Anansi, Wolf and Leopard: The Tale of the White Ants

Long ago, a terrible famine struck the land. Food became so scarce that even a single grain of corn was worth more than its weight in gold. Animals struggled to find enough to eat, and every discovery of food became precious.

One hungry day, Anansi the Spider wandered through the forest searching for something to satisfy his hunger. At last, he came across the body of a dead antelope. Delighted by his discovery, he immediately thought of how he could carry the meat home without attracting unwanted attention.

Anansi knew that other animals might try to take the antelope from him. He therefore wrapped the carcass carefully in a long mat and tied it securely. Then he lifted the bundle onto his head and continued towards home.

Whenever he met another animal, Anansi began to weep bitterly. He explained that the bundle contained the body of his dead grandfather. Everyone who heard his story felt sorry for him and allowed him to continue his journey.

However, not every animal believed his performance.

Wolf and Leopard Discover Anansi’s Secret

As Anansi travelled through the forest, he met Wolf and Leopard. Both animals knew how cunning he could be, and they suspected that the bundle contained something other than a dead relative.

They watched him walk away and began discussing how they could discover the truth. They eventually agreed to take a shorter route to a tree that stood along Anansi’s path.

When they reached the tree, they hid behind it and waited for him to arrive.

Anansi soon approached, still carrying his precious bundle. As he passed beneath the tree, Wolf and Leopard shook its branches and made frightening noises.

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The sudden disturbance terrified Anansi. He dropped his load and ran away as quickly as he could.

Once he had disappeared, Wolf and Leopard came out of hiding. They opened the mat and discovered the antelope meat inside. Their suspicions had been correct.

They carried the meat home and began preparing their supper.

Anansi Plans to Recover the Meat

When Anansi had recovered from his fright, he returned to the place where he had dropped the bundle. He found that the meat had disappeared.

He soon concluded that Wolf and Leopard must have taken it. Determined to recover his prize, he began planning another trick.

Anansi called a small lizard and filed its teeth until they became fine and sharp. He then sent the lizard to the home of Wolf and Leopard with a special instruction.

The lizard was to ask them for fire. After receiving it, he had to extinguish the fire as soon as he left their house. He would then return and ask for fire again. If the two animals questioned him, he was to smile and show them his newly sharpened teeth.

The lizard followed Anansi’s instructions.

When Wolf and Leopard saw his teeth, they were impressed. They asked him how he had managed to make them so sharp and attractive.

The lizard replied that a man called Filing Spider had done the work.

Wolf and Leopard immediately became interested. They reasoned that sharp teeth would help them break the bones of their food and decided to visit the spider for the same treatment.

Spider Tricks Wolf and Leopard

Wolf and Leopard went to Anansi and asked him to sharpen their teeth.

Anansi welcomed the opportunity. He agreed to help them but explained that he would first need to hang them from a tree so that he could work properly.

The two animals accepted his explanation without suspicion.

Anansi tied them securely to a tree. Once they could no longer escape, he called his family. Together, they mocked the helpless animals before Anansi went to their cottage and recovered the antelope meat.

He then organised a feast and invited the entire village. The food was enjoyed in front of Wolf and Leopard, who remained tied to the tree and could do nothing to stop them.

The two animals had been outsmarted, and Anansi had recovered the meat he had lost.

White Ant Rescues the Captives

The following morning, White Ant and his children happened to pass the tree where Wolf and Leopard were still hanging.

The two captives begged White Ant to help them. Taking pity on them, White Ant and his family set to work. They gnawed through the tree until it fell, freeing Wolf and Leopard.

The grateful animals thanked their rescuers. They promised that, when they returned home, they would prepare a great feast in honour of White Ant and his family.

White Ant accepted their promise, and the ants returned home.

However, Anansi had overheard the invitation. As soon as he understood that Wolf and Leopard intended to reward their rescuers with a feast, he began planning how to take advantage of the situation.

Anansi’s Final Deception

On the third day, the day arranged for the celebration, Anansi dressed his children to resemble White Ant and his family.

He taught them to sing the ants’ chorus and sent them to Wolf and Leopard’s home. The young spiders arrived pretending to be the family that had rescued the two animals.

Wolf and Leopard welcomed them warmly. Believing their visitors were the real ants, they prepared a splendid feast and served them generously.

Anansi’s children enjoyed the meal before leaving.

Not long afterwards, the real White Ant and his family arrived. Wolf and Leopard had expected no further visitors, and they assumed that the ants standing before them were Anansi and his children returning to trick them again.

Without taking time to discover their mistake, the two animals poured boiling water over the ants. The terrible mistake killed every member of the family except White Ant himself.

The surviving ant returned home in great anger and sorrow. He had helped Wolf and Leopard when they were helpless, yet they had repaid his kindness by killing his family.

White Ant made a solemn promise that he would never again help anyone. From then on, he would take every opportunity to damage property.

According to the story, this was why white ants became such a persistent nuisance to human beings.

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Moral Lesson

Deception can cause harm beyond the people directly involved. Anansi’s tricks not only brought trouble upon Wolf and Leopard but also led to the destruction of an innocent family’s life. The story reminds listeners to act with honesty, show gratitude to those who help them and avoid making accusations without first discovering the truth.

Knowledge Check

1. What caused the terrible famine in the story?
The story simply describes a severe famine in the land without explaining its cause.

2. What did Anansi find in the forest?
He found the body of a dead antelope.

3. How did Wolf and Leopard discover what Anansi was carrying?
They frightened him by shaking a tree and making frightening noises, causing him to drop the bundle.

4. How did Anansi recover the antelope meat?
He tricked Wolf and Leopard into having their teeth filed, tied them to a tree and took the meat from their cottage.

5. Why did White Ant and his family free Wolf and Leopard?
They heard the animals begging for help and gnawed through the tree to release them.

6. Why did White Ant promise to harm property?
Wolf and Leopard mistook the real ants for Anansi’s disguised children and killed nearly the entire family with boiling water. White Ant made his promise out of anger and grief.

Source

Adapted from “Why White Ants Always Harm Man’s Property,” Story VII, page 55, in W. H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair’s West African Folk-Tales (1917).

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