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Sacred Texts Africa Jamaica Anansi Stories
BY
MARTHA WARREN BECKWITH
Music transcribed by HELEN ROBERTS
The transcription of Jamaican patois in these texts may be jarring to modern sensibilities, and occasionally impenetrable. It must be recognized that the purpose of this transcription was to respect the subject matter, and place it in context, rather to trivialize it. This is not a minstrel show. These texts prove that African folklore survived the 'middle passage' of the slave ships. In fact, these oral traditions were the only possessions which survived that harrowing journey, and should be treasured appropriately.
The trickster Anansi, originally a West African spider-god, lives on in these tales. Why is this figure so universal? And why did so many African American folk tales recount his exploits, under one name or another? Anansi is the spirit of rebellion; he is able to overturn the social order; he can marry the Kings' daughter, create wealth out of thin air; baffle the Devil and cheat Death. Even if Anansi loses in one story, you know that he will overcome in the next. For an oppressed people Anansi conveyed a simple message from one generation to the next:--that freedom and dignity are worth fighting for, at any odds.
Title Page
Contents.
Preface.
ANIMAL STORIES.
1. Tying Tiger. [Note]
2. Tiger as Substitute. [Note]
3. Tiger as Riding-horse. [Note]
4. Tiger's Sheep-skin Suit. [Note]
5. Tiger Catching the Sheep-thief. [Note]
6. Tiger's Breakfast. [Note]
7. Eggs and Scorpions. [Note]
8. Tiger's Bone-hole. [Note]
9. The Christening. [Note]
10. Eating Tiger's Guts. [Note]
11. Throwing away Knives. [Note]
12. Grace Before Meat. [Note]
13. Day-time Trouble. [Note]
14. New Names. [Note]
15. Long-shirt. [Note]
16. Shut up in the Pot. [Note]
17. House in the Air. [Note]
18. Goat on the Hill-side. [Note]
19. Dog and Dog-head. [Note]
20. Tacoomah's Corn-piece. [Note]
21. Anansi and the Tar-baby. [Note]
22. Inside the Cow. [Note]
23. Cunnie-More-Than-Father. [Note]
24. The Duckano tree. [Note]
25. Food and Cudgel. [Note]
26. The Riddle. [Note]
27. Anansi and Brother Dead. [Note]
28. Brother Dead and the Brindle Puppy. [Note]
29. The Cowitch and Mr. Foolman. [Note]
30. Dry-Head and Anansi. [Note] [Music: Fly Along, Brudder Hawk]
31. The Yam-hills. [Note]
32. The Law against Back-biting. [Note]
33. Fling-a-mile. [Note]
34. But-but and Anansi. [Note]
35. Tumble-bug and Anansi. [Note]
36. Horse and Anansi. [Note]
37. Anansi in Monkey Country. [Note]
38. Curing the Sick. [Note]
39. Anansi, White-belly and Fish. [Note]
40. Goat's Escape. [Note] [Music: Meat a da me yard] [Music: You no havey a han' you no sure of it]
41. Turtle's Escape. [Note]
42. Fire and Anansi. [Note]
43. Quit-quit and Anansi. [Note]
44. Spider Marries Monkey's Daughter. [Note]
45. The Chain of Victims. [Note]
46. Why Tumble-bug Rolls in the Dung. [Note] [Supplementary Note]
47. Why John-crow has a Bald Head. [Note]
48. Why Dog is always Looking. [Note] [Supplementary Note]
49. Why Rocks at the River are covered with Moss. [Note]
50. Why Ground-dove Complains. [Note]
51. Why Hog is always Grunting. [Note]
52. Why Toad Croaks. [Note]
53. Why Woodpecker Bores Wood. [Note]
54. Why Crab is afraid after Dark. [Note]
55. Why Mice are no Bigger. [Note]
56. Rat's Wedding. [Note] [Supplementary Note]
57. Cockroach Stories. [Note]
58. Hunter, Guinea-hen and Fish. [Note]
59. Rabbit Stories. [Note]
60. The Animal Race. [Note] [Music: Iyaa yao sa (1)] [Music: Iyaa yao sa (2)]
61. The Fasting Trial (fragment). [Note]
62. Man is Stronger. [Note]
OLD STORIES, CHIEFLY OF SORCERY.
