really funny.. i coping them and putting in my lil book i putting together for rj.. will start reading them to him ...

Anasi The Spider
How All Tales Came to be Spider's

In the beginning, all tales and stories belonged to Nyame, the Sky God. But
Kwaku Anansi, the spider, yearned to be the owner of all the stories known in
the world, and he went to Nyame and offered to buy them.

The Sky God said: "I am willing to sell the stories, but the price is
high. Many people have come to me offering to buy, but the price was too high
for them. Rich and powerful families have not been able to pay. Do you think
you can do it?"

Anansi replied to the Sky God: "I can do it. What is the price?"

"My price is three things," the Sky God said. "I must first
have Mmoboro, the hornets. I must then have Onini, the great python. I must
then have Osebo, the leopard. For these thing I will sell you the right to tell
all the stories."

Anansi said: "I will bring them."

He went home and made his plans. He first cut a gourd from a vine and made
a small hole in it. He took a large bowl and filled it with water. He went to
the tree where the hornets lived. He poured some of the water over himself,
so that he was dripping. He threw some water over the hornets, so that they
too were dripping. Then he put the bowl on his head, as thought to protect himself
from a storm, and called out to the hornets: "Are you foolish people? Why
do you stay in the rain that is falling?"

The hornets answered: "Where shall we go?"

"Go here, in this dry gourd," Anansi told them.

The hornets thanked him and flew into the gourd through the small hole. When
the last of them had entered, Anansi plugged the hole with a ball of grass,
saying: "Oh, yes, but you are really foolish people!"
He took his gourd full of hornets to Nyame, the Sky God. The Sky God accepted
them.

He said: "There are two more things."

Anansi returned to the forest and cut a long bamboo pole and some strong vines.
Then he walked toward the house of Onini, the python, talking to himself. He
seemed to be talking about an argument with his wife. He said: "My wife
is wrong. I say he is longer and stronger. My wife says he is shorter and weaker.
I give him more respect. She gives him less respect. Is she right or am I right?
I am right, he is longer. I am right, he is stronger."

When Onini, the python, heard Anansi talking to himself, he said: "Why
are you arguing this way with yourself?"

The spider replied: "Ah, I have had a dispute with my wife. She says you
are shorter and weaker than this bamboo pole. I say you are longer and stronger."
Onini said: "It's useless and silly to argue when you can find out the truth.
Bring the pole and we will measure."
So Anansi laid the pole on the ground, and the python came and stretched himself
out beside it.

"You seem a little short," Anansi said.
The python stretched further.
"A little more," Anansi said.
"I can stretch no more," Onini said.
"When you stretch at one end, you get shorter at the other end,"
Anansi said. "Let me tie you at the front so you don't slip."

He tied Onini's head to the pole. Then he went to the other end and tied the
tail to the pole. He wrapped the vine all around Onini, until the python couldn't
move.

"Onini," Anansi said, "it turns out that my wife was right and
I was wrong. You are shorter than the pole and weaker. My opinion wasn't as
good as my wife's. But you were even more foolish than I, and you are now my
prisoner."

Anansi carried the python to Nyame, the Sky God, who said: "There is one
thing more." Osebo, the leopard, was next.

Anansi went into the forest and dug a deep pit where the leopard liked to walk.
He covered it with small branches and leaves and put dust on it, so that it was
impossible to tell where the pit was. Anansi went away and hid. When Osebo came
prowling in the black of night, he stepped into the trap Anansi had prepared and fell
to the bottom. Anansi heard the sound of the leopard falling and he said:

"Ah, Osebo, you are half-foolish!"
When morning came, Anansi went to the pit and saw the leopard there.

"Osebo," he asked, "what are you doing in this hole?"
"I have fallen into a trap," Osebo said. "Help me out."
"I would gladly help you," Anansi said. "But I'm sure that if
I bring you out, I will have no thanks for it. You will get hungry, and later
on you will be wanting to eat me and my children."
"I promise it won't happen!" Osebo said.
"Very well. Since you promise it, I will take you out," Anansi said.

He bent a tall green tree toward the ground, so that it's top was over the
pit, and he tied it that way. Then he tied a rope to the top of the tree and
dropped the other end of it into the pit.

"Tie this to your tail," he said.
Osebo tied the rope to his tail.
"Is it well tied?" Anansi asked.
"Yes, it is well tied," the leopard said.
"In that case," Anansi said, "you are not merely half-foolish,
you are all-foolish."

And he took his knife and cut the other rope, the one that held the tree bowed
to the ground. The tree straightened up with a snap, pulling Osebo out of the
hole. He hung in the air head downward, twisting and turning. As he twisted
and turned, he got so dizzy that Anansi had no trouble tying the leopard's feet
with vines. Anansi took the dizzy leopard, all tied up, to Nyame, the Sky God, saying:

"Here is the third thing. Now I have paid the price."

Nyame said to him: "Kwaku Anansi, great warriors and chiefs have tried,
but they have been unable to do it. You have done it. Therefore, I will give
you the stories. From this day onward, all stories belong to you. Whenever a
man tells a story, he must acknowledge that it is Anansi's tale."

And that is why, in parts of Africa, the people love to tell, and love to hear,
the stories they call "spider stories." And now, you have heard one
too.

This is a great one. There are several here with wonderful illustrations. It's a nice culture filled spot for kids.
http://www.afro.com/children/myths/wisdom/page1.html

How Anasi Tried to steal All The Wisdom from The world.



Anansi the spider knew that he was not wise. He was very clever, and could outwit many different people,
but he knew that he did not have very much wisdom. This bothered him a great deal, but he did not know
what to do about it.


