Spiders are often found hiding in quiet, dusty corners of ceilings, where they remain away from the activities of people. In this traditional West African folktale, an explanation for this familiar sight is connected to the behaviour of a greedy farmer called Egya Anansi.
Anansi lives with his wife and son, and together they cultivate a farm that produces an unusually abundant harvest. However, instead of sharing the fruits of their labour, Anansi secretly plans to enjoy the food alone. His selfishness eventually exposes him to the very people he has deceived.
Through humour and an unexpected transformation, the story explores greed, dishonesty and the consequences of taking what does not belong to you.
Anansi and His Family’s Farm
Long ago, there lived a farmer called Egya Anansi. He had a wife and a son, and the three of them worked together on their farm.
One year, they decided to cultivate a much larger farm than they had previously managed. They worked hard to prepare the land, plant their crops and care for the growing plants.
Their efforts produced an excellent harvest. The farm yielded large quantities of yams, maize and beans. The family had every reason to be pleased because their hard work had brought them more food than they could easily consume.
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The harvest was an opportunity for the whole household to enjoy the rewards of their labour. Anansi, however, had a different plan.
Although his wife and son had worked alongside him, he wanted to keep the food for himself. He began thinking about how he could remove them from the farm without making them suspect his intentions.
Anansi’s Deceptive Plan
Anansi eventually told his wife and son that he had to travel to the coast on urgent business.
He explained that the work required him to leave for some time. He suggested that they return to their village and rest for two or three weeks before coming back to the farm.
His explanation sounded reasonable. The family had worked hard throughout the farming season, and a short period of rest would not seem unusual.
His wife and son accepted his suggestion. They gathered their belongings and returned to the village, believing that Anansi would soon travel to the coast as he had said.
However, Anansi had no intention of making the journey.
As soon as his family had left, he remained near the farm. He constructed a comfortable hut where he could stay without being disturbed.
He then began taking food from the harvest and eating it privately. The yams, maize and beans that the family had produced through their combined efforts became his personal supply.
Anansi believed that he had found a clever way to enjoy the harvest without sharing it. He assumed that his wife and son would remain away long enough for him to consume a considerable amount of the food before they returned.
The Son Discovers the Missing Harvest
About a fortnight later, Anansi’s son returned to the farm to clear the weeds.
He expected to find the harvest as the family had left it. Instead, he noticed that more than half of their food had disappeared.
The discovery surprised him. The farm had been left with a large quantity of crops, and he could not understand how so much food had vanished in such a short period.
He suspected that someone had been entering the farm and stealing their harvest.
The boy immediately informed the villagers about the missing food. He explained what he had discovered and expressed his suspicion that a thief was secretly taking the crops.
The villagers listened to his complaint and decided to help him catch the person responsible.
They knew that the thief might return to the farm if the food was still available. Rather than waiting helplessly for another theft, they began preparing a trap.
The Villagers Prepare a Rubber-Man
The villagers made what was known as a rubber-man.
It was a sticky figure designed to catch anyone who touched it. Its purpose was to hold the thief firmly until the villagers could discover who had been stealing the family’s food.
After preparing the figure, they placed it in the farm where the thief was likely to encounter it.
Some young men were also instructed to hide nearby. They would remain out of sight and watch the farm throughout the night.
The plan was simple. Whoever came to steal the harvest would eventually approach the rubber-man and become trapped.
The villagers then waited patiently for nightfall.
Anansi Encounters the Trap
That night, Anansi left his hut and went towards the farm to collect more food.
He had become accustomed to taking from the harvest whenever he wanted. Since his wife and son were away, he believed that nobody knew what he was doing.
As he approached the farm, he noticed the strange figure standing in his way.
Anansi mistook the rubber-man for a person. He expected it to respond when he spoke to it, but the figure remained completely silent.
Its refusal to answer irritated him.
He became angry and struck it with his right hand. Unfortunately, his hand immediately stuck to the rubber-man.
Anansi tried to pull himself away, but he could not free his hand.
He then struck the figure with his left hand, hoping to force it to release him. Instead, his other hand became stuck as well.
Anansi Becomes Completely Trapped
By this time, Anansi was frightened and frustrated. He struggled desperately to escape, but every movement made his situation worse.
He attempted to use his knees to push himself away from the rubber-man, but they also became attached.
He continued struggling, moving his body in different directions in an effort to break free. His attempts only caused more of him to stick to the figure.
Eventually, his body and head became trapped as well.
The greedy farmer who had secretly enjoyed his family’s harvest was now unable to move away from the trap prepared by the villagers.
Anansi spent the remaining hours of the night helplessly attached to the rubber-man.
The villagers had not yet discovered his identity, but their plan had succeeded. The thief had finally been caught.
The Villagers Discover the Thief
When morning came, Anansi’s son and the villagers returned to the farm.
They approached the place where the rubber-man had been positioned, expecting to find the person responsible for stealing the family’s food.
Instead, they discovered Anansi himself, completely stuck to the figure.
They were astonished.
The thief they had been searching for was not a stranger or an outsider. It was the head of the family, the very person who had claimed to be travelling to the coast.
His wife and son had trusted him, believing that he had left the farm for an important reason. In reality, he had deceived them so that he could consume their harvest alone.
His dishonesty had finally been exposed.
Anansi Becomes a Spider
Anansi was ashamed of being discovered.
He had wanted to enjoy the harvest secretly, but his actions had brought him humiliation before the villagers and his own family.
In the tale, he transforms into a spider.
After his transformation, he hides in a dark corner of the ceiling, away from people’s attention.
He chooses a place where he can remain unnoticed, just as he had previously tried to conceal his theft from his family.
The story concludes by explaining that this is why spiders are always found in the dark, dusty corners of ceilings.
Their hiding places are presented as a reminder of Anansi’s shame and his attempt to escape the people who discovered his dishonesty.
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Moral Lessons
The story teaches that greed can destroy trust within a family. Anansi’s wife and son worked hard to produce the harvest, but he wanted to enjoy their collective efforts without sharing the rewards. His selfishness led him to deceive the people closest to him, eventually exposing his dishonesty.
It also reminds readers that wrongdoing cannot always remain hidden. Anansi believed his plan was clever, but the villagers’ trap revealed the truth. His experience shows that dishonesty and selfishness can bring embarrassment and consequences that are difficult to escape.
Knowledge Check
1. What was the name of the farmer in the story?
His name was Egya Anansi.
2. Which crops did Anansi and his family harvest?
They harvested yams, maize and beans.
3. Why did Anansi tell his wife and son to return to the village?
He wanted them to leave the farm so that he could secretly enjoy the harvest alone.
4. What did Anansi’s son discover when he returned to the farm?
He discovered that more than half of the family’s harvest had disappeared.
5. How did the villagers plan to catch the thief?
They made a sticky figure called a rubber-man, placed it on the farm and arranged for young men to watch nearby.
6. Why did Anansi become a spider?
He was exposed as the thief and became ashamed, so he transformed into a spider and hid in a dark corner of the ceiling.
Source
This retelling is based on “Why Spiders Are Always Found in the Corners of Ceilings,” Chapter X, page 69, in W. H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair’s West African Folk-Tales, published in 1917.
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