63. The Pea that made a Fortune. [Note]
64. Settling the Father's Debt. [Note]
65. Mr. Lenaman's Corn-field. [Note]
66. Simon Tootoos. [Note] [Supplementary Note] [Music: Come take me up]
67. The Tree-wife. [Note] [Music: Jesta beyo]
68. Sammy the Comferee. [Note] [Music: Sammy de Confaria]
69. Grandy-Do-an'-Do. [Note]
70. Jack and Harry. [Note]
71. Pea-fowl as Messenger. [Note]
72. The Barking Puppy. [Note] [Music: Phinney man]
73. The Singing Bird. [Note] [Music: Fine waitin' boy] [Music: Golden Cage]
74. Two Sisters. [Note]
75. Asoonah. [Note]
76. The Greedy Child. [Note]
77. Alimoty and Aliminty. [Note]
78. The Fish Lover. [Note] [Music: Timbo, Limbo] [Music: Fish, fish, fish]
79. Juggin Straw Blue. [Note] [Music: Na Kooma] [Music: Juggin Straw Blue (1)] [Music: Juggin straw Blue (2)]
80. The Witch and the Grain of Peas. [Note] [Music: Dearest Mama]
81. Bosen Corner. [Note]
82. The Three Dogs. [Note] [Music: Sharpen Me Razor] [Music: Blum-blum Sinde Dido] [Music: Chin Fallah]
83. Andrew and his Sisters. [Note] [Music: Ya, Bwa]
84. The Hunter. [Note]
85. Man-Snake as Bridegroom. [Note] [Music: Kom Go Yeng]
86. The Girls who married the Devil. [Note] [Music: Handsome Man Snake] [Music: Carlie]
87. Bull as Bridegroom. [Note] [Music: Pon, pon, Me Dearie] [Music: Gracie and Miles (1)] [Music: Gracie and Miles (2)]
88. The Two Bulls. [Note]
89. Ballinder Bull. [Note] [Music: Geshawnee]
90. Bird Arinto. [Note] [Music: Arintoe]
91. Tiger Softens his Voice. [Note]
92. Hidden Names. [Note]
93. Anansi and Mr. Able. [Note] [Music: Brar Able]
94. The King's Three Daughters. [Note]
95. The Dumb Child. [Note]
96. The Dumb Wife. [Note]
97. Leap, Timber, Leap. [Note] [Supplementary Note] [Music: Leap, Timber, Leap (1)] [Music: Leap, Timber, Leap (2)] [Music: Come, Little Timber]
98. The Boy fools Anansi. [Note]
99. The Water Crayfish. [Note]Anansi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations.
You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations.For other uses, see Anansi the Spider.
Anansi is one of the most important characters of West African lore. He is a culture hero, who acts on behalf of Nyame, his father and the sky god). He brings rain to stop fires and performs other duties for him. His mother is Asase Ya. There are several mentions of Anansi's children. According to some myths his wife is known as Miss Anansi or Mistress Anansi but most commonly as Aso. He is depicted as a spider, a human, or combinations thereof.
The Anansi legends are believed to have originated in the Ashanti tribe. They later spread to other Akan groups and then to the West Indies, Suriname, and the Netherlands Antilles. On Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire he is known as Nanzi, and his wife as Shi Maria. Anansi stories originated in Ghana, in Africa. The word Anansi is Akan and means spider.
Contents
[hide]
[edit] Myths
Anansi stories are known as Anansesem to the Ashanti and Anansi-Tori to the Suriname.
In some beliefs, Anansi created the sun, stars and the moon, as well as teaching mankind the skills involved in agriculture. Another story tells of how Anansi tried to hoard all of the world's wisdom in a calabash. In the end he realizes the futility of trying to keep all the wisdom to himself, and released it.
Most cultures that have Anansi folktales also have the story of how Anansi became King of All Stories, not just his own. In the original Ashanti version of this story, Anansi approaches Nyame, the Sky God, with the request that he be named King of All Stories. Nyame then tells Anansi that if he can catch The Jaguar With Teeth Like Daggers, The Hornets Who Sting Like Fire, and The Fairy Whom Men Never See, he will be King of Stories. Anansi agrees, despite Nyame's doubt that he can do it. Anansi then tricks the jaguar, who intends to eat him, into playing a game that allows Anansi to tie him up. He tricks the hornets by pretending that it is raining, and telling them to hide in a calabash. He tricks the fairy with the gum/tar baby trick told below. He then takes them to Nyame and becomes King of All Stories. Other versions, notably Caribbean variations, of this story involve Anansi getting Snake for Lion/Tiger.
