Long ago, there was an African King who had the best ram in the world. One day, the ram happened to graze on Anansi’s crops. Anansi threw a rock at it that hit between its eyes and the ram died on the spot. Anansi was well aware that the King would punish him, for he had killed his best ram. So, he thought of an idea. First of all, he took the dead ram and tied it to the nut tree. Next, he went to a spider and told it about a tree laden with nuts. The spider was so happy to hear that he immediately rushed towards the tree. Now, continuing with his plan, Anansi went to the King and told him that the spider had killed his best ram, “You can see the ram hanging from the nut tree where the spider is spinning webs.” Hearing this, the King was furious and ordered the death penalty for the spider. The King thanked Anansi and promised him a huge reward.
How Anansi Became a Spider
Now, Anansi returned to the spider and warned it of the King’s anger. Anansi advised the spider to go to the King and beg for mercy. Meanwhile, the Queen laughed and said, “How can a little spider make a thread strong enough to hold a ram? How will the little spider hang the ram above on the tree? Can’t you understand that Anansi killed your ram! By now you should have known; he is a cheat!” Fuming with anger on being deceived, the King ordered to fetch Anansi at once. Anansi proudly walked into the palace as if it belonged to him and then asked the King for his reward of telling him about the killer of the ram. This made the King so angry that he kicked Anansi very, very hard. He was split into two pieces and was no longer a man, but a spider with long legs.
