The Moon and Stars
During a famine, Anansi and Kweku Tsin found a deer, and Anansi left to find a basket to carry it. Tsin fears his father might not return, so he calls for him, which only summons a dragon, causing him to run and hide. When Anansi gets back, he wishes to see the dragon, who comes and captures them. They are taken to the dragon's home, and defended by a rooster. They distract a rooster with grain, and with the other prisoners, build a ladder, and escape to heaven, Tsin using bones and music to distract the dragon so they may climb. The heavens make Tsin the sun, Anansi the moon, and all the others the stars.
How the Tortoise Got Its Shell
The great Mauri planned a party for Friday, and sent off his messengers to invite everyone, and his servants to gather food and drink. He sent Klo to get wine from Koklovi, who makes Klo fight for the wine and palm trees, as that's the only way to get it. Klo wins, and fills his pot with the wine, and drinks what remains once it is full, and leaves with the trees and wine. While he returns, there is a great storm, and he arrives late and is unable to get in the party. He dies outside as the rain lasts for 2 months. When everyone goes to leave, they find him outside, and powers bring him back to life, but he now has the pot for a shell.
The Hunter and the Tortoise
A hunter hears a song, and surprised to hear it sung by a tortoise. After returning many times, he asks to bring her home, and she agrees, but she will only sing in front of him. He tells others of the beautiful music, but is scorned when he says it comes from a tortoise. He says she will perform for them all, or he will let himself be killed the next day. The next day, the tortoise refuses to sing, and he is killed. Once he is killed, the tortoise talks, and says his fate was all his own for telling the world of her.
The Leopard and the Ram
A ram and leopard unknowingly decide to build a house in the same place. They complete work opposite each other, and think fairies are helping when they are not there, and finding it wasn't fairies, decide to live together. They both have sons, and leopard is curious how the ram gets meat, so he has his son ask one of ram's son to show him. They show each other how they do it, and young leopard warns his father of ram backing up, as this means he charges. One day, the senior ram slips and falls back, and leopard is scared, and runs away, leaving ram with the house and leopard in the woods.
King Chameleon and the Animals
The animals have grown tired of the lack of order in the kingdom, and decide to have a race to see who will be king. The hare gets there much faster than anyone else, but is thwarted by the chameleon, who clung onto him the entire race, and sat in the throne before he could. This meant the chameleon had to be made king. However, none of the animals were happy with this, and dispersed, leaving the chameleon alone.
King Chameleon Watching the World
Source: San Diego Zoo
Elephant and Wren
The king wanted a giant tree to be cut down, and whoever did so with a wooden axe would receive an elephant. Anansi tricks the servant watching him into leaving for some time, and cuts it down mostly with a steel axe, and finishing it with the wooden one. He receives his elephant, but does not want to share it with his family, so he hides it in the forest and tries to capture a wren for them to eat. He fails, but when he goes to get his elephant, he finds that it has run off, leaving him with nothing.
The Ungrateful Man
A poor hunter comes across a man, a rat, a serpent, and a leopard stuck in a hole in the forest. He frees them, and all but the man promises to repay him, even though he invites the man to live with him. The rat brings him valuables to gain him riches, the leopard brings him food, and the serpent gives him an antidote to snake venom. The man becomes jealous, and falsely accuses the hunter of theft from the king when the king is robbed and offers a mighty reward. The hunter is about to be executed, when the king's son is bit by a snake, and the hunter offers the antidote, which must be mixed with a traitor's blood. He tells the king, who knows the man framed the hunter, kills the man, and saves his son.
Why Tigers Never Attack Men Unless They Are Provoked
A man and a tiger befriend each other, and live with each other for some time, alternating between each's home. The tiger is scared the man's friends will kill him, but the man assures him they will not. The man's father dies months later, and the tiger leaves his home to console the man, bringing his cub with him, but is shot by hunters. He is scared that the man sent them to kill him, so he feigns death, which leaves the man distraught when he finds him. He watches the cub all night, and the next day, the tiger says he is alive, and that he will not harm man if he is not attacked first.
How Mushrooms First Grew
Two brothers have made bad decisions, and have much debt. After being robbers, the decide to grow crops to pay off their debt. After planting, a bushfowl comes and eats the seeds, so they capture it and transfer the debt to it. Dismayed, it tries to lay eggs to pay off the debt, which are destroyed by a tree, transferring the debt to the tree. This continues on and on, to an elephant, then a hunter, then a tree stump, and finally ants. The ants buy pure linen thread, and weave it to sell for profit to pay off the debt. The completed product is what we know as mushrooms.
Farmer Mybrow and the Fairies
Farmer Mybrow finds a place for his field, and when he begins to clear it, the fairies ask what who he is, and when he tells them, they help clear the field. This continues, from burning brush, to planting, and growing the crops. Mybrow's wife wants to know where this field is, and he reluctantly tells her, but that she must not answer questions. She does not heed this warning, and speaks to the fairies, who pluck the unripe crops and leave them on the ground, ruining the good harvest. She does not tell her husband, who shows up the next day and is angered by the sight that all his crops are now worthless due to his wife.
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