Greedy Anansi FOLKLORE FROM WEST AFRICA

A long time ago, there was an old woman living with her children. One of her children was Anansi. He was a lazy boy.He never wanted to help his mother.Unfortunately, he was greedy. He never wanted to share his food with his brothers and sisters.
One day, Anansi was very hungry.There was no food in the house. So he went outside, he hoped that he could find something to eat.

Anansi went to the sea. He wanted to catch some fish. Suddenly, from a distance he saw a green island.“There must be lots of food there,“ he thought.

Anansi rowed a boat and arrived in the island. There was a hut, Anansi knocked the door and an old man greeted him.
“What can I do for you, Young Man?“ I'm hungry, can you give me some food?“ asked An ansi.
“I have some thing better than food. Here, take this pot. Give this to your mother. When you and your family are hungry, just say: Dear Pot, whatever you give to the Old Man, please give it to me,“ explained the Old Man.
Anansi went home.

However he did not give the pot to his mother. Instead, he hid it in his room.
Then he silently said, Dear Pot, whatever you give to the Old Man, please give it to me.“
Amazingly, there was a lot of food inside the pot. Anasi was extremely happy. He ate all the food. After that he secretly hid the pot.

Time went by and Anansi became fatter. His mother was so suspicious.
“How can he be fatter? His brothers and sisters are thin. I think we don't have enough food to make him fat like that,“ thought the mother.

The mother wanted to find out. She had a plan. “Anansi, let's go to the market with me and your brothers and sisters.“
“I can't, Mother. I'm not feeling well,“ replied Anansi. Well, he always gave an excuse not to help his mother.
Later, the mother and his children left the house. However, the mother came back home. She carefully went inside and when she was in front of Anansi's room, she heard his son said, “Dear Pot, whatever you give to the Old Man, please give it to me.“
She heard Anansi was busy eating. “How did he get the food?“ she thought.

On the following day, Anansi left the house. The mother immediately went to his room. She finally found the pot! She did exactly what Anansi said, “Dear Pot, whatever you give to the Old Man, please give it to me.“

She was very surprised when she found lots of food inside the pot! She gave the food to his children.The mother did not only give it her children, she also gave it to her neighbors.Unfortunately, the pot stopped giving her the food. So she returned it to his son's room.

When Anansi came back, he took his pot and said, “Dear Pot, whatever you give to the Old Man, please give it to me.“ Sadly, the pot did not give him any food. Anansi was upset. So he went to the Old Man's house. He wanted to ask him to give him another pot.
“Did you give the pot to your mother?“ asked the Old Man.

“No, I didn't.“I have something better than the pot. Here, take this stick and say: Dear Stick, whatever you did to the Old Man, please do it to me.“

Anansi was impatient. He immediately said, “Dear Stick, whatever you did to the Old Man, please do it to me.“

The stick moved and hit him! Anansi asked for help but the Old Man didn't do anything. He just said, “That's your punishment for being greedy and lazy!“ Anansi was crying. He promised that he would not be greedy and lazy anymore. After that, the stick stopped hitting him. Anansi immediately went home. Since then he became a good son. Media Indonesia, 9/11/2014, halaman 21

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