heavy for him to carry. He then met a man on the road who had a chicken, and Anansi exchanged the corn for the chicken. When Anansi arrived at the next village, he asked for a place to stay and a safe place to keep the "sacred" chicken. In this new village, Anansi was again treated as an honored guest, a great feast was held in his honor, and he was shown a house to stay in and given a safe place for the chicken.</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="color: Black">During the night Anansi butchered the chicken and smeared its blood and feathers on the door of the chief's house. In the morning he woke everyone with his cries, "The sacred chicken has been killed! Surely God will destroy this village for allowing this to happen!" The frightened villagers begged Anansi to take ten of their finest sheep as a token of their sincere apology.</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="color: Black">Anansi drove the sheep down the road until he came to a group of men carrying a corpse. He asked the men whose body they were carrying. The men answered that a traveler had died in their village and they were bearing the body home for a proper burial. Anansi then exchanged the sheep for the corpse and set out down the road.</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="color: Black">At the next village, Anansi told the people that the corpse was a son of God who was sleeping. He told them to be very quiet in order not to wake this important guest. The people in this village, to, held a great feast and treated Anansi as royalty.</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="color: Black">When morning came, Anansi told the villagers that he was having a hard time waking the "son of God" from sleep, and he asked their help. They started by beating drums, and the visitor remained "asleep". Then they banged pots and pans, but he was still "asleep." The the villagers pounded on the visitor's chest, and he still didn't stir.</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="color: Black">All of a sudden, Anansi cried out, "You have killed him! You have killed a son of God! Oh, no! Certainly God will destroy this whole village, if not the entire world!" The terrified villagers then told Anansi that he could pick one hundred of their finest young men as slaves if only he would appeal to God to save them.</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Black"></span><span style="font-size: 18px"><span style="color: Black">So Anansi returned to God, having turned one ear of corn into one hundred slaves</span></span></strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TITOR RIGHT, post: 38514, member: 1031"] [b]Re: Words I[/b] [FONT=Arial Black, sans-serif][SIZE=4][B]I guess I should talk a little bit about Jotts & tiddles, the last forum I used, there were users that could edit a dictionary. So if you wanted to try to communicate with them, you had to play their games. My writing skills are not quite what they should be, hey I'm working on it. I do not make a living on a computer. I really only use it for two things , sharing ideas with others and research/news. [/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial Black, sans-serif][SIZE=4][B]I have a habit of just sitting down and banging out the stock idea, often even though I edit the piece, I will miss a few words (usually wrong form). I think your brain just goes brain dead right after you write something. If you read it right after you wrote it, your mind tries to plow through to quick and I seem to miss the obvious mistakes. However when I read something much later the errors stand out. That's when you realize why you should write something and hold it for a while, till your mind forgets what you were trying to say and read what you really wrote. Please if I leave a Jott & tiddle mistake to long inform me, I am not embarrassed by my need for improvement, it has been stated here before my “stuff is kind of rough “.[/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial Black, sans-serif][SIZE=4][B]OK I told you we would speak of the “ Anansi ” The spider . First lets see if I can find a page for a source. [/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial Black, sans-serif][SIZE=4][B][URL="http://anansi-web.com/anansi.html"]The Story of Anansi[/URL][/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2][B]The Story of Anansi[/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Anansi (ah-NAHN-see), the spider, is a popular figure in the folklore of parts of West Africa (the stories later came with slaves to the Caribbean islands.) Like Brer Rabbit in America, Anansi is a 'trickster' figure - clever, cunning, sometimes mischievous - who uses his wits to make up for what he lacks in size and strength.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]The following story tells how Anansi became the 'owner' of all stories.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]All Stories are Anansi's[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]In the beginning, all tales and stories belonged to Nyame, the Sky God. But Kwaku Anansi, the spider, yearned to be the owner of all the stories known in the world, and he went to Nyame and offered to buy them.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]The Sky God said: "I am willing to sell the stories, but the price is high. Many people have come to me offering to buy, but the price was too high for them. Rich and powerful families have not been able to pay. Do you think you can do it?"[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Anansi replied to the Sky God: "I can do it. What is the price?"[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]"My price is three things," the Sky God said. "I must first have Mmoboro, the hornets. I must then have Onini, the great python. I must then have Osebo, the leopard. For these thing I will sell you the right to tell all the stories."