One of the few times Anansi himself was tricked, was when he tried to fight a tar baby after trying to steal food, but became stuck to it instead. The "tar-baby" tale appears in a variety of ethnic African folklore contexts. It is best known from the Brer Rabbit version, found in the Uncle Remus stories. These were derived from African-American folktales in the Southern United States. Ultimately this version was adapted and used in the 1946 live-action/animated Walt Disney movie Song of the South.
Many Anansi stories deal with him attempting to trick people into allowing him to steal food or money, or something else that could turn a profit, only for the trick itself to backfire upon Anansi.
When Anansi was first told in a story, he was the villain and was destroying all of the crops and having everyone die for sacrifices for his father.
[edit] References in Popular Culture
In the Disney cartoon Gargoyles, Anansi was depicted as a giant spider in the episode "Mark Of The Panther". He also appeared in the first part of "The Gathering". In the episode he was seen returning to Avalon. This stated that he was one of Oberon's children.
In the Kid's WB television program Static Shock a character similar to Anansi appears in an episode where Static visits Africa as an African magician character. The two join forces to fight a villain dressed as a leopard.
American Gods is a novel by Neil Gaiman that features Anansi (under the name Mr. Nancy), among other mythological characters. A later novel, Anansi Boys, follows the sons of Anansi as they discover each other and their heritage.
The English rock band Skunk Anansie (1994-2001) took the name of the spider-man of the West African folk tales, but with a slightly different spelling, and added "Skunk" to the name, in order to make the name nastier.[1]
[edit] Other names
[edit] References
[edit] External links
BY
MARTHA WARREN BECKWITH
Music transcribed by HELEN ROBERTS
[1924]
Jump to Index Start Reading This classic of Jamaican folklore was collected by Martha Warren Beckwith, whose translation of the Hawaiian Creation epic, the Kumulipo, is also at sacred-texts. Beckwith studied under the famous ethnographer Franz Boas, who also encouraged the pioneering Afro-Caribbean ethnographic field work of Zora Neale Huston. Jamaica Anansi Stories includes folklore, transcriptions of folk music, and a large collection of riddles, all cross-referenced with folklore studies from other cultures. The index below includes links to scanned images of music notation in the text; note that the song titles have been assigned arbitrarily. To assist search engine robots and visually impaired readers using text-to-speech programs, I have also transcribed the song lyrics below each image of scanned music notation. Each story is cross-linked to the notes, both in the index and the particular file. The transcription of Jamaican patois in these texts may be jarring to modern sensibilities, and occasionally impenetrable. It must be recognized that the purpose of this transcription was to respect the subject matter, and place it in context, rather to trivialize it. This is not a minstrel show. These texts prove that African folklore survived the 'middle passage' of the slave ships. In fact, these oral traditions were the only possessions which survived that harrowing journey, and should be treasured appropriately.
The trickster Anansi, originally a West African spider-god, lives on in these tales. Why is this figure so universal? And why did so many African American folk tales recount his exploits, under one name or another? Anansi is the spirit of rebellion; he is able to overturn the social order; he can marry the Kings' daughter, create wealth out of thin air; baffle the Devil and cheat Death. Even if Anansi loses in one story, you know that he will overcome in the next. For an oppressed people Anansi conveyed a simple message from one generation to the next:--that freedom and dignity are worth fighting for, at any odds.
Title Page
Contents.
Preface.
ANIMAL STORIES.
