Anansi and the Pot of Wisdom

Long ago the world was brand new and things were not what we see as now. People did not know how to build houses, or how to weave cloth or even how to farm. 

This was because all the wisdom of the entire world was stored in a single large clay pot which was sealed tight with a cork. 

This pot was kept by Nyame, the Supreme Creator and the Great Sky God.

One day, Nyame decided that he did not want to keep all the wisdom to himself, so Nyame sent for Anansi the Spider.

Nyame handed over the heavy clay pot that had every single idea, invention and every piece of common sense that ever existed, to Anansi. “Anansi, take this pot of wisdom to Earth and share all the wisdom in it with all the creatures of earth so that they may learn to live well.”

Anansi bowed to Nyame and took the pot. Then Anansi spun a thread from the sky to the earth. But as Anansi reached earth a selfish thought came to him. ‘If I share this wisdom with everyone, all of them will become as clever as me. But if I keep this pot to myself, I will be the wisest creature in the universe. Everyone will have to come to me for advice, and I will be rich.’

So Anansi decided to hide the pot. 

He found the Onyina or the silk cotton tree which was a sacred tree that reached high into the clouds and the trunk of the Onyina tree has sharp thorns to keep animals away.

Anansi was very happy because he realized that this was the perfect place to hide the Pot of Wisdom because no one could climb the tree.

Using a thick vine, Anansi tied the heavy clay pot around his neck so that the pot rested right against his belly and then Anansi started climbing the tree.

However, midway, the pot was wedged between Anansi’s stomach and the tree.

Anansi struggled with the pot for nearly an hour after that but the pot did not move.

Suddenly Anansi heard a giggling voice from the base of the tree. 

Anansi looked down and saw his youngest son Ntikuma who was laughing at him. 

“What is so funny?” Anansi snapped.

“Oh Father!” Ntikuma giggled. “You are supposed to be having all the wisdom in the world, but you do not have the common sense to even tie the pot to your back so that it would not get in the way of your climbing.”

Anansi stared and realized that his son was absolutely right.

Even though Anansi had all the wisdom in the world, his son had shown more wisdom than him.

In a fit of anger, Anansi kicked the pot.

The heavy clay pot fell to the forest floor and shattered into a million pieces.

The wisdom burst free and blew into the rivers, fields and villages, where every single person, animal and insect breathed in the scattered wisdom.

High above, the great Sky God Nyame smiled. He had known how greedy and foolish Anansi was and Nyame knew that by giving the pot to a selfish trickster, Nyame made sure that the wisdom was available for all of the earth.

Adapted from African Folklore

கழுகும், மண்ணை கிளறும் கோழியும் - பாகம் 2

எல்லா பறவைகளும் கோழி இடம் இருந்து ஊசியை வாங்கிக் கொண்டு சந்தோஷமாக பறக்க ஆரம்பித்தன.  ஒரு பறவை சிறகுகளை  தைத்துக் கொண்டு, கோழியிடம் அந்த ஊசியை திருப்பிக் கொடுக்க, அதன் வீட்டிற்கு சென்றபோது கோழி வெளியே சென்று இருந்தது.  ஆனால் அதன் குழந்தைகள் அங்கு இருந்ததால்,  அந்தப் பறவை நன்றி கூறிவிட்டு,  ஊசியை குழந்தைகளிடம் கொடுத்துவிட்டு சென்றது. குழந்தைகள் அந்த ஊசியை வைத்துக்கொண்டு விளையாடிவிட்டு மண்ணில் போட்டுவிட்டு தூங்க சென்று விட்டன.

இதனிடையில் சிறிது நாட்கள் சென்ற பிறகு கழுகிற்கு இவ்வளவு நாள் பறந்ததால், சில சிறகுகள் விழுந்து விட்டதால், புதிதாக தைப்பதற்கு ஊசி தேவைப்பட்டது. ஆகவே அந்தக் கழுகு கோழியின் வீட்டிற்கு வந்து தன்னுடைய ஊசியை திருப்பி கேட்டது.

