Fruit of Greed: Ananse Children Story

[IfasehunReincarnated]

The Fruit of Greed

Not long after the great Nana Onyankopon had created the world lived the celebrated Ananse. In those times there was no language barrier in the world everybody understood a common language, which was Akan. Ananse had an enviable family of six including his darling wife Aso. He had three boys and two girls. The children are; Etikelenkele, Nankonwhia, Ntikuma, afudutwedotwe and Akonor Yaa.

These Children always moved through town with their shoulders high because their father Ananse, was always the talk of the town. Every challenging task that needed ultimate bravery and skill was sent to Ananse. Be it a problem facing the world in which case, the great creator Nana Onyankopon will call Ananse himself or somebody's personal problem. Ananse duly solved even puzzles and mysteries that no one could unravel or solve.

Though Kwaku was of a very good help to the community and the world at large, his other side revealed a lot of mischief which made other people look at him as a confident trickster. One thing, which made Ananse more mysterious, was that, when he decided on a trick, he did not know who was his family member, a friend or a neighbour. Ananse was not lucky all the time and so he could not go away with all his unwarranted deeds. In some instances, luck was not his and he went away in shame. Because of this, every body was very cautious of Ananse when it came to making deals with him. Since almost in all situations, he never hesitated to twist events to his advantage.

It didn't take long when the great town where Ananse lived had signs of an impending famine. That farming season they experienced very little rain and so it became very obvious that their crop yield will be low. Almost instantaneously food started becoming scarce. To the cause of that, nobody knew. Ananse just like any body else became very worried about the plight of his family. But luckily for Ananse and his family they planted their crops very late the other season and so it was by then showing signs of maturity for harvesting. Late in the evening the following day, Ananse went about his usual chores and ended up in the farm. He looked round and saw how beautiful their farm had grown to be. All this while, he had not been visiting the farm. The last time he visited the farm was when they were sowing and planting the crops. He visited the plantain section of the farm and saw that they had enough to last them for the lean season. So was the cassava, cocoyam, yam, pepper, tomatoes, onion, banana, pawpaw and what have you. Seeing all these, Ananse suddenly became a happy man. As he walked on home, he sang this song:
"Hard work earn results
When we were sowing in sweat
Where were you?
Very soon we are going to reap the fruits of our sweat
Do not dare to be envious
And don't come to me begging either . . ."

With all smiles Ananse went to sleep. The next morning Ananse had suddenly fallen ill. He summoned all his household to his bedside and in a low tone, amidst the confusion to figure out the cause of Ananse's sudden illness, Ananse broke out and said: " My dear Wife Aso I can sense that my end has drawn near... they all cut him short by shouting Papa don't say that... he continued. ... My dear wife I shall never forget all that you have done for me for the past thirty years that we have stayed together as husband and wife. You have always been a helpful, obedient and innovative darling wife to me. The time for me to visit the land of our ancestors has drawn near and very soon you may not hear from me again but don't you worry I will always support you with my spirit in whatever you do. To you my eldest son, Etikelenkele, you know that our custom demands you to take care of your mother and siblings and also you are to take charge of my burial". By this time it was all cries in Ananse's house and neighbours have started gathering around the house to know what was happening.

Ananse then added that he had his last wish to present to them and that it was his soul's desire that they buried his corpse in the small hut he had constructed in their favourite farm. And also added that he had some of his favourite belongings packed in a sack beneath his bed which they should not try to look into it, but send that sack to the hut with his body. He then groaned and asked if they had heard his last wish well and they all nodded in the affirmative. After that, he also gave them some guidelines and instructions they should follow till he was buried. After saying all those things, Ananse's body suddenly jerked and gave up his spirit.

Now they intensified the wailing and the neighbors who had then gathered at the gate busted into the house without permission to enquire what was happening. Aso then informed them as she continued to cry: " it is Kwaku...oo, he has left me in the middle of the river. He has kicked the bucket. Oh Kwaku, in whose hand did you leave me? Kwaku, O Kwaku have you forgotten your children, how are they going to eat?.." As it had been the culture of the people, in situations like that everybody was to give a hand for the burial of a deceased. It was also their tradition that if, one trusted that his or her body must be buried that same day before dying, then the corpse or body was to be buried that same day. So Etikelenkele aware of this had already started making preparations towards his father's burial.

