Anansi in Leopard Den <oa>
Practice Words
Words featuring the 'oa' vowel team, producing the long /ΙΚ/ or /oΚ/ sound.
Leopard has a fine coat. He sees Anansi in the tall grass. He puts one big paw on Anansi and holds him down flat.
'Anansi, the bug took my fish and my meat,' says Leopard. 'At night, I will eat Anansi.' He drops him in the den with a groan.
Anansi wants to roam free. But the den walls are hard rock, and the gap is blocked by Leopard, big as a door.
In a crack, Anansi finds a pack of hot seeds for soup. He sniffs, and his eyes soak with tears. A plan spins in his mind.
'Great Leopard,' calls Anansi, 'a plain bug is bad food. All good cooks know a king must coat his meat.'
'I eat prey as I catch it,' says Leopard. But Anansi tries to coax him. 'Nyame has hot seeds on his food too.' His tail whips.
'A hot-seed tree is three hills off,' says Leopard. 'Anansi, this is a trick.' 'No,' says Anansi. 'But this is the first bug in so long. Do not eat it plain β coat it well.'
'I will go, but I will web the gap so Anansi can not flee.' Leopard pads old silk on the gap and goes off down the road.
Anansi slips out fast. He hides the hot seeds deep in the rock. Then he spins a new web on the gap, thin and fine as foam.
Anansi runs off in the wood, tree to tree. He hears Leopard come back with a roar. There is no hot-seed tree at all. It is all a trick.
Leopard hits the web fast and gets stuck. He roars and groans, but the fine silk holds. Anansi calls back, 'A king must coat his meat!'
Anansi sits down in town and eats hot soup with hot seeds. The cook tells the whole tale. Now all the cooks say it too: a king must coat his meat.