“Spider’s Deadly Trick: How White Ants Became a Plague”
During a terrible famine when a single grain of corn was worth more than its weight in gold, Spider discovers a dead antelope in the forest—a treasure beyond measure. Knowing he’ll never make it home safely with such a prize, he wraps it in a long mat and carries it on his head, weeping bitterly and telling everyone it’s his dead grandfather’s body. The performance works perfectly until he encounters Wolf and Leopard, two wise animals who suspect trickery.
What follows is an escalating battle of wits. When Wolf and Leopard steal the antelope through a frightening ambush, Spider retaliates with an elaborate revenge plot involving a lizard with filed teeth, a fake dental service, and two predators hung helplessly from a tree while Spider feasts on his recovered meat before their eyes. But when White Ant and his children free the captives out of kindness, and Wolf and Leopard promise them a feast in gratitude, Spider sees one more opportunity for deception.
He dresses his children as ants and claims the feast meant for their rescuers. When the real White Ants arrive, Wolf and Leopard—thinking they’re being tricked again—pour boiling water over them, killing all but the father. In his rage and grief, White Ant vows never to help anyone again, only to harm property. And from that day to this, white ants have been a perfect pest to man.
A darkly comic folktale explaining how one trickster’s greed created an eternal curse.
