Ghanaian Folk & Spider Stories

Kwaku Anansi and Ghanaian Folk Tales

The many Ghanaian cultures use folk tales to instruct the young and the old in good conduct and acceptable behavior.  Animals replace humans in the stories to make them more humorous and acceptable to people of all ages.  Every story contains a moral so that mothers can use them to guide their children as well as entertain them and enrich their imaginations.  Elephants, hippopotami, hares, snails, ants and tortoises figure in the stories, but the most famous of all is the spider, Kwaku Anansi (or Ayiya in the Ewe regions). 

“The role ascribed to this creature is always ignoble.  He is permanently trying to trick and deceive his way through life but despite innumerable attempts to defeat him, he survives all the snares laid for him.  He is the true trickster figure, the one we love to hate who appears in various guises (aka br’er rabbit) in folk tales all over the world.”[1]

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[1] Anna Cottrell, Once Upon a Time in Ghana, Troubadour Press, 2007, pp xxii,xxiii

Kwaku Ananse and the Glue Man

Once upon a time Kwaku lived with his wife and 3 children.  Kwaku Ananse was a farmer and had a big farm where they plant vegetables and yams. Kwaku Ananse did not like to share all his food so when the food was ready Kwaku Ananse pretended to be sick.  He then told his wife and children that he is going to die, and if he die they should bury him in his farm.  They should use cooking utensils like pots and pans and spoons and mortars and pestles when they bury him. About a week later Kwaku Ananse died. When he died, his wife and children did as he told them to do.  After the death of Kwaku Ananse, in three days time, Kwaku Ananse’s wife and children began to realize people have been stealing food from their farm. The wife and children think it was a thief who was stealing their food, not knowing that Kwaku Ananse himself had been eating the food.  So one day, someone told Kwaku Ananse’s wife to make something called a “glue man” to catch the thief. They carved a tree so it looked just like a man and poured glue on the tree and they put the glue man in the farm. 

Let go of my hand or I'll hit you
with my foot

The next night Kwaku Ananse wake up to prepare some food and eat it when he saw glue man.  Kwaku Ananse ask glue man: “Who are you and what do you want on my farm?”  Glue man didn’t mind Kwaku Ananse so Kwaku Ananse told glue man “Go away from my farm or I’ll hit you!” Glue man didn’t mind Kwaku Ananse, so Kwaku Ananse used his right hand to hit glue man and his hand stick.  He said to glue man “Let go of my hand or I’ll hit you again!” Glue man didn’t mind so Kwaku Ananse hit glue man with his other hand and his other hand stick.  He told glue man: “Let go of my other hand or I’ll hit you with my leg!”  Glue man didn’t mind Kwaku Ananse so he used his leg and that leg also stick. Kwaku Ananse said “Glue man, let go of my hands and my legs or I will hit you with my head.  Glue man didn’t mind nothing Kwaku Ananse say so he used his head and it also stick. 

The next morning Kwaku Ananse’s wife and children come to the farm, they met Kwaku Ananse hanging on glue man, so they hoot at Kwaku Ananse and Kwaku Ananse was  ashamed. When they freed Kwaku Ananse he ran away and hide in the corner of the house.  That is why spiders always hide in corners.

The lesson is not to be so selfish with your things that you do not share them with your wife and children.  

Stories by Ama Ago, Illustrations by Melissa Rudge

Kwaku Ananse and the Six Children

Long, long ago there lives Kwaku Ananse and his six children in a small village. One day Kwaku Ananse heard there was going to be a feast in the four villages near him. Kwaku Ananse knew there was going to be food in all of these four villages and Kwaku Ananse wanted to eat all the food in the four villages.

All four children pulled their rope at
the same time

So Kwaku Ananse sent two of his children to go and visit the villages and tell him the food they are preparing.  Then Kwaku Ananse give four ropes to each of the four remaining children. Kwaku Ananse told the four children to tie the ropes around his waist and take the rope to go to each village. Kwaku Ananse told them when food is ready they should pull the rope so he would first know food is ready in that village before anybody else. But Kwaku Ananse was unfortunate. All four villages got food ready at the same time and all four children pulled the rope at the same time.  So Kwaku Ananse couldn’t move to any of the villages.  He stand in one place and all four children pulled him so he died.

If Kwaku Ananse was not so greedy, he could have gone to one village and had plenty of food to eat.

Ama & Melissa