Anansi and the Hornet Sting Jolly Phonics · Step 3, Unit 4: /ai/ mixed

A grand fig tree stands by the village. It has the sweetest figs in all the Ashanti forest. But now the hornets take the tree. They stay in it all day, and nobody can pick one fig.

The hornets sting all who come by. Goats, hens, and kids all get a nasty sting. The hornets even sting Old Grandmother Akosua! She drops her basket and runs. For seven days the village eats plain yams. No figs for the kids. No figs at all.

Anansi the spider likes figs a lot. The village is sad and hungry, and so is he. He goes to the big fig tree and calls up to the hornets. 'I will save the figs,' he says. No one thinks he can, but no one has a better plan.

First, Anansi goes to get Kofi, the lad with the drum. 'Kofi,' he says, 'take the drum deep into the glen across the river. Beat it and beat it, and do not stop.' Anansi hands Kofi a fat coin. Kofi grins. A spider who pays with good coin is a spider to trust! He tucks the drum under his arm and goes.

Then Anansi swings up on silk to a branch on the fig tree. The hornet wings buzz with rage. 'Grand hornets,' says Anansi in a sweet, sweet way, 'I come just to tell a thing. A big thing.' The swarm goes still. Hornets like to be told grand things about hornets.

'A big swarm lives in the glen across the river,' says Anansi. 'The hornets there say this buzz is weak, like a sad little bug.' He waits. 'They say they rule this forest.' The swarm buzzes with rage. 'Buzz loud, be the best!' yells the Hornet Queen, and all the hornets buzz as hard as they can.

The hornets sit back in the tree. 'We win!' they boast. But then Kofi's drum booms across the glen. Boom, boom, boom! The deep beat sounds the same as a big swarm beating its wings. The hornets go still. Can that be a big loud swarm, drumming to mock them?

'They mock us,' Anansi whispers. 'They say this buzz can not even reach the river.' The Hornet Queen's eyes blaze. She turns to the swarm. 'We go and buzz at them till they flee!' Anansi nods. 'Yes,' he says. 'Do that. Buzz loud, be the best!'

All the hornets stream up in a long line and race to the glen. A loud buzz comes Kofi's way. He grabs his drum and runs up the bank into the deep forest. The swarm dives down and buzzes at rocks and roots, seeking the other swarm. But no one is there.

Anansi races back to the village. 'Come quick!' he yells. 'Get the pots! Get the baskets!' The crowd rushes out. They pick ripe figs as fast as hands can go. The kids eat as they pick. Old Grandmother Akosua fills basket after basket. But then a mad buzz comes from across the river. It gets loud. The hornets can tell it is a trick!

The hornets zoom back across the sky. Anansi is still in the fig tree. He grabs one last fat fig, just one, and slides down his silk at top speed. He lands and runs. The hornets get to the tree. No figs! Not one! And Anansi zips away to the village, waving all the way.

That night the village has a grand feast. Drums play, and kids dance with fig stains on each hand. Anansi eats figs until he is round as the full moon. He beats the hornets not with silk, not with a sting, but with pride. The hornets' own pride, the best trick in the forest. The hornets fly away to a tree far, far away. To this day, when a proud kid brags, the Ashanti elders smile and say: 'Buzz loud, be the best!' They can tell what comes next.