As his father instructed him, he went to the carpenter for the special coffin his father had previously arranged with the carpenter. Etikelenkele detected something unusual about the coffin. It had air vents in it. So he asked the carpenter for the possible reason for that modification and to his surprise, the carpenter angrily busted out. " hey young lad what is your problem ? Did I have any option? That is what your Father told me to do when he came here yesterday to order for the coffin. Were you expecting me to do otherwise for his ghost to hunt me. " By this time, Etikelenkele had even felt sorry for asking that question. So with the help of his immediate junior brother, Nankonwhia, he carried the coffin home and by the time they reached the house everything was almost set for his father's burial. As custom demanded, they had washed Ananse's body and had dressed up their father as if he was attending a wedding ceremony, they had put on him, his gold pleated kente cloth and though was in bed had his beautiful ahenema sandals on his feet. They had also put on his neck a very beautiful necklace. Also on his wrists were bangles.

Though it was also customary that the cloth used to dress a corpse was to be removed before placing the corpse in the coffin, Ananse had insisted that they buried him with his make up and also commanded them that they should reduce all the pre-burial rites to 10 hours instead of the normal 24-48 hour duration. So as Etikelenkele came to meet, they had laid Ananse in state and as usual friends and sympathizers came in to mourn with Aso and her children and also pay their last respect to Ananse. In the house was a very sad scene to bear, people were wailing and others were singing dirges. Customary gifts were also presented and some of these were handkerchiefs, cloths, rings and calabashes.

These, according to the beliefs of the people, were needed by the soul in its travel to the ancestral world. Also among the things that Ananse said before his death, was the exemption he gave to his family members from the usual fasting a deceased family members were to undergo. He said that he didn't want his dear wife and children to undergo unnecessary suffering and so they were free to eat and drink. Ananse also said they shouldn't mount any funeral since that would cost them unnecessarily. Whenever Aso remembered these, it made her cry the more, since it reminded her of how dearly his late husband loved her. The neighbours helped them to put Kwaku Ananse into the coffin, Etikelenkele instructed his younger brother to carry the sack to the hut in the farm which he did, without any hesitation even though the sack was extra ordinarily heavy for its size. By late evening they had finished with everything and everybody had resorted back to his or her home still in shock. They just couldn't believe that Kwaku Ananse had really left for eternity. Though the whole town was mourning as they were all still in their mourning " adinkra" cloths, there were some few people who were happy because of some losing encounters they have had with Kwaku Ananse.

Aso and her children kept late in the farm as if they were waiting for a miracle to happen for Ananse to come back to life. At long last, they left when it was approaching midnight. At midnight, it became very dangerous to be in the forest because, that was the time the beasts in the forests started with their patrol.
As soon as they turned back, they heard very strange sounds and noises emerging from the direction where they had come from. The strange sounds appeared to increase in intensity as if what was creating those sounds was drawing closer to them. What else could they do but to take to their heels. They reached home panting very seriously but they declined not to tell anyone.

Early the next morning, they woke from their sleep and shared the chores among themselves. Whilst Nankonwhia, Akonor Yaa, Efudotwedotewe and Ntikuma were to keep the house tidy and receive any visitor who might come to greet them, Etikelenkele which literally means the big headed, together with his mother set out to the farm to visit the resting site of Ananse. When they reached the farm, they were very surprised at what they saw. Aso was the first to shout: "who has been in our farm? Oh Ananse where are you? come and look at what thieves have done to our farm they have looted almost everything we have. Look at the cassava and plantain, the pepper tomatoes, and the onions. Ooh nature has been unfair to me. Yesterday it was my husband and today it is my farm.
What has tomorrow got in store for us? Ooh Ananse, wherever you may be use your spirit to guard our farm for us because that is our only means of sustenance. "Etikelenkele who was by then checking his antelope trap he had set, came out of the thicket with the trap twines in his hands to show to his mother that somebody had come for the antelope the trap caught. With a heavy heart they left back for the house almost completely disappointed.

The next day the same thing happened again. Etikelenkele started thinking very seriously to find out how he was going to deal with the problem. As they sat at table to take their breakfast the following day, which was the third day after their father's death, Etikelenkele suddenly stood up to the amazement of everybody around and started gathering his cutting tools. His mother enquired from him where he was heading to and all that he said was that he wouldn't sit down for somebody to come and enjoy their sweat. He also added that now that he was to cater for the family, he saw it as a moral duty to track down whoever was raiding their farm produce. He left for the bush and soon started cutting around the sticky gum tree and made a notch which directed the gum sap into the bucket he placed at the base of the tree. As the sap collected in the bucket, he busied himself carving a very large statue. When everything was done, he smeared the gum on the statue and positioned it at a small clearing at the centre of the farmland. It was after this that Etikelenkele started laughing and shouting to himself as if mad, saying: Now I shall show this crook that I am truly the son of the all wise Agya Kwaku Ananse. We shall see who will be the loser."
In the house he assured his mother and siblings that they should not worry for by the next morning he would have caught the culprit who had been invading their farmland. They asked him how he was going to do that and he just told them to wait till the next morning. Once again, the house became joyful. As they laid in bed, waiting or sleep to take them, they were very anxious to know what the next day had in store for them.

