Anansi and Turtle

An African folktale
One day Anansi the spider picked some very fat yams from his garden. He carefully baked them and, oh boy, did they smell good! Yum-Yum! He spread those hot, steamy yams out on his table, his nose sniffing each one. He just couldn't wait to eat them, and his tummy rumbled with happiness.

Suddenly he heard a knock at the door. His friend Turtle had traveled all the way from town to visit. At the open door, Turtle sighed, very tired and very, very hungry. Her nose waved about in the air. "Mmmmm! I smell something good. Juicy, delicious yams! Will you share them with me, my good, friend?" Well, what could Anansi say? It was the custom in his country to share meals with visitors, especially with friends. Oh, but he was not happy about it, not one little bit. He wanted those yummy yams all to himself. Now Anansi was a trickster, so he quickly thought up a sneaky scheme to keep those yams away from Turtle.

"Oh, Turtle, good friend Turtle, come in, sit down! I am so honored by your visit," Anansi squeezed out a phony smile. "Turtle waddled inside and sat at the table, loaded with scrumptious yams. Her mouth watering, Turtle reached out for a yam. "No, no, no!" cried Anansi. "I'm shocked at your behavior! Don't you know better than to come to my table with such dirty hands?" Sure enough, Turtle’s hands were covered with the dust of the road.

So Turtle padded down to the river and swished her hands in the water until they were squeaky clean. Then she walked back to Anansi's house, dreaming about those tasty yam treats. Anansi stopped stuffing his mouth long enough to say, "Oh, Turtle my dear dear friend, please join me now. Forgive me; I just had to begin before the yams got cold!" Turtle went to the table and reached once more for her heart's desire.

"Oh, oh, oh! Stop!" cried Anansi. "Turtle! Look at your hands! I told you to wash them, but they're filthy! You should be ashamed of yourself! Tsk! Tsk!" Turtle looked down at her hands and realized that since she had crawled back to the house through the mud, they were dirty again. So off to the river she went once more, this time vowing to walk back only on the grass.

By the time she got back, Anansi was licking his fingers and smacking his lips. And every one of those mouth-watering yams was gone. Gone! Nothing remained. Turtle stared at Anansi and at the empty plates for a long time. Then she said politely, "Thank you so very, very much for sharing your meal with me. If you ever find yourself near my house, please let me return the favor!" Then she slowly walked out the door and went on her way.

Days went by. Anansi thought more and more about the meal that Turtle had offered. Finally, he could stand it no longer. Off he want to Turtle's house. She was sunning herself on the riverbank just around dinnertime. "Oh, hello, Anansi, my good friend, have you come to share my evening meal with me?" "Oh, yes, yes! Indeed I have!" Anansi was very hungry.

Turtle jumped into the water and swam to her underwater house to set up her dinner table for two. Swimming back to the riverbank, she said, "Oh, Anansi, please join me now in my cozy home and we'll enjoy our meal together!" With that, she dove back into the water, sat down at her table and began to savor her delicious food.

Anansi followed Turtle into the water, but he couldn't swim to the bottom of the river. He dove. He belly flopped. He tried a running jump. Nothing worked. He was so light he kept popping back up to the surface. He could see Turtle below him slowly eating her food, smiling, smiling. Anansi was furious. "She's not going to get away with this!" So he stuffed stones into his jacket pockets and this time, when he jumped into the water, he sank immediately and took his place at Turtle's table, loaded down with fabulous foods. Anansi reached out for his first morsel. "Oh, oh, oh!" cried Turtle. "Oh, no, Anansi, my close and dear friend. Huh-uh, no, no! In my country, we do not wear our jackets at dinner. It is considered most impolite and the punishment is severe!" Turtle's own jacket hung on a nearby hook. So, without thinking, Anansi removed his jacket and whiz! whoosh! zoom! He shot right back up to the surface of the water. Defeated, he peered down into the water and saw Turtle sitting at her dining table, enjoying her marvelous banquet. She looked up at Ananzi and flashed a dazzling smile as she popped morsel after morsel into her mouth, until finally the whole meal disappeared.

Anansi thought grumpily, "There wasn't anything there that looked good to me anyway! I don't care one bit about Turtle and her magnificent meal!" And with that he returned to his home and his yams.

We have to learn to share because "if u give,u get".