| How
the Desert Came to Be
An Akan Fable -Ghana
Kweku Ananse and
his friend Akwasi were known to everyone to be very good farmers.
They had such large farms that people came from all over to buy
everything from them. As time passed they became rich.
Yet one year, everything
turned bad as the rains stopped falling. Ananse and Akwasi didn't
know what to do. All the streams and rivers had dried up and people
quit coming since there was nothing left to buy.
Akwasi decided to
go to Nana Nyankopon, the creator of the universe, to solicit his
help. So one morning, he called on Nana Nyankopon and said to him,
"Nana, there has not been rain for a long time; so all the
rivers and streams are dry. All the crops on my farm have dried
up and wilted. Please, let me have some rain."
God was touched
and said to him, "I have delegated some of my work to people,
because I get so tired of small requests all day long. I have given
the chore of wind to Paa Kwesi, the chore of sunshine to Yeboah
and the chore of rain to Nsiah, the hunchback. If you want rain,
go and see Nsiah the hunchback and ask him to give you some rain."
Akwasi was very
happy and thanked Nyankopon. He went off to look for Nsiah, the
hunchback.
Eventually, he came across him sitting under a tree resting from
the weighty task which God had given to him. Akwasi said hello then
told him that God had sent him to ask the hunchback for rain. "If
it is God who sent you, I cannot refuse. Take a small stick and
beat my back" he said.
Aswasi picked two
small sticks and gently tapped Nsiah's back two times, thanked him
and went home. In the morning, he went to his farm and sure enough,
there had been a heavy spell of rain. All the plants were standing
upright and green.
Ananse passed Akwasi's farm the next morning and was so happy that
he jumped up and down with joy. He punched the air and yelled "Yippee!"
He thought the rain had fallen on his farm, too. But unfortunately
when he got to his farm, he realized with shock that the rains had
stopped at the boundary. There had not been any on his farm. But
why had rains fallen on Akwasi's farm? Surely, there must be an
answer. He became suspicious of his friend and decided to go and
ask him how on earth he got rains on his farm.
Akwasi did not want
to tell Ananse about God's rainmaker because of Ananse's sly nature.
But later he changed his mind, so he told Ananse about God's rainmaker.
As soon as Ananse
heard this, he too decided to go and look for the rainmaker. He
combed the forest for many hours and at long last came upon him
sitting under a tree taking a rest from the heavy task God had given
him. As soon as Ananse saw him, he picked up a big stick and hit
the hunchback's back with all his might. The hunchback cried in
pain. But Ananse continued hitting him at the back with all his
might with the heavy club. The hunchback fell down panting, but
still Ananse continued hitting him with brute force. After continuous
beating, the hunchback lay still, not moving. Ananse called out
to the hunchback, but there was no response. Ananse had killed the
rainmaker. He had killed God's rainmaker. He became frightened.
"Oh dear, what have I done? I have killed God's rainmaker."
He wanted to run, but realized that if he ran away he would put
himself in difficult position. Because his friend Akwasi would know
he had killed the rainmaker.
Ananse was so cunning
though that, it wasn't long before he came up with a solution. He
picked up the dead body and went to hide it in the middle of a mango
tree.
He then went to
call on Akwasi and told him that he had seen a mango tree which
was full of ripe mangoes. He told Akwasi that they should go and
pick the mangoes. Akwasi liked mangoes very much but he was reluctant
to go, because he didn't trust Ananse. He later changed his mind
and went with Ananse. When they got to the mango tree, Ananse told
Akwasi to climb up the mango tree and shake it. So Akwasi climbed
the mango tree and when he got to the top, started shaking it vigorously.
Suddenly, there was a big crash. The body of God's rainmaker had
fallen from the tree top when Akwasi shook the tree. Ananse started
shouting and wailing. "Akwasi, see what you have done. You
have killed God's rainmaker. He must have been hiding in the tree
taking a rest from the heavy task that God had given him. See what
you have done now, you have killed him. What will God say now?"
Akwasi became confused; he didn't know what to do.
He quietly got down
from the tree; but then as he was getting down, his mind worked
like lightening. He pretended to be shocked and said he was going
to see God about it. Then, he went away. Ananse was very happy and
jumped and clapped his hands. "Fool, I have put you into trouble.
God will really punish you." Little did Kwaku Ananse know that
his friend Akwasi had gone to make a plan to teach Ananse that he
wasn't a fool after all.
Before long, Akwasi
Owusu came back with some people and told Ananse that there was
no problem at all. God was happy that the rainmaker was dead because
he had been lazy at times and refused to work. "I am going
to reward you for killing him" God said. Then Akwasi started
singing and dancing happily. He said again that he had come with
God's messengers to carry the dead body to God. Ananse immediately
became furious when he heard this. He said angrily "Look, Akwasi,
don't try to be too clever. I killed him! I was afraid God was going
to punish me, that is why I hid the body in the tree. I am going
to claim the reward." So he carried the body on his shoulders
and quickly went to God's Palace to tell him that he had killed
the hunchback and that he should be rewarded.
But when God heard
the news He was so angry that he punished Ananse by never allowing
rain to fall on his farm again. Ananse's farm was where the desert
is now.
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