Читать книгу The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A–Z of Fantastic Beings from Myth and Magic - John Matthews - Страница 95

The spider god and trickster of West African folklore and mythology. Originally a creator god, Anansi has become most widely known as a crafty and cunning trickster who uses his wits to dupe other animals and humans. Early tales describe him stealing the sun and playing jokes on everyone. Stories are told of him along the Gold Coast, the Ivory Coast, in Sierra Leone, Togo, Youruba, Warri, the Cameroons, the Congo and Angola. He is also known everywhere in the West Indies and other parts of the New World and is probably one of the most popular folklore characters among the African-American population of America. He has many names: among the Hausa he is called Gizo, while the Alkan-speaking peoples call him Kwaku Anansa; in South Carolina in the Sea Island folktales he has become Miss Nancy and Gulla Aunt Nancy; in Haiti he is known as Ti Malice. But it is as Anansi that he is best known, from Trinidad to the Congo. It is unclear whether his original form is human or spider, but he is always represented as taking spider form when in trouble, enabling him to scuttle away and hide from the consequences of his japes. His character is similar to that of Hare and Tortoise in the stories of the Bantu peoples, and to Brer Rabbit in southern USA. Yet there is an ambiguity in the way he is perceived: ‘Woe to he who would put his faith in Anansi’ and ‘The wisdom of the spider is greater than that of all the world put together’ are two sayings heard widely among West African people. The Ashanti and Yoruba people tell how Anansi’s children discovered a pot always full of food and broke it, causing widespread famine.

A story from Ghana tells how, during a bush fire, an antelope allowed the spider to hide in her ear and guide her to safety. When the fire was behind them, the spider ran down to the ground and thanked the antelope for her kindness. Soon after, the antelope gave birth to a baby, which spent its first days hiding in the bushes where its mother was grazing. One unlucky day, hunters arrived and spotted the mother. The little one crouched under the shrubs and the mother leapt up to catch the hunters’ attention, staying just out of range. After an hour, the hunters gave up and went back to search for the young antelope. But they searched in vain and left the forest empty handed. Later, the mother came back but could not find her baby either. Then she heard a familiar voice. It was Anansi, who had surrounded the baby with a dense screen of spider webs as a way of thanking the antelope for her help.