At about 12 midnight back in the farm near the hut were Kwaku Ananse's corpse was, a squeaking sound was heard and a strange figure all of a sudden appeared out from nowhere and instantaneously the whole farm was filled with melodious music. These were the lyrics:
"gyae o madi madee o gya o
Aso kyiri ado
gyae o madi madee o gyaeo
Aso kyiri ado..."

Which meant:
Stop worrying for I have consumed what belonged to me and it is forbidden for Aso (Ananse's wife) to weed.
So in no time, a large fire was blazing and a cooking pot was on it. The shadowy figure dashed into the thicket and soon returned with all the various kinds of foodstuff in the farm. The strange man peeled-off the tubers and in no time food was ready. As the strange being sat down eating, he looked in the direction of the centre of the farm and noticed that something was standing there looking at him.

At first he became afraid but later he gathered courage and shouted out: "who the hell do you think you are?" There was no response so he asked again " hey I say who the hell do you think you are?" Still there was no response. So the man became angry and proceeded towards the figure. At a very close range he repeated his question and once more, there was no response. His anger intensified and said: "this is your last chance if you don't answer me, I shall slap you in the face with my left hand. He asked again who are you and if you are hungry let us go and share dinner with me." Still there was no response so the man, true to his word, struck the image in the right cheek and bingo! The man had his hand stuck. He then angrily shouted "what do you intend to do? You better let my left hand go or else, the right will follow. " He sent the right hand too and that also got stuck, then when he couldn't let go his hands he later said okay you wait and see I shall kick you in the groin with my right leg. Which he did. That also got stuck and then he added the left leg and finally added his forehead. Now he had completely become stuck to the gum man.
He was there as the clock ticked and ticked and when the man saw what was about to be his fate he now started begging for mercy. He begged that if the gum man let him go he will give him whatever he asked for. The man was still pleading when he heard footsteps and shouting approaching him. At that moment he saw that he had been caught. Not knowing, early in the morning, Etikelenkele had informed all the town folk about what was happening in their farm and the trap he had implanted. He asked them to accompany him to catch the culprit.

When Etikelenkele got near the gum man and saw the face of the culprit, he withdrew because he thought he had seen a ghost. Then Kwaku Ananse said in a soft voice " sonny come on, it is me your own father, I am not a ghost get me down for I have been in this uncomfortable position for about six hours." At this point, Etikelenkele started to shed tears. He was just confused to have caught no other person but, his own father.
So Kwaku Ananse became very ashamed of himself. He confessed that it was all because of greed that made him hatch that wicked plot and that he had wanted to enjoy the farm produce alone. Though Kwaku brought dishonour to the whole family for that single act, it also became a lesson for all the people on what extremes of greed could do to a person. Kwaku regretted very much for that. He had to lock himself in the house for about two months before he could free his conscience from the guilt of shame.

Soon the people had forgotten about Kwaku Ananse's shameful act. That gave him some little freedom to move about once again. Not long after that disgraceful incident, a very serious famine struck the town and food became very scarce in Ananse's town. People in the town had grown very lean. Some, to the extent that, you could even count their ribs.
Ananse was also having a very difficult time. One hot afternoon, after an unsuccessful expedition for food, Ananse had become very tired and decided to rest under a mango tree. As he was sitting there he kept on counting the birds that perched on the mango branch each time. All of a sudden he saw a very short man, moving past him. the man looked at him, for some time without saying a word and passed on to the next mango tree about some 50 metres away and so where Ananse sat, he could see and hear the short man at the other tree.

