Stories From Ghana

I did write a brief page about Ananse and West Africa, however i felt it necessary to have a page specifically for stories, about Kwaku Ananse or about other things. So here it is and here they are. Enjoy!

How Stories Came To The World

Once, long, long ago in Africa, there was Kwaku Ananse. He went all throughout the world on his strong web strands. Now at this time, long, long ago, there were no stories in the world. The sky-god, Onyame kept all the stories locked up in a wooden box. Ananse wanted those stories, as many had before him, so that he could know the beginnings and ends of things, but all others who had asked Onyame for the stories had come back empty handed.

Ananse climbed up his spidery web to ask Onyame for the stories which he had in his possession. When Onyame saw this spindly old man coming he scoffed at him.
"What makes you think you can pay the price of the stories when so many have failed before you?" he asked.
"And what is that price?" Ananse asked.
"Much more than you could ever give me," replied Onyame, "You must bring to me Onini the python who can swallow men in one gulp, Osebo the leopard who has teeth like spears, Mmoboro the hornets that swarm and sting, and Mmoatia the spirit."

Ananse bowed and left. He returned to his wife, Aso, who told him to cut a long palm branch and a length of creeper vine. Ananse and Aso then went to the stream, where Onini the python lived. As they got close they began arguing.
"He is much shorter, i tell you!"
"You lie! He is shorter, the branch is longest." Hearing this, Onini the python appeared and asked:
"What is all this arguing about, Ananse?"
"My wife said that you were longer than this branch, but it is plain that the branch is longer." Ananse replied.
"Come and put the branch next to me and we will see who is a liar." said Onini. As he lay down next to the branch, Ananse quickly bound him up with the creeper vine from tail to head until he was unable to move.

Next, Ananse dug a large pit near Osebo the leopard's lair and covered it over with branches and leaves. He returned the next morning to find a large leopard lying in the pit.
"Leopard!" he called, "You should be more careful when you are skulking around at night, put your paws here, and here, and i will help you out of this pit." So saying, he held out two stout sticks for the leopard to hold onto. But just as Osebo was reaching the top, Ananse clubbed him over the head and bound him to the sticks with his web.

Next, Ananse set his attentions to Mmoboro, the hornets. His wife, Aso, told him what to do and he was soon climbing up a tree towards the hornets' nest with a gourd full of water. He spilled half of the water on the hornets' nest, and the other half on himself. Then he climbed down the tree, sheltered himself under a large banana leaf and called up:
"Hornets! Can't you see it is raining? I am sheltering under this leaf but you have no such protection. Come down and shelter in my empty gourd." The hornets swarmed down gratefully into Ananse's gourd and he quickly slapped the leaf over the opening and trapped them inside.

Now it only remained for Ananse to catch Mmoatia the spirit, and Ananse asked his wife once more for her advice. They then made a wooden doll and covered it with sticky gum, leaving it under the odum tree, where the spirits play, with a brass basin containing eto, which is mashed yams, by its side. Soon the spirits came out and Mmoatia, seeing the eto, asked the doll if she could have some. The doll of course did not answer. Mmotia became angry then and slapped the doll across the face, it stuck! She slapped the doll with her other hand and it stuck too! She then kicked the doll, first with one foot and then the other, both stuck fast. She was now completely helpless and Ananse bound her easily with his web.

When Kwaku Ananse brought his four captives in front of Onyame, the sky-god, Onyame gathered together all of the other gods and proclaimed:
"See now, Ananse has been able to do what none other has done before him and so do i gift him with all the stories in the world." So saying, he gave Ananse the wooden box full of stories and Ananse and Aso eagerly learned the stories as soon as Ananse had returned to the world.

So it is because of Ananse and his wife Aso that we have stories, and to this day they are spinning their story webs all around the world. Traditional Ashanti story, retold by C.Carlyle

The proverb "Exterminate Ananse and society will be ruined" underscores the indispensibility of Ananse as a medium for self-examination in the Akan society. Improvising, challenging and commenting on the narrative is a license that provides both audience and performer a space for reflection. David Afriyie Donkor, Black Arts Quarterly Volume 4, Issue 1

African Proverbs

All people are believed to possess wisdom, and the Akan (ahkahn) people of Ghana (gah'nuh) tell an interesting story of how it spread to all parts of the world:

Long, long ago there lived a man called Kwaku Ananse (Kwah'koo ahnahn'sih). Ananse possessed all the wisdom in the world, but so selfish was he that he did not want to share it with anybody. He decided to collect it in a big pot and hide it at the top of a big, tall tree in the forest. Ananse's wife got him the largest pot she could find, and Ananse began to fill it with wisdom. He told no one what he was doing.

When he had finished, he fastened a rope around the pot, tied the rest of it around his neck, and sneaked out of the house in the dead of night the pot hanging on his belly. Ananse walked clumsily into the thickest part of the forest until he came to the tree that he thought would serve his purpose and stopped.

Ananse did not think that any of the members of his house had seen him, but he was mistaken. His son, Ntikuma (nteemah), had been awakened by the noise his father made and had followed Ananse, curious to see just what Ananse was going to do. Ntikuma hid himself behind a tree a good distance away and gazed intently at his father.

After pausing for a while to steady the pot Ananse began to climb the tree. But with the pot in front of him it was very difficult for him to get a good grip on the trunk. He tried several times to climb the tree but could not, and so he paused to think.

As Ananse scratched his head in search of a solution to his problem, he was startled by a loud laugh behind him, and he turned around to find, to his utter amazement, his son. Ntikuma suggested to his father that if he would put the pot on his back instead of on his belly he would find it easier to climb the tree. Ananse was furious that it took his son to show him this simple solution. Filled with great frustration, he threw down the pot, and the wisdom from it spread to all parts of the world.

