As he liked to do, Anansi enjoyed watching the birds fly all through the trees. He was particularly fond of the fruit doves with their bright colors as they would flash in the sunlight.
One day he wanted to fly like the doves did. So he called to one of the birds and asked to ride on his back as he flew among the treetops. The dove agreed as long as Anansi would behave himself, which he agreed to, and off they went.
When they were in the air, the dove started flying fast to see how Anansi would react. It was just what he wanted, but it scared Anansi. He dug his legs into the dove, which hurt the dove. As he saw it, Anansi had broken the agreement so he flipped over and dropped Anansi into the river.
Though he had eight legs, Anansi couldn't swim very well at all! A fish came and scooped him up and Anansi cried, "Brudda Fish, don' eat me!"
The Fish asked how Anansi knew who he was. Anansi replied he was his distant cousin. The Fish told him it was nice to meet him, but thought he would see just how true that was.
They went to the Fish's house, and he introduced Anansi to his family. Anansi was tired from all the flying he had done earlier (holding on to that dove wasn't easy work!) and came up with an idea.
"Quite da family you have brudda," Anansi said. "Say, do ya have any food?"
The Fish said he did, and made a meal only a member of his family would like to test Anansi's supposed family relation: a rather bitter mix of algae, plants and dead crayfish. It was a recipe that had been passed down in his family for generations. Once he had it ready, he offered a bowl to Anansi.
Anansi took one bite and tried his hardest to like it.
"Dat be so good brudda, just like ma use ta mek," Anansi said in his most convincing voice.
But Fish could tell he wasn't being honest, and asked him to take a walk with him. They walked towards the river, and as they got to the river bank, Fish pushed Anansi into the river.
"You ah no family of mine, brudda!" Fish cried out as Anansi struggled to keep his head above the water. And Fish went back to his family to live happily another day.
Author's Note: I used Anansi, White-Belly and Fish as the inspiration for my story. In the original story, Anansi rides a white-belly dove to get as much food as possible. He tries to steal eggs from the fish family and ends up eating the fish's children (that's why fish get eaten today). In my story, the dove is a Fruit Dove and he only rides him for fun to see what it's like to fly. He also doesn't eat the fish, he just tries to take advantage of them. He gets his just desserts in the end. Also, there isn't much dialogue because trying to emulate Jamaican dialect is actually really hard, but I did my best!
Bibliography:
Jamaican Anansi Stories, Martha Warren Beckwith, 1924
One day he wanted to fly like the doves did. So he called to one of the birds and asked to ride on his back as he flew among the treetops. The dove agreed as long as Anansi would behave himself, which he agreed to, and off they went.
Anansi's friend, the Superb Fruit Dove
When they were in the air, the dove started flying fast to see how Anansi would react. It was just what he wanted, but it scared Anansi. He dug his legs into the dove, which hurt the dove. As he saw it, Anansi had broken the agreement so he flipped over and dropped Anansi into the river.
Though he had eight legs, Anansi couldn't swim very well at all! A fish came and scooped him up and Anansi cried, "Brudda Fish, don' eat me!"
The Fish asked how Anansi knew who he was. Anansi replied he was his distant cousin. The Fish told him it was nice to meet him, but thought he would see just how true that was.
They went to the Fish's house, and he introduced Anansi to his family. Anansi was tired from all the flying he had done earlier (holding on to that dove wasn't easy work!) and came up with an idea.
"Quite da family you have brudda," Anansi said. "Say, do ya have any food?"
The Fish said he did, and made a meal only a member of his family would like to test Anansi's supposed family relation: a rather bitter mix of algae, plants and dead crayfish. It was a recipe that had been passed down in his family for generations. Once he had it ready, he offered a bowl to Anansi.
Anansi took one bite and tried his hardest to like it.
"Dat be so good brudda, just like ma use ta mek," Anansi said in his most convincing voice.
But Fish could tell he wasn't being honest, and asked him to take a walk with him. They walked towards the river, and as they got to the river bank, Fish pushed Anansi into the river.
"You ah no family of mine, brudda!" Fish cried out as Anansi struggled to keep his head above the water. And Fish went back to his family to live happily another day.
Author's Note: I used Anansi, White-Belly and Fish as the inspiration for my story. In the original story, Anansi rides a white-belly dove to get as much food as possible. He tries to steal eggs from the fish family and ends up eating the fish's children (that's why fish get eaten today). In my story, the dove is a Fruit Dove and he only rides him for fun to see what it's like to fly. He also doesn't eat the fish, he just tries to take advantage of them. He gets his just desserts in the end. Also, there isn't much dialogue because trying to emulate Jamaican dialect is actually really hard, but I did my best!
Bibliography:
Jamaican Anansi Stories, Martha Warren Beckwith, 1924
I loved the Jamaican accent (or whatever you call a written accent)! Good job! I thought there was a good amount of dialogue. Maybe I just don't write enough of it. I also liked the part about the family recipe. That was a very clever way of tricking Anansi. Was that in the original story? Nice job if that was a Patrick original.
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