கோழி அங்கும் இங்கும் அதன் வீட்டில் எங்கு தேடியும் அதற்கு ஊசி கிடைக்கவில்லை.  ஆகவே வருத்தத்துடன் கழுகிடம் “எனக்கு ஒரு நாள் அவகாசம் கொடுத்தால் தேடி வைக்கிறேன்.  நாளைக்கு வந்து வாங்கிக் கொண்டு உன்னுடைய  சிறகுகளை நீ தைய்த்துக் கொள்ளலாம்” என்று கூறியது. 

தன்னுடைய ஊசி தனக்கு  வேண்டும்போது கிடைக்காத கோபத்தில், அந்த கழுகு “நாளை நான் வருவேன். நீ அந்த ஊசியை திருப்பிக் கொடுக்காவிட்டால் உன்னுடைய குஞ்சுகளை எடுத்துச் சென்று  விடுவேன்”  என்று கோபமாக கூறியது . மறுநாள் கழுகு வந்து கோழியிடம் ஊசி கேட்டபோது, அது மண்ணைக் கிளறிக் கொண்டு ஊசியை தேடிக்கொண்டிருந்தது.  ஆனால் அதனால் கண்டுபிடிக்க முடியவில்லை அது மண்ணைக் கிளறி ஊசியை தேடிக்கொண்டே இருந்தது.  அது அப்பொழுதிலிருந்து எப்பொழுதெல்லாம் கழுகு கண்ணில் படுகிறதோ, அப்பொழுதெல்லாம் தன் குஞ்சுகளை காப்பாற்றுவதற்காக மண்ணைக் கிளறி ஊசியை தேடிக் கொண்டிருக்கிறது.

 இன்றைக்கும் கோழிகள் மண்ணை எப்பொழுதும் கிளறிக் கொண்டிருப்பதற்கு இதுதான் காரணமோ ?

(இந்தக் கதை ஆப்பிரிக்க பழங்கதையை தழுவி எழுதப்பட்டது)

கழுகும், மண்ணை கிளறும் கோழியும் - பாகம் 1

 

முன் காலத்தில் எந்த பறவைக்கும் பறக்கும் படி இறகுகள் அமையவில்லை . ஒரு பஞ்சகாலத்தில் ஒரு கழுகுக்கு உணவு தேடி  வெகு தூரம் அலைய வேண்டி வந்தது . நடந்தே அந்த கழுகு மிகுந்த தூரம் சென்றதால் அதற்கு கால் வலித்தது . பறக்க முடிந்தால் எவ்வளவு சீக்கிரமாக தான் அலைந்து திரிந்து உணவு தேட முடியும் என்று எண்ணியது .  சிறகு இருந்தால் இவ்வளவு தூரம் நடக்க வேண்டி இருக்காது என்று எண்ணியது . இப்படி எண்ணியபடியே  களைத்து போய் தரையில் தூங்க ஆரம்பித்தது.  அப்பொழுது பயணம் செய்வதற்கு ஒரு சுலபமான வழியை கண்டுபிடிக்கலாம் என்று கொஞ்சம் உரத்த குரலில் புலம்பிக் கொண்டிருந்தது. 

இதைக் கேட்ட ஒரு கோழி அதைப்பற்றி  எண்ணிக் கொண்டு அதுவும் தூங்கச் சென்றது.  கோழி மறுநாள் எழுந்து கொண்ட போது அதற்கு ஒரு அருமையான யோசனை தோன்றியது . தன் அருகில்,  நிறைய கீழே விழுந்து கிடந்த சிறகுகளை  பார்த்தது.

