Anansi

Anansi Two Stories

Anansi Two Stories

etold by Hannah Fish

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Fish, Retold by Hannah

Anansi : two stories : standfor young readers : level 5 / Retold by Hannah Fish ; illustrated by Guilherme Grandizolli. -- 1. ed. -- São Paulo : FTD, 2018.

ISBN 978-85-96-01452-6 (aluno)

ISBN 978-85-96-01453-3 (professor)

1. Literatura infantojuvenil I. Grandizolli, Guilherme. II. Título.

18-12327

CDD-028.5

Índices para catálogo sistemático:

1. Literatura infantil 028.5

2. Literatura infantojuvenil 028.5

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Look at the front cover, and read the back cover of this book.

Who or what is Anansi? A spider

Match the animals in the story with the pictures.

2. snake

4. hornets

5. monkey

1. spider

3. tiger

Anansi and the Box of Stories

It is a hot day in the African jungle. Anansi the spider is sitting in his tree. He is tired because the nights are hot, too, and he cannot sleep. He sits in his web and looks up to the sky. There he sees the gods, and they look cool and happy.

Anansi watches the gods move from cloud to cloud. He wants to go up to the cool sky, too. So Anansi makes a new web, and throws it high up into the sky. He climbs and climbs up the web, and, after some time, he comes to a cloud. On this cloud is the sky god, Nyame, and Anansi wants to speak with him.

“ Can I speak with you? ” Anansi asks Nyame.

Nyame looks at Anansi with surprise in his eyes. “What do you want to speak with me about?” he says. But Anansi doesn’t know what he wants to speak about. He stops to think for a minute. He looks around and sees a big box on Nyame’s cloud. It is a beautiful box, and Anansi thinks that it is interesting.

“ What is in that box? ” Anansi asks Nyame.

“ I never open that box, ” Nyame says, “ but people say that it is full of stories. ”

Anansi loves stories. He really loves them – long stories, short stories, he loves them all.

“ Can I have your box? ” Anansi asks. “ I love stories. ”

“ No, you can ’ t. It is my box, ” Nyame answers.

“ But you never open it, ” says Anansi.

“ What is the price of your box then? ”

“ There is no price! ” Nyame says. “ It is time for you to go home, Anansi. ”

So, a sad Anansi climbs down the web, and back to his tree.

It is a hot night again, and Anansi cannot sleep. He thinks about Nyame ’ s box. He wants that box – he wants the box, and he wants all the stories in the box!

In the morning, Anansi makes a new web and throws it high up into the sky. Again, he climbs up to Nyame ’ s cloud.

“ What do you want in all the world? ” Anansi asks Nyame. “ Give me your box, and I can give you the things that you want! ”

Nyame laughs. “ Oh, Anansi! You really want my box, don ’ t you? ”

Anansi looks at Nyame with light in his eyes.

“

OK! ” Nyame says. “ You can have my box, Anansi, but the price is high. ”

Now Anansi laughs. He is very happy.

“ I want you to get four animals for me, ” Nyame says. “ I want you to get them, carry them here to my cloud, and give them to me. ”

Anansi looks at Nyame. “ What four animals do you want? ” he asks.

“ I want Snake, Tiger, the hornets, and Moatia. ”

Anansi ’ s eyes are big now. “ M-M-Moatia? ” he says slowly. “ But she is invisible! ”

“ That is my price, Anansi – Snake, Tiger, the hornets, and Moatia. ”

“ OK! ” Anansi says. “ I can get the animals you want. Give me four days. I can get one animal every day and carry it to your cloud. ”

Nyame looks at Anansi with surprise.

“ See you tomorrow! ” Anansi shouts happily, as he climbs back down the web.

Anansi gets back to his tree and thinks. He is a smart little spider and he thinks for a long time about how to get the four animals. He thinks about the animals. Snake is not a smart animal – so he can be first.

The next morning, Anansi goes to visit Snake and he takes a long stick with him. Snake is high up in his tree, so Anansi shouts up to him. “ Snake, come down. I want to talk to you. I have an interesting question for you. ”

Snake looks down at Anansi. His eyes are bright and yellow. “ What is it, Anansi? ” Snake asks coldly.

“ Come down and I can tell you, ” Anansi says.