[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Anansi said: "I will bring them."[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]He went home and made his plans. He first cut a gourd from a vine and made a small hole in it. He took a large bowl and filled it with water. He went to the tree where the hornets lived. He poured some of the water over himself, so that he was dripping. He threw some water over the hornets, so that they too were dripping. Then he put the bowl on his head, as thought to protect himself from a storm, and called out to the hornets: "Are you foolish people? Why do you stay in the rain that is falling?"[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]The hornets answered: "Where shall we go?"[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]"Go here, in this dry gourd," Anansi told them.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]The hornets thanked him and flew into the gourd through the small hole. When the last of them had entered, Anansi plugged the hole with a ball of grass, saying: "Oh, yes, but you are really foolish people!"[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]He took his gourd full of hornets to Nyame, the Sky God. The Sky God accepted them. He said: "There are two more things."[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Anansi returned to the forest and cut a long bamboo pole and some strong vines. Then he walked toward the house of Onini, the python, talking to himself. He seemed to be talking about an argument with his wife. He said: "My wife is wrong. I say he is longer and stronger. My wife says he is shorter and weaker. I give him more respect. She gives him less respect. Is she right or am I right? I am right, he is longer. I am right, he is stronger."[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]When Onini, the python, heard Anansi talking to himself, he said: "Why are you arguing this way with yourself?"[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]The spider replied: "Ah, I have had a dispute with my wife. She says you are shorter and weaker than this bamboo pole. I say you are longer and stronger."[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Onini said: "It's useless and silly to argue when you can find out the truth. Bring the pole and we will measure."[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]So Anansi laid the pole on the ground, and the python came and stretched himself out beside it.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]"You seem a little short," Anansi said.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]The python stretched further.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]"A little more," Anansi said.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]"I can stretch no more," Onini said.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]"When you stretch at one end, you get shorter at the other end," Anansi said. "Let me tie you at the front so you don't slip."[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]He tied Onini's head to the pole. Then he went to the other end and tied the tail to the pole. He wrapped the vine all around Onini, until the python couldn't move.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]"Onini," Anansi said, "it turns out that my wife was right and I was wrong. You are shorter than the pole and weaker. My opinion wasn't as good as my wife's. But you were even more foolish than I, and you are now my prisoner."[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Anansi carried the python to Nyame, the Sky God, who said: "There is one thing more."[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Osebo, the leopard, was next. Anansi went into the forest and dug a deep pit where the leopard liked to walk. He covered it with small branches and leaves and put dust on it, so that it was impossible to tell where the pit was. Anansi went away and hid. When Osebo came prowling in the black of night, he stepped into the trap Anansi had prepared and fell to the bottom. Anansi heard the sound of the leopard falling and he said: "Ah, Osebo, you are half-foolish!"[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]When morning came, Anansi went to the pit and saw the leopard there.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]"Osebo," he asked, "what are you doing in this hole?"[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]"I have fallen into a trap," Osebo said. "Help me out."[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]"I would gladly help you," Anansi said. "But I'm sure that if I bring you out, I will have no thanks for it. You will get hungry, and later on you will be wanting to eat me and my children."[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]"I promise it won't happen!" Osebo said.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]"Very well. Since you promise it, I will take you out," Anansi said.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]He bent a tall green tree toward the ground, so that it's top was over the pit, and he tied it that way. Then he tied a rope to the top of the tree and dropped the other end of it into the pit.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]"Tie this to your tail," he said.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Osebo tied the rope to his tail.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]"Is it well tied?" Anansi asked.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]"Yes, it is well tied," the leopard said.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]"In that case," Anansi said, "you are not merely half-foolish, you are all-foolish."