In a village nestled between two rivers, the villagers prided themselves on their farming, particularly their yam crops. Every season, they would hold a festival to celebrate the bountiful harvest and to praise the earth and the gods.
One season, seven magnificent hills of yams emerged, larger and more splendid than any the village had ever seen. The village elder declared that these hills were a gift from the gods and decreed that no one should harvest them until the festival day.
Anansi, ever the trickster, saw an opportunity for mischief and a chance to fill his belly. Every night, he would sneak into the fields and steal yams from one of the seven hills, covering his tracks by rearranging the remaining yams to appear untouched.
On the morning of the festival, as the villagers gathered to celebrate and give thanks, they noticed that each of the seven hills had been harvested. The village was in an uproar. They couldn’t fathom who would defy the elder’s decree.
Anansi, feigning innocence, suggested a plan. “Let us all cook our yams and bring them to the festival. The thief, having already stolen so many, will not be able to cook any and will be revealed!”
The villagers agreed. That evening, as the villagers proudly displayed their cooked yams, Anansi also presented his dish. He had cooked the stolen yams earlier in the day.
However, Kweku Tsin, a sharp-eyed bird, had observed Anansi’s nighttime mischief and cunningly whispered the truth to the village elder.
As the festivities neared their peak, the elder stood up and narrated a new tale – the story of a cunning spider and his insatiable greed. Anansi’s guilt became clear in his expressions. The villagers, realizing the deception, banished Anansi from that year’s festival and demanded he replenish the communal stock with his own yams.
Moral: While cleverness can sometimes lead to short-term gains, dishonesty is often discovered in the end. True wealth is in community and honesty, not in deceit.