So Snake slowly slides down the tree.

When Snake is at the foot of the tree, Anansi shows him the stick. “What is longer, the snake or the stick?” Anansi says to Snake. “I say the snake, but my Mom says the stick – and she is always right!”

“ The snake is longer! ” Snake shouts angrily. “ Everybody knows that the snake is longer than all other animals, and longer than all sticks! ”

“ Yes, ” says Anansi, “ but my Mom says she knows it is the stick. Can you lie next to the stick so that I can see? ”

Snake slides next to Anansi ’ s stick, and Anansi quickly jumps on Snake. He makes a strong web and ties Snake to the stick. Snake cannot move, and now Anansi can take him to Nyame.

Nyame is not surprised to see Anansi with Snake. He knows that Anansi is a smart little spider, and that he really wants the box of stories.

Next, Anansi goes to visit Tiger and this time he takes a big sack with him. Tiger is sleeping in the sun and opens one eye when she hears Anansi.

“

Hello, Tiger! ” Anansi says. “ I ’ m sorry to wake you up, but I have an interesting question for you. ”

“ What is it, Anansi? ” Tiger asks.

Anansi shows her the sack. “ Can you get into this sack? ” Anansi asks Tiger. “ I say you can, but my Mom says you can ’ t – and she is always right! ”

“ I can do that! ” Tiger shouts angrily. “ I am a tiger and I can do anything that I want to! ”

“ Yes, ” says Anansi, “ but my Mom says she knows that you can ’ t. Can you get into the sack so that I can see? ”

Tiger gets up slowly and walks to Anansi. She climbs into Anansi ’ s sack, and Anansi quickly jumps on the sack. He makes a strong web and ties it up. Tiger cannot get out, and now Anansi can take her to Nyame, too.

Nyame is happy to see Anansi with Tiger. “ Animal number two! ” he says to Anansi. “ Well done! ”

Now Anansi has two more animals to get, so the next day he goes to find the hornets. He walks across the jungle and takes some water and a big pot with him.

The hornets ’ house is high up in a big mango tree. Anansi climbs up the mango tree and he takes the water with him.

Anansi climbs high up in the mango tree. Now he can see the hornets ’ house under him. He takes the water and he throws it down on the hornets ’ house.

The hornets fly out of their house, and Anansi quickly jumps down from the tree.

The hornets are angry, but Anansi gets his big pot.

“ Come in here! ” Anansi says to the hornets. “ There is no water in here – it is safe. ”

So, the hornets fly into Anansi ’ s pot, and Anansi quickly makes a web. He sticks the web over the pot so that the hornets cannot get out. Now he can take them to Nyame.

Anansi is happy when he takes the hornets to Nyame, but he is worried, too. Moatia is the last animal that Nyame wants. But Moatia is magic; she ’ s invisible!

Anansi goes back to his web in his tree. He looks up to the sky, and he can see the gods on their clouds. The night is cool, but Anansi does not sleep. He cannot stop thinking about Moatia, and how to get her.

The next morning, Anansi asks his Mom for a doll. He puts sticky sap all over the doll and ties it to a big coconut tree. Then Anansi hides in the tree and waits – he watches the doll, and he waits.

Moatia loves dolls – all the animals in the jungle know that, and Anansi knows it, too!

Anansi waits and watches, watches and waits. He is starting to think that it is time to go home, when the doll ’ s head moves. Then it moves again – Moatia is next to the doll! Then the doll moves again and again – Moatia is stuck to the doll! Anansi cannot see Moatia, but now he can hear her. She is shouting!

Smart little Anansi throws some white flour at the doll; and there is Moatia! She is stuck, and now Anansi can tie her in a web, and take her to Nyame.

Anansi: Two Stories

Anansi lives in the African jungle, and he’s a very smart spider. So when he goes to see Nyame, the sky god, you can be sure that he will find a way to get what he wants. These two traditional stories from West Africa show that you don’t have to be big to achieve great things.

StandFor Young Readers introduce young learners to the magic of reading in English. Carefully graded by level, the series includes traditional and modern stories, and informative, factual titles.

Level 1 | 125

Headwords

Level 2 | 240 Headwords

Level 3 | 390

Level 4 | 540

Level 5 | 680

Headwords

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