கோழிக்கு இன்னும் சிறிது சிறகுகள் இருந்தால், தன் இறகுகளில் தைத்து எளிமையாக பறக்கலாம் என்று தோன்றியது.  ஆனால் இவற்றை வைத்து தைப்பதற்கு அதனிடம்  ஊசி இல்லை . அந்த ஊரிலேயே கழுகிடம் மட்டும்தான் ஒரு ஊசி இருந்தது.  கோழி அந்த கழுகிடம் இந்த யோசனையை கூறி, ஊசியை கேட்டவுடன்,  கழுகுக்கு தானே ஏன் இதை செயல்படுத்தக் கூடாது என்று தோன்றியது.  உடனே அந்த கழுகு அருகில் இருந்த நிறைய சிறகுகளை ஒன்று சேர்த்து தன் இறகில் சேர்த்து தைத்துக்  கொண்டு பறக்க ஆரம்பித்தது . அதனால் உயர உயர பறந்து எளிதாக உணவு சேகரிக்க முடிந்தது.

கோழிக்கு தன்னுடைய யோசனை கழுகினிடம் பலித்ததால் தானும் அதனுடைய ஊசியை கடன் வாங்கி, தனக்கும் சில சிறகுகளை சேர்த்து தன் இறகில் தைத்து பறக்க முயன்றது.

உடனே அதுக்கு தெரிந்து விட்டது தன்னால் அவ்வளவு எளிதாக பறக்க முடியாது என்று. ஆனாலும் பிறகு முயற்சி செய்வதற்காக,  அந்த ஊசியை தனியாக வைத்துவிட்டு தன்னுடைய குஞ்ஜுகளுக்கு உணவு சமைக்க ஆரம்பித்தது. அந்த ஊசியைப் பற்றி அது அது மறந்து விட்டது.  ஆனால் அங்கு இருந்த மற்ற பறவைகள்,  கழுகு எளிமையாக பறப்பதை பார்த்து அந்த கோழியிடமிருந்து  ஊசியை வாங்கி தைத்துக் கொண்டு பறக்க ஆரம்பித்தன.  பறந்து உணவு தேடுவதன் எளிமையை அவைகள் உணர்ந்து கொண்டன.  கோழிக்கு தன்னுடைய யோசனை மீதி பறவைகளுக்கு பலித்ததில் சந்தோஷமாக இருந்தது.

(இந்த கதை ஆப்பிரிக்க பழக்கதைகளில் இருந்து தழுவி எழுதப்பட்டது)

The Eagle, the Hen and the Needle - Part Two

The hen had gone out and it was not available at home. 

It was at this time that all the other birds had finished using the needle and made beautiful wings for themselves.

The last of the birds using the needle had come to the house of the hen to return the needle. 

Unfortunately as the hen had gone out, the children of the hen took the needle. The children of the hen played with the needle and instead of keeping it carefully, they left the needle in the sand.

Now the eagle which had started flying well from the additional wings found that some of the wings had loosened because of the constant flying. To fix the feathers back the eagle needed the needle back. So the eagle came back to the hen's house and asked for the needle. 

The hen looked around the house and everywhere but the hen could not find the needle. 

She looked at the eagle shame-faced. “Please give me a day. I will find the needle so that you can fix your wings.” 

The Eagle was annoyed. “I can give you only one more day. If you can't find the needle, I will take away one of your chicks instead of the needle, as payment.”

The next day and soon as the eagle came, the hen started scratching the sand to find the needle. But the hen could not find the needle. The Eagle took away one of the chicks of the hens instead. Since then whenever the eagle appeared the hen started scratching the sand for the needle. Since then the young ones of the hen also run away on seeing the shadow of the eagle because they know that eagle would carry it away as payment.

Audio Story on Youtube

Adapted from African Folktales

The Eagle, the Hen and the Needle - Part One

In the land of birds, it so happened that none of the birds could fly. Unfortunately, during that time there was famine in the land. The Eagle had to go very far to find food and because it could not fly the eagle had to walk all the distance. 

The eagle came back very tired and the eagle lay on the ground and went to sleep and grumbled to itself that there had to be an easy way to travel. 

The hen heard this and it also went to bed. 

When the hen woke up it had a brilliant idea. It collected the feathers of the other birds and decided to sew the feathers on top of its own feathers. 

The hen was sure that the extra feathers would help it fly and make it easier to travel.

The Eagle was the only bird in the village that had a needle and so the hen went to the eagle and told it of its plan.