1. Tying Tiger. [Note]
2. Tiger as Substitute. [Note]
3. Tiger as Riding-horse. [Note]
4. Tiger's Sheep-skin Suit. [Note]
5. Tiger Catching the Sheep-thief. [Note]
6. Tiger's Breakfast. [Note]
7. Eggs and Scorpions. [Note]
8. Tiger's Bone-hole. [Note]
9. The Christening. [Note]
10. Eating Tiger's Guts. [Note]
11. Throwing away Knives. [Note]
12. Grace Before Meat. [Note]
13. Day-time Trouble. [Note]
14. New Names. [Note]
15. Long-shirt. [Note]
16. Shut up in the Pot. [Note]
17. House in the Air. [Note]
18. Goat on the Hill-side. [Note]
19. Dog and Dog-head. [Note]
20. Tacoomah's Corn-piece. [Note]
21. Anansi and the Tar-baby. [Note]
22. Inside the Cow. [Note]
23. Cunnie-More-Than-Father. [Note]
24. The Duckano tree. [Note]
25. Food and Cudgel. [Note]
26. The Riddle. [Note]
27. Anansi and Brother Dead. [Note]
28. Brother Dead and the Brindle Puppy. [Note]
29. The Cowitch and Mr. Foolman. [Note]
30. Dry-Head and Anansi. [Note] [Music: Fly Along, Brudder Hawk]
31. The Yam-hills. [Note]
32. The Law against Back-biting. [Note]
33. Fling-a-mile. [Note]
34. But-but and Anansi. [Note]
35. Tumble-bug and Anansi. [Note]
36. Horse and Anansi. [Note]
37. Anansi in Monkey Country. [Note]
38. Curing the Sick. [Note]
39. Anansi, White-belly and Fish. [Note]
40. Goat's Escape. [Note] [Music: Meat a da me yard] [Music: You no havey a han' you no sure of it]
41. Turtle's Escape. [Note]
42. Fire and Anansi. [Note]
43. Quit-quit and Anansi. [Note]
44. Spider Marries Monkey's Daughter. [Note]
45. The Chain of Victims. [Note]
46. Why Tumble-bug Rolls in the Dung. [Note] [Supplementary Note]
47. Why John-crow has a Bald Head. [Note]
48. Why Dog is always Looking. [Note] [Supplementary Note]
49. Why Rocks at the River are covered with Moss. [Note]
50. Why Ground-dove Complains. [Note]
51. Why Hog is always Grunting. [Note]
52. Why Toad Croaks. [Note]
53. Why Woodpecker Bores Wood. [Note]
54. Why Crab is afraid after Dark. [Note]
55. Why Mice are no Bigger. [Note]
56. Rat's Wedding. [Note] [Supplementary Note]
57. Cockroach Stories. [Note]
58. Hunter, Guinea-hen and Fish. [Note]
59. Rabbit Stories. [Note]
60. The Animal Race. [Note] [Music: Iyaa yao sa (1)] [Music: Iyaa yao sa (2)]
61. The Fasting Trial (fragment). [Note]
62. Man is Stronger. [Note]
OLD STORIES, CHIEFLY OF SORCERY.
63. The Pea that made a Fortune. [Note]
64. Settling the Father's Debt. [Note]
65. Mr. Lenaman's Corn-field. [Note]
66. Simon Tootoos. [Note] [Supplementary Note] [Music: Come take me up]
67. The Tree-wife. [Note] [Music: Jesta beyo]
68. Sammy the Comferee. [Note] [Music: Sammy de Confaria]
69. Grandy-Do-an'-Do. [Note]
70. Jack and Harry. [Note]
71. Pea-fowl as Messenger. [Note]
72. The Barking Puppy. [Note] [Music: Phinney man]
73. The Singing Bird. [Note] [Music: Fine waitin' boy] [Music: Golden Cage]
74. Two Sisters. [Note]
75. Asoonah. [Note]
76. The Greedy Child. [Note]
77. Alimoty and Aliminty. [Note]
78. The Fish Lover. [Note] [Music: Timbo, Limbo] [Music: Fish, fish, fish]
79. Juggin Straw Blue. [Note] [Music: Na Kooma] [Music: Juggin Straw Blue (1)] [Music: Juggin straw Blue (2)]
80. The Witch and the Grain of Peas. [Note] [Music: Dearest Mama]
81. Bosen Corner. [Note]
82. The Three Dogs. [Note] [Music: Sharpen Me Razor] [Music: Blum-blum Sinde Dido] [Music: Chin Fallah]
83. Andrew and his Sisters. [Note] [Music: Ya, Bwa]
84. The Hunter. [Note]
85. Man-Snake as Bridegroom. [Note] [Music: Kom Go Yeng]
86. The Girls who married the Devil. [Note] [Music: Handsome Man Snake] [Music: Carlie]
87. Bull as Bridegroom. [Note] [Music: Pon, pon, Me Dearie] [Music: Gracie and Miles (1)] [Music: Gracie and Miles (2)]
88. The Two Bulls. [Note]
89. Ballinder Bull. [Note] [Music: Geshawnee]
90. Bird Arinto. [Note] [Music: Arintoe]
91. Tiger Softens his Voice. [Note]
92. Hidden Names. [Note]
93. Anansi and Mr. Able. [Note] [Music: Brar Able]
94. The King's Three Daughters. [Note]
95. The Dumb Child. [Note]
96. The Dumb Wife. [Note]
97. Leap, Timber, Leap. [Note] [Supplementary Note] [Music: Leap, Timber, Leap (1)] [Music: Leap, Timber, Leap (2)] [Music: Come, Little Timber]
98. The Boy fools Anansi. [Note]
99. The Water Crayfish. [Note]Anansi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations.
You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations.For other uses, see Anansi the Spider.