[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]And he took his knife and cut the other rope, the one that held the tree bowed to the ground. The tree straightened up with a snap, pulling Osebo out of the hole. He hung in the air head downward, twisting and turning. As he twisted and turned, he got so dizzy that Anansi had no trouble tying the leopard's feet with vines.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Anansi took the dizzy leopard, all tied up, to Nyame, the Sky God, saying: "Here is the third thing. Now I have paid the price."[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Nyame said to him: "Kwaku Anansi, great warriors and chiefs have tried, but they have been unable to do it. You have done it. Therefore, I will give you the stories. From this day onward, all stories belong to you. Whenever a man tells a story, he must acknowledge that it is Anansi's tale."[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=2]And that is why, in parts of Africa, the people love to tell, and love to hear, the stories they call "spider stories." And now, you have heard one too. [/SIZE][/FONT] [URL="http://anansistories.com/Traditional_Stories.html"]Traditional Anansi Stories[/URL] [IMG]http://anansistories.com/sitebuilder/images/Ananci_Mrs_Guineafowl_co_-631x483.jpg[/IMG] [B][I]Mrs. Guinea fowl said, "1, 2, 3, 4..."[/I][/B] [SIZE=1]Copyright by Michael Auld [/SIZE] [IMG]http://anansistories.com/sitebuilder/images/five-227x256.jpg[/IMG] [B][SIZE=4]Anansi and the Yam Hills[/SIZE][/B] by Michael Auld [SIZE=5]O[/SIZE]nce in a before time, there lived an old woman who had magical powers. Her name was [B][SIZE=3]5[/SIZE][/B]. She was also so evil that some people called her a witch. [B][SIZE=3]5 [/SIZE][/B]hated her name. No one knows why her parents named her the number [B][SIZE=3]5.[/SIZE][/B] When she was a child, other children would make fun of her name. Sometimes when she was within earshot, they would look out the corner of their eyes and giggle as they said. " Give me [B][SIZE=3]5[/SIZE][/B]!" They would slap their hands with a quick handshake and burst out laughing. This taunting always made [B][SIZE=3]5[/SIZE][/B] angry. When she grew up, [B][SIZE=3]5 [/SIZE][/B]decided to put an end to the name-calling. So, she created a weird spell. "Anyone who says '[B][SIZE=3]5[/SIZE][/B]' will drop dead,” she said. Then she changed her mind. “From this day on, anyone who says ‘[B][SIZE=3]5[/SIZE][/B]’ will disappear," This spell immediately caused a problem in the country. No one could say that number again without disappearing. Children could no longer recite their five times tables. People had to drop the word 'five' from their vocabulary. In [B][SIZE=3]5[/SIZE][/B]’s village, the unlucky number was no longer [B][SIZE=3]13[/SIZE][/B]. Once a customer asked a merchant, “How much is that blue T-shirt?” “That shirt is [B][SIZE=3]5[/SIZE][/B] doh... ” Suddenly there was a loud “[B]SWOOSH![/B]” before the merchant could finish his sentence. He disappeared right in front of the dumbfounded customer's eyes! A crafty spider named Anansi lived in [B][SIZE=3]5[/SIZE][/B]'s village. He had heard about the witch’s spell. Times were very hard. Anansi was not a farmer and he had no food at all to eat. His wife and children were starving. Since Anansi was small, and not a very good worker, he could only rely on his brain to get whatever he needed to survive. He said to himself. "Things are tough, boy! I [B]must[/B] make this witch's spell work for me". Anansi went to the road that led to the village's marketplace. He chose a spot on the side of the road where everyone on the way to market would have to pass. There, near a large Guangu tree, he decided to pile up five mounds of the rich brown soil. These mounds he called "yam hills". In the top of each yam hill, he planted an African yellow yam. Then he drove a stake next to the yam on which its vine could grow. Anansi carefully watered the yams until each one began to sprout. Anansi made a web-like a hammock in the Guangu tree and patiently waited for someone to come by. Early one morning, after each yam shoot had poked its head out of a mound, Anansi sat down next to his yam hills. Soon, Brother Dog came by on his way to the market. Dog balanced a bankra basket of sweet-smelling fruits on his head as he walked down the road. "Good morning Brother Dog," said Anansi in a sugary voice. "I know that you are busy, and I feel so stupid. I am not an educated man like you. Would you help me to count how many yam hills that I have planted here?" Anansi asked. "You should have gone to school to learn how to count!" Brother Dog said grumpily as he walked away from Anansi towards the market. Anansi climbed up into the Guangu tree and waited. The next person to come by was Brother Bull. He carried a large basket of fruits on his head. "Good day Bro' Bull." Anansi said in a sad voice. "Could you just spare me one minute?" Anansi begged. "What can I do for you, Anansi?" Bro' Bull asked. " I was a *yikki and sickly child. So, my parents did not send me to school. I never learned my ABC's. I planted all these yam hills... Can you help me to count them?" Anansi said. "But, of course Anansi" Bro' Bull replied. "You have 1, 2, 3, 4, [B][SIZE=3]5[/SIZE][/B]...." As he said that number, Brother Bull disappeared into thin air. The basket of sweet ripe fruits that he had been carrying on his head, fell to the ground. Anansi snatched up the basket of fruits and rushed home to eat them all. [B][SIZE=4]F[/SIZE][/B]or a long time, Anansi did very well tricking some passersby into counting his yam hills. He grew fat from all the baskets of food he had gathered. He had tricked Brothers Turtle, Owl, Mongoose, Hare, Peenie-Wallie the firefly, and even the tough Bro' Scorpion. Mrs. Guinea fowl was a nice young mother of newly hatched