Anansi and the Inaudible Sound UFLI Foundations Lesson 126

Deep in the forest, where the tall trunks grow so close that noon looks like evening, Anansi finds something strange. A wide rock sits at the foot of a hill, green with thick soft moss. It hums with a sound that is almost inaudible. Anansi has passed this path many times and has never seen it. He leans close, whispers seven words, and everything goes dark.

One hour later, Anansi wakes up flat on his back in the ferns. He feels fine, just confused. He did not trip. He did not get hit. He just said seven words and went to sleep. It is unexplainable! Anansi is too clever not to test it. He says the words again: 'Is this not a strange moss-covered rock?' The forest goes dark. One hour later, he wakes up in the same spot. Anansi sits up very slowly and begins to smile a smile that should worry the whole forest.

The plan comes to Anansi all at once, the way his best plans always do. He knows where each animal keeps its best food. Elephant has a sweet comb. Lion has dried fish. Hornbill has three sweet fruits for his mother. All Anansi needs to do is lead each animal past the rock and say seven simple words. The plan seems unbeatable! He rubs four legs together with glee and goes to find Elephant.

'Elephant!' Anansi calls, rushing up. 'There is the most remarkable thing on the south path. Come see it!' Elephant is huge and not scared of tricks, so she follows. At the rock, Anansi says the seven magic words. Elephant sways once, sits down with a boom, and starts to snore. Anansi gets the sweet comb and eats it slowly. When Elephant blinks awake, she thinks she just got tired, and wanders off.

The plan works so well that Anansi grows greedy. Lion's dried fish goes next. Then Hornbill's sweet fruits. Then a basket of nuts from the otters. Then a string of dried fruit from the bush-pigs. One by one, the animals wake up with no clue where their food went. The rock says nothing. It just sits there, green and useful. Anansi feels unstoppable. He has never been this well fed in his life.

One small animal does not follow Anansi. Bush Deer stands in the shade of a fig tree when Elephant comes back confused. Bush Deer is small, careful, and not at all gullible. She follows far behind, hidden but able to see it all. She watches Anansi lead Lion, then Hornbill, and she hears every word. She counts the stolen food: one sweet comb, one fish, three fruits, one basket, one string.

Bush Deer goes to find the animals. They stand along the south path, confused. A small spider tricking them all does not seem believable, but the missing food is hard proof. Lion counts his fish. Elephant checks her sweet comb. Hornbill counts his fruits and finds none. 'Anansi uses the rock,' says Bush Deer. 'Seven words. I heard them all.' Elephant sits down again. This time no magic makes her sit. She needs to think very hard.

Bush Deer has a plan. It is simple and sensible, and it turns the rock's own power against Anansi. Anansi is greedy, and greedy animals always come back to what works. Bush Deer will wait by the rock, with the other animals hidden behind her. When Anansi comes, she will say the seven words first. The animals go over the plan three times. It seems workable. Then they hide, and they wait.

The next morning, Anansi comes down the south path with River-otter's cousin, who has not heard about the trick. Anansi stops. Bush Deer stands calmly beside the rock. 'Anansi,' she says, 'is this not a strange moss-covered rock?' All eight of Anansi's legs give out at once, and the unstoppable spider drops into the moss, snoring.

The animals come out from behind the trees. They pick up all the food Anansi stored: the sweet comb, the dried fish, the fruits, the nuts, all of it, and give each item back to its owner. River-otter's cousin is still confused, so the animals give him a sweet fruit, and he goes home glad. Then they all sit around the rock and share a very enjoyable meal, while Anansi snores on the rock.

One hour later, Anansi wakes up, lifts up from the moss, and finds a ring of very full, very calm beasts. Elephant hands Anansi a small piece of the stolen sweet comb. 'Anansi,' says Bush Deer, 'any one could learn the seven words. So I learned them.' Anansi looks at the empty stash. He looks at the rock. He looks at Bush Deer. He starts to speak, then stops. Then he eats the sweet comb, and that is understandable, because a spider who has just lost needs something sweet.

After that day, no beast walks the south path alone. They go in groups, talking loudly, and they always bring more food than they need, because sharing feels better than keeping. The moss-covered rock sits where it has always sat, green and still. And when a new beast comes along the south path, one small voice always asks, 'Is this not a strange moss-covered rock?' It is a sensible way to keep all of the beasts awake.