Anansi is one of the most important characters of West African lore. He is a culture hero, who acts on behalf of Nyame, his father and the sky god). He brings rain to stop fires and performs other duties for him. His mother is Asase Ya. There are several mentions of Anansi's children. According to some myths his wife is known as Miss Anansi or Mistress Anansi but most commonly as Aso. He is depicted as a spider, a human, or combinations thereof.
The Anansi legends are believed to have originated in the Ashanti tribe. They later spread to other Akan groups and then to the West Indies, Suriname, and the Netherlands Antilles. On Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire he is known as Nanzi, and his wife as Shi Maria. Anansi stories originated in Ghana, in Africa. The word Anansi is Akan and means spider.
Contents
[hide]
- <LI class=toclevel-1>1 Myths <LI class=toclevel-1>2 References in Popular Culture <LI class=toclevel-1>3 Other names <LI class=toclevel-1>4 References
- 5 External links
[edit] Myths
Anansi stories are known as Anansesem to the Ashanti and Anansi-Tori to the Suriname.
In some beliefs, Anansi created the sun, stars and the moon, as well as teaching mankind the skills involved in agriculture. Another story tells of how Anansi tried to hoard all of the world's wisdom in a calabash. In the end he realizes the futility of trying to keep all the wisdom to himself, and released it.
Most cultures that have Anansi folktales also have the story of how Anansi became King of All Stories, not just his own. In the original Ashanti version of this story, Anansi approaches Nyame, the Sky God, with the request that he be named King of All Stories. Nyame then tells Anansi that if he can catch The Jaguar With Teeth Like Daggers, The Hornets Who Sting Like Fire, and The Fairy Whom Men Never See, he will be King of Stories. Anansi agrees, despite Nyame's doubt that he can do it. Anansi then tricks the jaguar, who intends to eat him, into playing a game that allows Anansi to tie him up. He tricks the hornets by pretending that it is raining, and telling them to hide in a calabash. He tricks the fairy with the gum/tar baby trick told below. He then takes them to Nyame and becomes King of All Stories. Other versions, notably Caribbean variations, of this story involve Anansi getting Snake for Lion/Tiger.
One of the few times Anansi himself was tricked, was when he tried to fight a tar baby after trying to steal food, but became stuck to it instead. The "tar-baby" tale appears in a variety of ethnic African folklore contexts. It is best known from the Brer Rabbit version, found in the Uncle Remus stories. These were derived from African-American folktales in the Southern United States. Ultimately this version was adapted and used in the 1946 live-action/animated Walt Disney movie Song of the South.
Many Anansi stories deal with him attempting to trick people into allowing him to steal food or money, or something else that could turn a profit, only for the trick itself to backfire upon Anansi.
When Anansi was first told in a story, he was the villain and was destroying all of the crops and having everyone die for sacrifices for his father.
[edit] References in Popular Culture
In the Disney cartoon Gargoyles, Anansi was depicted as a giant spider in the episode "Mark Of The Panther". He also appeared in the first part of "The Gathering". In the episode he was seen returning to Avalon. This stated that he was one of Oberon's children.
In the Kid's WB television program Static Shock a character similar to Anansi appears in an episode where Static visits Africa as an African magician character. The two join forces to fight a villain dressed as a leopard.
American Gods is a novel by Neil Gaiman that features Anansi (under the name Mr. Nancy), among other mythological characters. A later novel, Anansi Boys, follows the sons of Anansi as they discover each other and their heritage.
The English rock band Skunk Anansie (1994-2001) took the name of the spider-man of the West African folk tales, but with a slightly different spelling, and added "Skunk" to the name, in order to make the name nastier.[1]
[edit] Other names
- Anancy (Jamaica, Grenada)
- Anancyi
- Ananansa
- Ananse
- Aunt Nancy (In South Carolina, Aunt Nancy is sometimes used as folk name for the spider, because the term is the Americanized version of Anansi).
- Hanansi
- Compé Anansi
- Kweku Anansi (Akan)
- Nansi
- Anansi the one who tricks (Anansiil)
- B'anansi (Suriname)
[edit] References
- ^ Biography: Skunk Anansie. All Music Guide. Retrieved on November 22, 2005.
[edit] External links
- About Anancy and Jamaican Anancy Stories
- How Anansi Became A Spider
- Jamaica Anansi Stories
- Aunt Nancy
- Anansi and Sweep