Then one day he had a clever thought.
"I know," he said to no one in particular, "if I can get all of the wisdom in the village and put it in a hollow
gourd, I will be very wise indeed. In fact, I would be the wisest of all!"

So he set out to find a suitable gourd and then began his journey to collect the village's wisdom.


He went from door to door, asking everyone to give some of their wisdom. The people chuckled at poor Anansi,
for they knew that of all the creatures, it was he that needed some wisdom the most. So each put a bit in his
gourd and wished him well on his search.


Soon Anansi's gourd was overflowing with wisdom and he could hold no more. He now needed to find a place
to store it.

"I am certainly the wisest person in the world now, but if I don't find a good hiding place for my wisdom I may
surely lose it."


He looked around and spotted a tall, tall tree.
"Ah," he said to himself, "if I could hide my wisdom high in that tree, I would never have to worry about someone
stealing it from me!"

So Anansi set out to climb the towering tree.


"He first took a cloth band and tied it around his waist. Then he tied the heavy gourd to the front of his belly
where it would be safe.


As he began to climb, however, the gourd full of wisdom kept getting in the way. He tried and tried, but he
could not make progress around it.


Soon Anansi's youngest son walked by.

"What are you doing Father?" asked the little spider.
"I am climbing this tree with my gourd full of wisdom," Anansi replied



"But Father," said the son, "wouldn't it be much easier if you tied the gourd behind you instead of in front?"

Anansi sat there quietly for a very long time before saying, "Shouldn't you be going home now?"



The son skipped down the path and when he had disappeared, Anansi moved the gourd so that it was behind
him and proceeded up the tree with no problems at all.

When he had reached the top, he cried out, "I walked all over and collected so much wisdom that I am the
wisest person ever, but still my baby son is wiser than me. Take back your wisdom!"



He lifted the gourd high over his head and spilled its contents into the wind. The wisdom blew far and wide and
settled across the land.

And this is how wisdom came to the world.

Thanks for sharing this! Finally, I have something I can use to tell Spider stories to my kids.

http://www.phillipmartin.info/liberia/text_folktales_snake.htm

by Phillip Martin © 1990 "My eggs!" cried Chicken. "One of my eggs is missing! Yesterday I had twelve eggs and today there are only eleven." As Chicken fled her nest to find Rooster, she had no idea that she was about to lose more eggs. Just out of view of the nest, the thief patiently waited for Chicken to leave her eggs again. Black Snake crept slowly and quietly up to the nest. He eyed the eggs and quickly swallowed one. Black Snake smiled to himself. His plan had been so simple and had worked so well. He swallowed another egg. It slid far down his long throat before his muscles crushed the fragile shell. "I'll be back later for another delicious egg, Chicken," hissed Black Snake as he slithered away. "Thank you for another fine meal." Meanwhile, the frantic chicken lead Rooster back to her nest. "Why would someone take one of my eggs?" she clucked. "Are you sure you counted correctly? Maybe you just thought you saw eleven eggs?" suggested Rooster. From the expression on Chicken's face, Rooster knew he shouldn't have asked that question. She glared at him and said, "You know I can count. See for yourself. How many eggs are in my nest?" "One, two, three," began Rooster. He frowned and stopped counting out loud. "What's the matter now?" questioned Chicken. "Are you afraid to admit you're wrong?" "No, it's nothing like that at all," responded Rooster. "Something is very wrong here. There are only nine eggs." "What? Nine Eggs!" cried Chicken. "What is happening? Who would do this to me?" The next few days were just terrible for Chicken. She worried constantly about her remaining eggs. She tried to stay with her eggs at all times but it wasn't possible to always be with them. Sometimes she had to leave to get food or take care of her other chicks. No matter why she left, the same thing always happened. One or two eggs disappeared each time. "Someone is watching me very closely," cried the chicken. "He knows exactly where I am at each moment of the day. I only have three remaining eggs." "Although I cannot prove anything," comforted Rooster, "I think it must be Black Snake who is stealing your eggs. He's patient enough to watch you a long time, and we all know how he loves to eat eggs." Just the thought of Black Snake eating her eggs made Chicken shudder. She had heard stories of how he swallowed eggs and then crushed them further down his long slender neck. She knew Rooster was probably correct. "I must hurry back to my nest," declared Chicken, realizing how long she had talked to Rooster. She rushed to her eggs, but it was too late. Two more eggs had vanished. "Rooster!" she cried. "Come help me. I only have one egg left." Rooster came quickly. "You know, it is very likely that Black Snake will steal your last egg tomorrow," he warned. "Unless we are able to trap him, this will only continue every time you have eggs." "Yes, it's true," cried Chicken, "but what can we do? How can we possibly stop Black Snake?" "I have a plan," whispered Rooster. "I think we will not be bothered by him much longer." The next morning, Chicken continued guarding her last egg as if everything were normal. From a distance, Black Snake didn't realize that a deadly trap had been set for him. Chicken left her nest for only the shortest moment when Black Snake slithered out of hiding. In no time at all, he swallowed the final egg. It slid down his throat easily. But, when his muscles squeezed the egg, it did not break. It only became firmly lodged in his throat cutting off his air supply. Black Snake twisted and turned trying to crush the egg or loosen it so he could breathe. By the time Chicken returned with Rooster, the struggle was over. Black Snake would steal no more eggs. He was dead. "I'm sure he died never knowing why that egg didn't crush," crowed Rooster. "How could he have known," clucked Chicken, "that the egg was hard boiled?"

Good one oh!