Anansi and the Spoon <oo>

Mmoatia is small, and she lives deep in the wood. She has a spoon. It can fill a pot with food.

Anansi sits high in his web. A parrot tells him of the magic spoon. 'A pot full of food?' Anansi looks down. His eyes go wide.

Anansi hides by a fern. Mmoatia mixes food in a pot and sings. She sets bowls on a root for all the animals to eat.

Anansi looks at the spoon. When Mmoatia stops to eat, she sets it down. The pot goes still. That is when Anansi will grab it.

Mmoatia sets the spoon down. Anansi runs in and takes it. He zooms deep into the wood. Mmoatia just sits and looks on.

Anansi runs home. He dips the spoon in a big pot. He mixes and mixes. But the pot stays empty. 'Fill!' he yells. The spoon goes cold.

Anansi takes the spoon back. 'It will not work,' he says. Mmoatia looks up. 'I know,' she says. 'It will not work for a shut fist.'

'A giving hand fills all pots,' says Mmoatia. 'It will mix for a kind hand.' Anansi thinks. 'What if I share a bit?' he asks. 'Try,' she says, and gives him the spoon.

Anansi picks up the spoon. He thinks of the food Mmoatia shared. He mixes slow, not mad, not greedy. The pot fills up with hot stew.

The stew fills the pot to the top. Anansi wants to eat. But he scoops the best bowl for Mmoatia first. Then he eats too.

That stew is the best food. Anansi eats till he is full. Then he takes more food to the kids in the huts. He walks home in the moon light.

Mmoatia still lives deep in the wood. The spoon works for an open hand. Anansi still tries to grab it, but the pot stays cold. When he shares, the stew fills up. A giving hand fills all pots. Yes, all!