The Eagle heard the idea and realized that it was a very good idea. Soon the eagle set about to work for itself before giving the needle to the hen. 

The Eagle sewed the wings on both sides. Using the wings, the Eagle flew high up.

The hen was happy that its plan had succeeded and using the needle it started making wings for itself. 

However, making wings was not an easy job. The hen got tired and kept the needle aside and walked away from there. Soon the hen was preparing food for its young ones and forgot all about the needle. 

However, by this time the other birds had seen the eagle fly away. They all went to the hen's house and asked for the needle so that they could see feathers for themselves.

The hen’s idea worked for the other birds and they started flying too.

Audio Story on Youtube

Adapted from African Folktales

The light of the Sun, Moon and the Stars - Part Three

Though the white rooster did not crow to signify any trouble, the dragon with its phenomenal eyesight immediately realized that something was wrong.

The dragon flew to the place where Kweku Tsin and the others were trying to escape its castle and make their way to the heavens.

On seeing the dragon fly towards them Kweku Tsin also mounted the rope ladder. He had the bag of meat on his back and the fiddle under his arm as he climbed.

Every time the dragon came very close, the young Kweku Tsin threw a piece of meat at the dragon.

As the dragon was very hungry it paused and ate the piece of meat.

That gave Kweku Tsin some time to go further away from the dragon.

There was considerable distance between Kweku Tsin and the dragon and by this time all the others had already reached heaven safely.

After this Kweku Tsin played the fiddle every time the dragon came close to him.

The fiddle was very special and every time the dragon heard the music the dragon had to break out dancing because the music was irresistible for it.

Reached up to the heavens and he had reached the top when he was pulled into safety. 

The brave Kweku Tsin also bent down and cut the ladder.

The dragon could not follow the others into the heavens.

The Gods were so pleased with Kweku Tsin for his wisdom and bravery that they made him the sun which was the source of light and heat to the entire world. Kweku Tsin’s father Anansi became the moon. The others who went to the heavens became the stars.

Kweku Tsin was made the sun so that he could supply light to others who were powerless without him.

Adapted from West African Stories

The light of the Sun, Moon and the Stars - Part Two

Kweku Tsin learnt that the dragon had phenomenal eyesight and it could even see a fly that was moving a few miles away. It was not just that the dragon could fly so fast it was almost impossible to run away.

First, Kweku Tsin came up with the plan of dealing with the white rooster. He realized that the white rooster would not crow as long as it had grains of rice to pick.

Kweku Tsin then looked all over the castle that they were imprisoned at and found that there were forty bags of grains, which was more than enough to keep the white rooster busy. After that he looked into the other prisoners in the castle. A few of them were spinners of fine hempen ropes.

In the castle Kweku Tsin also found a fiddle which he found was a dragon’s fiddle and this was a very special fiddle.

Then Kweku Tsin realised that the dragon had collected plenty of meat around the castle. Kweku Tsin kept all the bones with him and he realized that now he had everything to execute his plan of escape.

Kweku Tsin planned to escape to heaven because he knew that if he threw his rope towards heaven, the Gods would catch the rope making sure that Kweku Tsin and the other prisoners could climb up to the heavens from the castle.

Finally everything was ready.

Kweku Tsin threw the grains of the bags of rice around the castle. The white rooster started picking the rice up. 

So the white rooster did not notice anything else.

Kweku Tsin then threw one end of the rope ladder that the spinners had created to the sky. 

Just as he had thought rope was held there.

Then the dragon’s prisoners began to climb the rope-ladder one by one. 

Kweku Tsin remained at the bottom while the others climbed up.

Adapted from West African Stories

The light of the Sun, Moon and the Stars - Part One

At one point of time there was a shortage of food in the land. 

That was when Anansi and his son Kweku Tsin went to hunt in the forest. It was not only that Kweku Tsin was able to kill a deer. 

Anansi asked his son to guard the food while he went to bring a large basket to take it all back home.

However Anansi was not back for more than an hour. 

Kweku Tsin was worried that his father had lost his way. So he called out for his father so that his father could hear his voice and come there.