It is part of the wisdom scattered from Ananse's pot that appears in African proverbs. Proverbs have many uses in African societies. They may express an eternal truth. They may be a warning against foolish acts or a guide to good conduct. They may also bring special meaning to certain situations and may even solve particular problems.

Proverbs are expressed not only in words but also in the language of the drums and the sound of the horns blown by the attendants of chiefs. Even patterns woven in cloth by weavers may express proverbial saying. One example is the Kente (kan'tay) pattern Tikoro nko agyina (tih koro nko ahg'yee'nah) "One head does not go into council (It is better if two heads make a decision)" which the Republic of Ghana presented to the United Nations. It may be seen hanging on one of the walls in the delegates' lounge in the United Nations Building in New York City. Kofi Asare Opoku

'I know what you are all thinking' he said, 'You are thinking, What is Compé Anansi doing, coming out to talk to you all, when the All-Father called you all here, just like he called me here? Well, you know, sometimes people need reminding of things. I look around when I come in and I thought, where the rest of us? But then I thought, just because we are few and they are many, we are weak, and they are powerful, it does not mean that we are lost.

'You know, one time I saw Tiger down at the water-hole: he had the biggest testicles of any animal, and the sharpest claws, and two front teeth as long as knives and as sharp as blades. And I said to him, Brother Tiger, you go for a swim, I'll look after your balls for you. He was so proud of his balls. So he got into the water-hole for a swim, and I put his balls on, and left him my own little spider-balls. And then, you know what I did? I ran away, fast as my legs would take me.

'I didn't stop till I got to the next town. And I saw Old Monkey there. You lookin' mighty fine, Anansi, said Old Monkey. I said to him, you know what they all singin' in the town over there? What are they singin' he asks me. They singin' the funniest song, I told him. Then I did a dance, and I sings,

'There's Tiger, down by the water-hole, walking up and down, with his tail switchin' and swishin' and his ears and the fur on his neck up as far as they can go, and he's snappin' at every insect comes by with his huge old saber teeth, and his eye's flashin' orange fire.He looks mean and scary and big, but danglin' between his legs, there's the littlest balls in the littlest blackest most wrinkledy ball-sack you ever did see.

'Hey Anansi, he says, when he sees me. You were supposed to be guarding my balls when I went swimming. But when I got out of the swimming hole, there was nothing on the side of the bank but these little black shrivelled up good-for-nothing spider balls I'm wearing.

'I done my best, I tells him, but it was those monkeys, they come by and eat your balls all up, and when I tell them off, then they pulled off my own little balls. And I was so ashamed I ran away.

'You're a liar, Anansi, says Tiger, I going to eat your liver. But then he hears the monkeys coming from their town to the water-hole. A dozen happy monkeys, boppin' down the path, clickin' their fingers and singin' as loud as they could sing,

THE STORY OF THREE LITTLE BIRDS

An ancient African story tells of three birds that formed a singing group. The littlest bird has a very small voice and cries "TINTIN, TINTIN." The medium sized bird has a medium voice and cries "TANTAN, TANTAN." The largest bird has a deep voice and sings "TIKIDON, TIKIDON."

The birds would gather together and do their song - "TINTIN, TANTAN, TIKIDON; TINTIN, TANTAN, TIKIDON." They made such beautiful music together that the children gathered around to listen to them and feed them. They had plenty to eat and were a happy bunch. Soon, the biggest bird became swollen headed and conceited. "These children come to see us because of me. Without me this group is nothing." he said boastingly. An argument ensued with each bird claiming that the group depended on his talent for their daily bread. They split up.

The next morning the littlest bird went alone and started singing, "TINTIN, TINTIN, .TINTIN." No one gathered around and no one fed the poor little bird. The next day, the second bird went alone and sang "TANTAN, TANTAN, TAN." Again, no one stopped to listen. The largest bird then said to them, "You see, so it was I that made all the difference." He went by himself and sang in his deepest voice he could muster - "TIKIDON, TIKIDON, ..TIKIDON." To his amazement no one stopped either. He also went home that day hungry and very disappointed.

The three birds decided to sing together again. So the next day all three went together singing, "TINTIN, TANTAN, TIKIDONTINTIN, TANTAN, TIKIDON." All the little children in the neighbourhood gathered around, cheered them on and fed them.

TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE

A famous African by the name of Dr. Aggrey who lived in Ghana in the late 1800's said that, "You can make music by playing only the white or black keys of the organ. However, you can make better music by playing both the black and white keys of the organ." The Bible is probably the best teacher when it comes to human relations. "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst." God is present in harmonious relationships. When two people come together to do something positive, there is always an invisible third force helping and urging the two along. There is an African homily that says that, "One man cannot take counsel all by himself." Two is better than one and yet coming together brings about so much human problems. Many of the problems in organizations, associations, churches and businesses stem from relationship difficulties at the top between two partners, the President and the owner or the President and his vice. Even the simplest form of co-habitation brings about problems - a man and his wife, a younger and older brother, two friends or roommates. An African proverb rightly states that "Two trees have to be close together to rub together." Whenever two people are involved in doing something together, there is bound to be friction.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I would like to draw on Paul's letter to the Philippians, Chapter 2 Vs 3 & 4:
Vs 3. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself.
Vs 4. Do not merely look out for your personal interests but also for the interests of others.

Thank you and may the God of Africa bless all of us. Ken K. Tweneboah Ntiamoah formerly Tweneboah Justice Emmanuel

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