Then he heard the man shout: beautiful tree what have you got for me? And to Ananse's surprise, the tree answered nothing but this pot. Then, a pot appeared from the trunk of the mango tree. The man then said in twi "ayoa fee fe horo kakra ma mendi" meaning beautiful pot wash a little for me to eat. Then before Ananse's own eyes, the pot suddenly became full with aromatic good-looking Fufu and palmnut soup with chicken. All the forest was filled with the sweet scented and tantalizing aroma of the magic dish. Ananse thought the strange short man will invite him but to his dismay, the man just looked at him and laughed. He ate everything. As the man stood up to go, Ananse tried to follow him so that he could ask for some food, in the process, he bumped his head into a branch and suddenly woke up from his sleep.

[IfasehunReincarnated]

So it was all a dream. Ananse was very disappointed. But the dream looked too real to him that as he stood up and started for the house, he decided to try something. When he reached that special tree, mysteriously, he could remember all what the man said in the proper sequence. So he started "ahoo fe dua deen na wo wo ma me ?" Meaning; beautiful tree what have you got for me? Then to his surprise, the tree answered back: " ayoa wei a na me wo." Meaning I have nothing but this pot . Then the pot appeared from the trunk just as he saw in the dream.

Ananse touched the pot and touched his eyes to see if they ware open or still closed. Because, he wanted to make sure he wasn't sleeping this time. His eyes were wide open. So he continued; "Ayoa fufuo horo bi ma mendi". meaning fufu pot wash for me to eat. He was so interested in the fufuo that instead of mentioning "feefe" (beautiful) he mentioned the dish name. For that slight error that he made, Ananse paid dearly for it.. The pot developed whips and it whipped Ananse mercilessly. Ananse didn't know what had gone wrong. So he decided to run away but the whip followed him.

Poor Ananse was in for it this time. As he run through the forest, the whip followed him. As he went by, he met a parrot which said if you aren't a fool you would have said "adwobree" meaning cool down slowly. Ananse didn't hesitate to say that and true to it, the whipping ceased and the pot appeared. Ananse was this time confused. He decided to leave it there but the pot told him he shouldn't leave it there in the open. He should either take him back or he should take it to his house. Ananse now wanted to bargain and so asked the pot what it will give him in return if he met one of its demands. The pot said it will always prepare a dish for him whenever he requested for food. Ananse then said Okay what is the password? I shall take you to my house. Ananse took the pot and it told him the correct words and the sequence and also added how he could call for specific kinds of dishes.
Ananse was now a happy man. As he walked on home he said to himself: "This pot will now solve all our food needs.... then he paused and asked; but why did I say our food needs but not my food needs ? this pot wasn't discovered my house hold but me alone. No I don't think Aso and the gluttons in the house should ever taste the food from this pot. I have to be fast about this. Where should I keep this pot? He kept on pondering about this. He finally settled on a small chamber in his house.

When Ananse reached the house he waited to make sure that all the children were asleep and he dashed straight to that secret place and put the pot down. By then he had already started salivating. He then started by saying beautiful pot wash a little for me to eat. Then in a flash, Fufu and palmnut soup with chicken appeared. Because he was starving, within the twinkle of an eye, he had finished with the food. He went for another round and by the time he had finished with the food, he could not move. He had wanted to take the pot to wash it but he just couldn't move his body and with that, he spent his night in that room with his magic pot.

Not knowing, his wife Aso managed to get some food for the family and she left some for her dear husband Ananse. So when she woke the next morning and saw Kwaku's bowl untouched and still on the Table, she was very surprised and even concluded that Ananse didn't return home the other night. She shouted..ei! Where is Kwaku Ananse, my dear husband? The shrill of the shout woke Ananse up from his sleep and the first thing that came to his mind was his pot. He also remembered that he didn't wash it the night before. But when he looked into it, it was as clean as ever. So he said; " ah so you are self cleansing too. That is wonderful". He then heard her wife shouting outside for him. He took the opportunity to sneak out.

He then called Ntikuma to go and call her mother back and she should tell her that he Ananse was still safe in the house. Ntikuma quickly run to call her mother. Aso returned very angry and asked Ananse where he had been?

Ananse then told a very long tale of lies mixed with half-truths. He claimed he was busily searching for food in the forest and he got lost in the in the process and so he slept in the forest and came home just that morning and that explains why he did not eat his food. He then asked for his food. Aso told him that it was no more. Ananse still wanted to know what had happened to his food and so his wife Aso told him, the food had gone bad and that she just threw the food away. Ananse pretended to be hungry and angry. Why did you have to throw the food away? So now that I am hungry what am I going to eat?