Kweku Tsin was happy because he heard a reply. 

However it was shocking because the reply did not come from Anansi but from a terrible dragon.

The dragon could naturally fly and had acute eyesight and looked strong and powerful and it breathed fire from its nose.

On realizing what had happened, Kweku Tsin ran from there and hid himself in a cave, so that the dragon could not find him.

The dragon flew to the place where it had heard the voice and the dragon was angry when it saw the dead deer there and it went away. 

Anansi came back and he was astonished on hearing the story of the dragon from his son. 

Anansi wished to see the dragon for himself. 

Unfortunately, this happened too.

Smelling the two men, the dragon came to the place and caught both of them. 

The dragon carried the two men to its own castle. 

There the two men realized that there were many creatures imprisoned by the dragon and the dragon intended to eat all of them later. 

There was a white rooster that stood guard over the imprisoned creatures. The rooster crowed to summon the dragon if anything happened when the dragon was away searching for food.

Kweku Tsin made plans to escape the dragon along with the others in the prison.

Adapted from West African Stories

The King of Birds - Part Three

When the little Ncede so how angry the other birds were.

The Ncede flew into an empty snake hole.

The other birds could not get inside the snake hole because they were big. They waited for some time for the Ncede to come out of a hole but the little bird did not come out.

Finally the other birds turned to the owl. “Keep your eyes on the rat hole. With big eyes you can do it easily. Catch the little bird when it comes out of the snake hole.”

So the owl waited in front of the hole.

The sun was very hot. 

Soon the Owl faltered. It fell asleep as it stared at the snake hole continuously.

Meanwhile Little Ncede cautiously peeped out of the snake hole.

The little bird saw that the Owl was not keeping watch because it had fallen asleep. 

Utilizing the chance Ncede flew up and away from the snake hole.

Eventually the other birds along with the owl realized that Ncede had escaped from the snake hole. 

Owl was very ashamed of his own carelessness because of which Ncede had escaped.

Since then, the Owl hunted only at night.

During the day he slept and stayed away from the sight of the other birds.

Adapted from South African Folktales

The King of Birds - Part Two

 

The vulture cried in happiness. “I flew the highest. I have to be the king of birds now.” 

However a small voice came from near the vulture. “No! I am the highest, I am the king.” This was Ncede, the smallest bird of all. In reality the Ncede had held on to the wing of the vulture as the vulture had soared into the sky and then gone above the vulture.

However the vulture did not know it at that time and was very annoyed by the Ncede. 

“You will not beat me again,” the vulture said and it flew straight up in the air until he was exhausted. 

“I am your King.” The vulture shouted tiredly from the sky.

This time the Ncede came out from the vulture’s wing. “No it is me, the smallest bird. I am your King.”

However this time the vulture was too exhausted to fly any further.

The vulture came down and the Ncede was still in his wing and the other bird realized what could have happened.

The other birds were all furious with Ncede and they were angry with the bird and ready to punish him and pluck out all his feathers.

Adapted from South African Folktales

The King of Birds - Part One

Long ago, the birds got together and they wanted to decide on who would be their ruler. They realized that animals and people had rulers and they also needed a king.

Many birds wanted the Eagle to be their king. However, the Eagle did not have a crown so that was rejected. 

Some birds suggested that the Ostrich should be the king because it is the largest among all the birds and roars like a lion. However, the Ostrich could not fly so that too was rejected.  

The peacock wanted to be the king because he was the most handsome among all the animals. However, the other birds immediately rejected this because they realized that the peacock was too proud.

The owl was also rejected to be the king of birds.  

Finally, one of the birds suggested that the bird that flew the highest would be the king of the birds.

All the other birds agreed to this and the competition started.

The Goose was the first one to participate in the competition and it flew for a single day straight over the highest mountains in the world.

The Eagle flew next and if it flew for two days into the blue above the mountains. 

Finally the vulture also entered the competition.

It so happened that the vulture flew for three full days without stopping straight towards the sun.

No other bird attended this competition after that and the vulture realized that it could be the king of the birds now.

Adapted from South African Folktales