children. She could not say 'no' to anyone. She and her husband shared the chore of selling their produce in the village. That day it was her turn to go to the marketplace. She loaded up her hand basket and headed for the market. As she got closer to the yam hills Anansi was nowhere in sight. Just as she was about to pass yam hill number 4, Anansi the spider lowered himself down from his perch in the Guangu tree. He called out in his sugary voice. "Good morning Mrs. Guinea Fowl. Could you help me with a problem?" "Of course Anansi". The polite Mrs. Guinea Fowl said. "I have these yam hills here, and I don't know how to count ... would you help me... ? Pleeezz." Anansi begged. Mrs. Guinea Fowl, who had seen Anansi trick Bro' Scorpian, walked over to the last yam hill and climbed up on top of it. She said. “You have 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... and the one I am standing on". "What! [B]What are you doing? That is not the way you count![/B]" Anansi shouted angrily. "What do you mean, Anansi?" Mrs. Guinea Fowl said. "I don't know of any number called 'the one I'm standing on'. Start again!” Anansi ordered. Mrs. Guinea Fowl began again. "You have 1, 2, 3, 4 ... and the one I am standing on". "[B]That is not what you are supposed to say![/B]" Anansi shouted even more angrily. "Well ... If you are so smart... What am I supposed to say?" Mrs. Guinea Fowl asked. Anansi shouted, "[B]You are supposed to say[/B][B][SIZE=3] 1[/SIZE][/B], [B][SIZE=3]2[/SIZE][/B], [B][SIZE=3]3[/SIZE][/B], [B][SIZE=3]4[/SIZE][/B], [B][SIZE=4]5[/SIZE][/B] ... Oops…” Suddenly, Anansi disappeared, leaving Mrs. Guinea Fowl with all the loot that he had gotten from tricking his victims. [I]* yikki = small [/I][B]The moral of this story is: "Greedy choke puppy"[/B] (or, "A greedy puppy will soon choke"). [B][FONT=Copperplate Gothic Light][COLOR=Black]Anansi and the Ear of Corn[/COLOR][/FONT][COLOR=Black] [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]Anansi was one of God's chosen, and he lived in human form before he became a spider. One day he asked God for a simple ear of corn, promising that he would repay God with one hundred servants. God was always amused by the boastful and resourceful Anansi, and gave him the ear of corn. [/COLOR][COLOR=Black] [/COLOR][COLOR=Black] Anansi set out with the ear and came to a village to rest. He told the chief of the village that he had a sacred ear of corn from God and needed both a place to sleep for the night and a safe place to keep the treasure. The chief treated Anansi as an honored guest and gave him a thatched-roof house to stay in, showing him a hiding place in the roof. [/COLOR][COLOR=Black] [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]During the night, while the entire village was fast asleep, Anansi woke the village with his cries. "What happened to the sacred corn? Who stole it? Certainly God will bring great punishment on this village!" He made such a fuss that the villagers begged him to take a whole bushel of corn as a demonstration of their apologies. [/COLOR][COLOR=Black] [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]He then set down the road with the bushel of corn until it grew too heavy for him to carry. He then met a man on the road who had a chicken, and Anansi exchanged the corn for the chicken. When Anansi arrived at the next village, he asked for a place to stay and a safe place to keep the "sacred" chicken. In this new village, Anansi was again treated as an honored guest, a great feast was held in his honor, and he was shown a house to stay in and given a safe place for the chicken. [/COLOR][COLOR=Black] [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]During the night Anansi butchered the chicken and smeared its blood and feathers on the door of the chief's house. In the morning he woke everyone with his cries, "The sacred chicken has been killed! Surely God will destroy this village for allowing this to happen!" The frightened villagers begged Anansi to take ten of their finest sheep as a token of their sincere apology. [/COLOR][COLOR=Black] [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]Anansi drove the sheep down the road until he came to a group of men carrying a corpse. He asked the men whose body they were carrying. The men answered that a traveler had died in their village and they were bearing the body home for a proper burial. Anansi then exchanged the sheep for the corpse and set out down the road. [/COLOR][COLOR=Black] [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]At the next village, Anansi told the people that the corpse was a son of God who was sleeping. He told them to be very quiet in order not to wake this important guest. The people in this village, to, held a great feast and treated Anansi as royalty. [/COLOR][COLOR=Black] [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]When morning came, Anansi told the villagers that he was having a hard time waking the "son of God" from sleep, and he asked their help. They started by beating drums, and the visitor remained "asleep". Then they banged pots and pans, but he was still "asleep." The the villagers pounded on the visitor's chest, and he still didn't stir. [/COLOR][COLOR=Black] [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]All of a sudden, Anansi cried out, "You have killed him! You have killed a son of God! Oh, no! Certainly God will destroy this whole village, if not the entire world!" The terrified villagers then told Anansi that he could pick one hundred of their finest young men as slaves if only he would appeal to God to save them. [/COLOR][COLOR=Black] [/COLOR][SIZE=5][COLOR=Black]So Anansi returned to God, having turned one ear of corn into one hundred slaves[/COLOR][/SIZE][/B] [/QUOTE]
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