How Anansi’s Greed Brought Death to Live Among Men

Long, long ago, in the heart of an African village, lived a spider called Anansi. Anansi was no ordinary spider. He was known among the animals for his great guts, for he feared no one and delighted in playing tricks on everyone he encountered. Bigger animals were not left out.

Once, a great famine came to Anansi’s village. Farmlands dried up, and hunger sat heavy on every household. The famine made Anansi very hungry, as he barely saw what to feed himself, let alone his family. The hunger grew, and Anansi decided to go food hunting. He took his hunting bag along with his gun and wandered into the bush. Anansi searched and searched, and soon realized that there was no animal in the bush. Anansi, however, was not ready to give up on his search. He ventured into the bush further, searching for animals he could find and eat.

The spider soon stumbled upon another village, but at its entrance a figure sat waiting. As Anansi drew closer, a heavy chill settled over him, the kind that creeps in only when death is near. Indeed, Death was near. It was Death itself, and Anansi knew well not to offend Death. So, he approached Death and greeted him softly. Without delay, Anansi explained the purpose of his journey and noted that he had searched the entire bush for an animal to kill for food but had found none. Death was moved to help Anansi, so he offered to give him food to eat.

When they got inside the village, Death brought Anansi to a house where there was enough meat to eat. Death cooked and served Anansi with some of them, and the spider ate till he got full. Anansi wondered why Death had such an enormous quantity of meat in his house, and couldn’t hold back his curiosity, so he asked. But Death only replied, “Do you mean to say you do not recognize me?” It was at that moment that Anansi realized why he couldn’t find any animal earlier; Death owned it all.

After a while, Anansi was ready to leave, but he wanted a favor from Death. He explained that the famine had spread through the entire village, and now his family had nothing to eat. He wished to bring home some meat for them on Death’s permission. Death agreed to his request and gave Anansi meat that could feed his family.

Anansi thanked Death for such hospitality and left. On arriving at his home, he wasted no time in telling his family of the experience he had with Death. Anansi told his wife that this discovery of his would sustain them during this time, and that he could go visit Death and take meat as long as the famine lasted. His wife, Aso, and children were all excited at this news. Little did they know that Anansi’s cunning was cooking up something more.

So, the next day, Anansi grabbed a bigger bag and left for Death’s village. But Anansi’s greed, however, had grown. When he got to Death’s house, Death happened not to be in, and so the spider saw the opportunity to steal from Death. Without delay, Anansi stuffed his bag with meat and slipped away before Death returned.

Anansi continued with this scheme, but it was not long before Death noticed that a great deal of meat was missing from his store. Death knew someone was playing tricks on him, and so decided to find out who had been exploiting his home in his absence.

So on that fateful day, Anansi returned to Death’s village, completely unaware that Death was waiting in secret to find out who was behind his missing food. As usual, Anansi gathered a large quantity of meat, but just as he was about to leave, Death in his scary form stepped out from where he hid and asked Anansi why he had chosen to steal from him.

Anansi was shaken by Death’s presence and at once took to his heels, leaving the stolen meat behind. Try as he might, Anansi could not lose Death, no matter how fast he ran through the bush, and by the time he got to the city, the spider looked behind and saw that Death was still chasing after him. Before Anansi could even alert the villagers to what was coming, Death had already taken them. And from that day forth, Death has lived among men. Had Anansi not stolen from him, Death would remain quietly in the bush, alone.

Tale’s Origin

Anansi is a famous character in African folklore. Depicted as a spider, he embodies wisdom, trickery, and cunning. His tales originate among the people of present-day Ghana. Through tales of Anansi, the Akan passed down moral lessons and explanations of life’s mysteries.