Page 85 - Unit 4 - Exercise 1

Page 85 - Unit 4 - Exercise 1

Ananse the Spider

A traditional African story

Once upon a time in Africa there was a spider, called Ananse. Ananse loved food, so he was very fat, and he had short, fat legs.

One day, he went past Rabbit’s house. ‘What are you cooking. Rabbit?’ said Ananse. ‘Vegetable soup,’ said Rabbit. ‘Mmm. It smells delicious,’ said Ananse.

‘Well,’ said Rabbit. ‘It isn’t ready yet, but sit down and wait for an hour and you can have some.’ Ananse didn’t want to stay at Rabbit’s house. He always found jobs for Ananseto do, so he said: ‘I’m sorry. Rabbit, I can’t wait, but I’ve got an idea.’ He spun a long piece of web and said: ‘Tie one end of this web to your saucepan, and I can tie the other end to my leg. When the meal is ready, pull the web. Then I can come and share your soup.’ So Rabbit tied the end of the web to his saucepan. ‘See you later, Ananse,’ he said. ‘Thank you. Rabbit,’ said Ananse. ‘Goodbye.’

Ananse walked on. Soon he came to Monkey’s house. ‘Mmm,’ said Ananse. ‘What are you cooking. Monkey?’

‘I’m baking a cake,’ said Monkey. ‘It’s in the oven now. You can have a piece when it’s ready. Sit down and have a rest,’ she said.

‘I can’t have a rest at Monkey’s house,’ thought Ananse. ‘Her children are very noisy.’

‘I’m sorry. Monkey,’ he said. ‘I’m very busy today, but I’ve got an idea.’ He spun another long piece of web. Monkey tied it to her oven and Ananse tied the other end to another one of his legs.

‘Pull the web,’ said Ananse. Then I can come and have a slice of your cake.’ ‘OK,’ said Monkey. Ananse walked on and saw more of his friends. Soon he had a piece of web on each of his eight legs.

That was a good idea,’ he thought. Then he lay down in the sun and went to sleep. Suddenly, somebody pulled one of the webs. ‘Oh, it’s Rabbit,’ said Ananse. ‘Good. His soup is always delicious.’ But then another web pulled one of his legs. Then another. Soon the animals were pulling all the webs.

‘Help. Help!’ shouted Ananse. ‘My poor legs!’ The animals pulled and pulled. Finally, the webs broke and Ananse looked down at his legs. They weren’t short and fat now. They were very long and very thin.

So, after that, Ananse the spider had a fat body, but eight long, thin legs. And he never got any food that day!