Welcome to the Turtle Tales series.
Anansi And The Turtle is a story about tit for tat. Anansi, the trickster, tricks the turtle. But in return, the turtle tricks him back.
Free activity sheets and other downloadable resources available at www.rituvaish.com/anansi-and-the-turtle
Send your artwork to rituvaish@gmail.com.
Transcript
Long long time ago, in the deep jungles of Africa there lived a spider called Anansi. He was a very greedy spider and did not like sharing any of his things with others. One day, he collected some lovely yams from his garden and cooked them with utmost care along with some rice and soup. The delicious smell of the yams made Anansi hungrier. He somehow managed to wait till lunch time.
Finally his wait was over as the clock struck 12 pm. But just as he sat down to consume his delicious meal, he heard a knock at his door.
Children, can you guess who was knocking the door?
Anansi was irritated and opened the door hurriedly. It was the turtle standing at the door. He had been travelling for a very long time and looked very tired and hungry.
“Hello Anansi, what are you cooking? Looks like yams. The waft of the delicious yams attracted me to your home. You must be a fine chef,” the turtle said.
“Oh yes - I have cooked some yams for lunch,” Anansi said reluctantly.
“Oh, can I please stay for lunch? I am hungry and tired of all the travelling,” the turtle said.
Anansi was not willing to share his food with the turtle. But it was a custom in his country to share food with visitors who came during lunch or dinner hours. So, Anansi could not refuse. Nevertheless, he was determined not to share his delicious yams with the turtle.
What do you think Anansi will do?
“Please have a seat and enjoy your meal,” Anansi said to the turtle.
Both of them sat on the chairs. The turtle was about to help himself to a share of the yam when Anansi suddenly stopped him.
“Look at your hands, didn’t your mother teach you to wash your hands before eating? Please wash your hands before you eat,” Anansi instructed the turtle.
The turtle took a look at his hands and saw that they were full of dirt as he had been walking for a very long time. So he climbed out of the chair, and wobbled towards the river.
With his mouth watering for yummy yams he sang:
My hands I scrub and wash,
My hands I wash and scrub,
Scrub-Scrub, wash -wash
My hands are clean and fresh
My hands are fresh and clean
Clean-clean, fresh-fresh
Now I am ready to relish the yams.
Yippee yip!
Yippee yip!
He started walking back to Anasi’s house.
Knock , knock
“Who is it?’ was the irritated sound of Anansi.
“It’s me The Turtle and my hands are clean,” shouted one very excited and very hungry turtle.
Anansi had already started his meal. “The yams were getting really cold so I started my lunch. Please join me now,” Anansi said.
However, even this time when the turtle reached for his meal, Anansi stopped him by giving him the same reason. The poor turtle saw that his hands had become dirty once again as he walked back from the river to Anansi’s house.
The turtle was even more hungry and tired by now. But he still went back to the river to wash his hands.
My hands I scrub and wash,
My hands I wash and scrub,
Scrub-Scrub, wash -wash
My hands are clean and fresh
My hands are fresh and clean
Clean-clean, fresh-fresh
Now I am ready to relish the yams.
Yippee yip!
Yippee yip!
This time he was determined not to let his hands get dirty. He was careful and walked only on the grass to keep his hands clean. But by the time he reached the table, Anansi had already finished all the food except for a morsel of rice that was saved for the turtle. The turtle was angry and humiliated.
“Thank you for the lovely lunch. I would like to invite you over to my place for a meal someday,” the turtle said and left.
How do you think the turtle was feeling? Is he happy to have Anansi come by?
A few days had passed and Anansi started thinking about the turtle’s invitation. He was tempted to go for a sumptuous meal at the turtle’s place. After all, he knew that the turtle was an amazing cook.
One day, he wore his finest jacket and went to the bank of the river under which the turtle had his house and stood there at dinner time.
The turtle saw him and said, “Hello Anansi, so lovely to see you. Please have dinner with me.” The turtle invited Anansi inside his house, which was underwater.
Anansi could not wait any longer and quickly dived into the water. But alas, he was too light and could not swim deep into the water and he came right back to the surface
Blob blob blob blob blob!
Meanwhile, the turtle was ready with the delicious spread.
Children, please tell Anansi what to do!
Anansi tried every possible measure to go under the river; he tried a running jump, a belly flop and a high dive, but could not go beneath the surface of the water.
Anansi started thinking hard and finally decided to pick up some rocks and put them in the pockets of his jacket. His plan was successful and this time Anansi reached straight to the turtle’s house after diving underwater.
Children, do you think the turtle will share his scrumptious meal with Anansi?
Let’s see..
Anansi was impressed to see the delicious spread and was about to dig into the first bite when the turtle stopped him. “Dear Anansi, kindly remove your jacket before you touch the food. In our custom we do not eat with our jackets on,” the turtle said.
Anansi saw that even the turtle was not wearing his jacket. Anansi removed his jacket which was full of rocks and pebbles and within no time he went rushing up to the surface of the water.
Blob blob blob blob blob
Anansi could see the turtle slowly consuming the lovely meal. Anansi felt sad and slowly climbed out of the water.
Anansi realized that he had been outsmarted.
As he walked back home, being the trickster that he was, he started planning ways to trick the turtle.
Children, can you think of another story with Anansi and the turtle? What would happen next?