They ended the quarrel when all the children came out of their rooms to witness what was happening. So Kwaku hurried out of the house and told them he was going out to the farm expecting them to follow him very soon. So he left. Not knowing, he wanted to find a way to make them leave the house so that he could sneak back to enjoy the food alone. He runs through the forest very fast since he had to return to the house through the other longer route. When he was very certain that his wife and the children had left for the farm, he came back to the house and he busted into laughter. Saying when the okontompo (liar) Kwaku Ananse tells you to look down you better look up. Whaat ! what where they expecting? Share my food with them never, they have to work before they eat else they will be very lazy. I don't want to breed a lazy family for people to say: hey look at Kwaku's children, the lazy lot. So all alone Kwaku ate the sumptuous food. This time he called for sweets to sweeten his mouth after the heavy meal.

After filling his belly, he went to sleep in his bedroom. He woke up just early to escape being caught by his family members who had searched for Kwaku in the forest in vain and were returning home to check if he had returned home. Ananse knew what they would say. He quickly asked them; "ah! Where have you been? I have waited for you in the farm and you never turned up?" Dad, said Nankonwhia, we are from the farm. We also searched for you. Ananse then asked; which farm did you go into? The cassava farm near the stream, answered Ntikuma. Aha that is why, said Ananse, I was in the farm at the hillside. Anyway you don't worry. Did you get any food? Yes just these few tubers of cassava. But where is your mother? Ntikuma answered by saying she went to the hillside farm to check the traps. Look at me, when I was waiting for you and I became desperate, it did not occur to me that I should even check the traps. Well let us pray that your mother gets something from them.
Aso returned with an antelope one of their traps had caught. So she prepared some sumptuous fufu meal. But Ananse wouldn't eat. This disturbed Aso very much. She kept on asking Ananse for reasons but all that Ananse said was that she should give his food to the children for they needed food the most. Well, the children did not hesitate to consume the food.

This attitude of Ananse refusing food continued for about one month. Ananse wasn't eating but he was growing fresher and healthier than the other family Members. Etikelenkele grew very suspicious. And said to himself; so what has Papa being eating at all? I suspect foul play. So from that day, Etikelenkele decided to keep an eye on Ananse. Etikelenkele observed that while they were asleep, Ananse always sneaked into that tiny room and in a few seconds later a nice smell came from the room.

One day, the chance came for Etikelenkele to enter that room to look at what was there, only to find an ordinary cooking pot. He returned disappointed. Then he took the final resolution that he was going to make a hole into the room so that while his father was in the room, he could see and hear him. This he did without any trouble. Then as usual, the time came. Ananse refused his dinner, and after waiting till they had all slept, went to his food chamber. Etikelenkele followed, heard and saw everything. He became very happy and the following day he suddenly fell ill and couldn't go to the farm. So they all left him in the house. Just as they left and he became certain that they were gone, he jumped out of bed and went straight into the food chamber and in no time he was feasting. He enjoyed himself to the full.

After eating, he took the pot out to wash. Completely unaware that water changes the pot's recipe all together, he proceeded to wash the pot and went to put it back in place. They returned from the farm to meet him still in bed as if nothing had happened. They brought him some fruits from the farm. But that day they had very little food because the famine had reached its peak.

As usual Ananse refused to take his dinner because he knew he had something better in his food chamber. So time came for him to take his feast. He entered his room and started with the incantations; beautiful pot ... Then all of a sudden, a swarm of bees came from the pot and started stinging Ananse. Ananse ran out but the bees gave him a wild chase stinging him all through the village's streets. The bees mercilessly stung him.
So, because of Ananse's greed this beautiful treasure that could have been a source of food security for the whole town was destroyed forever. And to pay for his selfishness, Ananse ended up sick in bed for a very long time. Up to this time, he is still wondering what went wrong with his pot. He just couldn't understand why the food pot decided to brew bees instead of his usual fufu.

Glossary
Etikelenkele: Ananse's first born whose name literally means the big headed
Nankonwhia: Ananse's second born whose name literally means thin legged
Ntikuma: Ananse's third born whose name means small headed
Afudutwedotwe: Ananse's fourth born whose name means big stomach
Akonor yaa: Ananse's last born child whose name means long neck
Aso: Ananse's wife whose name means hoe.
Fufu or Fufuo: A local Ghanaian dish made by pounding cooked cassava and cocoyam or plantain in a motar.
Nana: A title for a King.
Onyankopon: an Akan word used exclusively for the Almighty God. Literally, it means the only great one.
Ahenema: native open sandals made up of a wooden sole and leather. It is usually worn with Kente.
Kente: a hand woven and sewn cloth, which is the pride of the Akans