Reading Diary for Week 7: Anansi Stories

Anansi's Stories

Part 1:

• All stories told by made became Anansi Stories. 
• Anansi was an incredibly clever spider. He used his wits to trick a tiger, snake, and bees to all go to Nyankupon's house. When they all reached Nyankupon kept his promise. 
• Anansi and Nothing's story is really clever. The world play on nothing is great just like from The Odyssey. The story is about Anansi and a rich man named Nothing. 
• They went of into a neighboring town and went to look for wives. Along the way Anansi tricked nothing into trading cloths with him. Upon doing so Anansi was now dressed in beautiful cloths and found all of the best looking wives. Nothing had rags on and couldn't find anyone except for 1 woman. In the end, the two went back home and the roles reversed because it was really Nothing who was rich and Anansi who had "nothing"
• In the end Anansi killed Nothing and his wife mourned for him. She would make yams and give them to children crying. So this is were we get in today's society that he is crying for "Nothing". 
• The next story shows how selfish Anansi is. He got gifted a magic pot that supplied him food from Thunder, but instead of feeding his family he just wanted to feed himself which eventually got him beat up. 
• What I like most about these Anansi Stories is that each story shows how selfish or clever Anansi is, Also the stories all pertain to something else in the real world like the crying children, or the white ants 

Part 2:

• The story of how to tortoise got their shells is quite interesting as well. 
• The tortoise as a very fast creature at first, but one day he was asked to retrieve some palm wine (which is alcohol. Before returning back form where he came he couldn't bring all of the palm wine so he drank it.
• It made him slow, so when he got back to the gates they were closed and no one could find him. He eventually died and by the time the other found him the weight from his load formed into a hard shell. Side Note: What I've noticed about most of these stories is that most of then explain how something was made or came to be. Also most of these thing come from a negative event. I find that interesting that nothing has came from something good yet. I will keep that theme in mind when I am writing my story for Wednesday. 
• In the Hunter and the tortoise story, the tortoise taught the hunter a lesson. It was a basic listening lesson. The hunter was so amazed by the tortoises singing that want to show him to the rest of the town.The tortoise said that he only sang for him. Eventually the hunter was beheaded for "lying" about the talking/singing tortoise. The hunter brought that on himself
• After reading the elephant and the wren story, once again it is shown how selfish Anansi is. It is ridiculous he ended up loosing his elephant because he didn't was to share it with his family.