Editing Anansi (section)

===Surinamese Anansi stories===

====How Dew tricked Anansi====

It came about that Anansi became friends with Dew, and that they both helped each other develop their own crops.<ref name="Herskovits 1934" />{{rp|105–107}} One day, Anansi saw his friend Dew's crop and noticed the corn Dew grew was much finer than his own. Anansi became very jealous of Dew and craved the corn that Dew had grown more than his own, so he decided he would trick Dew. Anansi approached Dew and bragged, saying that his corn was better than Dew's, and suggested that Dew cut his corn so it would be as fine as his. Anansi promised Dew that if he cut his own crop, his corn would grow back and be the same quality as Anansi's corn was. Anansi however, was lying.

Nonetheless, Dew fell for the Spider's schemes and agreed to cut his corn crop in the mistaken belief that his corn would grow again. Later that evening, neighbors in their village saw Dew's corn had been cut down and wondered why he did so, noting that the corn he had was very fine once. They asked Dew who'd convinced him to cut down his corn crop, and he replied that Anansi had convinced him to do so, in the hopes that his corn crop would be better than it was before. The neighbors sighed and told Dew that he'd been tricked, for his corn would not grow again. This upset Dew, but he promised them that he would trick Anansi just as he had tricked him. Dew, however, would trick Anansi with his mother instead of with corn like Anansi had him.

As time passed, Dew worked especially hard and tirelessly to build up a large amount of wealth. He bought a scythe, hoe, axe, new clothes, and other equipment. Dew then told his mother his plan: he would tell Anansi that she had died and would then make a mock coffin in which to bury her. In the meanwhile, Dew wished for his mother to hide in their home upstairs while he prepared, so she did. Dew then made a coffin and announced her death to the village, inviting them to come see her burial. Once they had arrived, he snuck his mother from upstairs and had her hide underneath the floor where the mock coffin lay, as well as the many things he'd purchased, as he knew Anansi's greed would spurn him to steal from Dew if he saw them laying around. Now that the plan was in order, it was time for the mock burial to begin.

Dew began to cry and lament that his mother had died so suddenly and left him nothing to remember her by. On-cue, Dew's mother extended the scythe and other tools he'd purchased through the plank in the floor. Anansi saw what was happening and grew jealous of Dew, wishing his very own mother was dead so he could get what Dew was getting from his own mother as well. Dew continued to mourn, and lamented that he longed for a blessing from her in the form of money, so Dew's mother took the money he had also given her alongside the equipment and threw it through the floor at him also. Thus his display was successful, the burial they'd staged went well, and those who had come to mourn his mother's passing went back to their homes.

Anansi's jealousy of Dew caused him to bicker with his own mother for days, on all matter of issues. Then, one day, they were arguing and the Spider asked his mother why she herself couldn't have died just like Dew's mother did. Soon, the arguments reached a climactic point and Anansi smote his own mother with a stick in a fit of rage. Anansi's mother then died and he soon set about preparing for her burial just as Dew had before him. Then came time for the funeral, and Anansi cried just as Dew had, and told her all the things Dew had told his mother while grieving. Yet, nothing that he told his mother, no matter how much he cried, caused her to do the things that Dew's mother had done for her son. The funeral was a failure, so Anansi went ahead with his mother's burial.

About a week passed, and Dew had his mother come visit him while he worked outside in the fields. Anansi noticed Dew's mother had come and asked if the woman he saw was in fact her. Dew replied that it was his own mother, and that it was payback for Anansi deceiving Dew about his corn crops. Dew then bragged that he instead had tricked Anansi about his Motherwell, rather than his corn, and such was true: Dew's mother was still alive, but Anansi's mother was now dead because of his own jealousy.

====Gun is dead====

One morning, Anansi was very hungry and needed food.<ref name="Herskovits 1934" />{{rp|121}} He went to the bush and spoke with his friend Hunter, and told Hunter his dilemma, asking Hunter if he could have Gun. Hunter did so and gave the Spider his gun, then Anansi set about to concoct a scheme to obtain food. He told the animals in the village that it was time for them to bury Gun, their arch-enemy, for Gun had died. The animals knew Gun was very evil, for he had been killing many of them whenever he went through the bush. Thus when word of Gun's passing reached them, the animals all rejoiced, and agreed that they would come to celebrate Gun's death when Anansi buried him.

While the animals gathered to meet at Gun's funeral, Anansi set a trap for them. Anansi made each of the animals pass in front of Gun's coffin during the funeral while he and his children claimed that they would carry Gun to be buried. He pointed Gun at them all while they remained oblivious to his true plan. Soon, all those Anansi had called to the funeral were lined up in front of Gun's coffin, and Anansi then struck. Anansi began using Gun to kill each of the animals that had arrived, until none else were alive or able to escape. Anansi then took their meat when the deed was done, and was able to feed his family with it.

====Anansi becomes a preacher, and why Cockroach and Anansi are enemies====

Anansi went to the King one evening and asked him if he could become a preacher. The King entertained Anansi's offer and said that if he wished, he could preach the following Sunday.<ref name="Herskovits 1934" />{{rp|110–111}} So Anansi prepared himself a sermon, and on that Sunday he preached a message. However, the King was busy that morning, and could not come to hear Anansi's sermon. The King thus told Anansi that he wished him to preach again the following Sunday, and he gave him a black suit that he wished for the Spider to wear when he did.

It is said that Anansi lived beside Cockroach, and that between their homes was a fence that divided them. In addition to this, was a coconut tree that grew in Cockroach's yard. However, it was a tree with branches covered in coconuts, some of which hung over the fence above Anansi's yard. Anansi saw them hanging on his side of the yard one day, and took a machete. He then cut the bunch of coconuts directly in half, and took the ones that hung on his side of the fence for himself. Cockroach noticed this and took great offense at Anansi, asking him why he'd taken the fruit from his tree, as it clearly belonged to him. Anansi agreed that the tree belonged to Cockroach, but replied that the coconuts he'd cut down were hanging extremely low. The Spider explained that he only took the half that hung on his side, but Cockroach did not accept Anansi's excuse. He vowed to get even with Anansi for what he'd done.

Soon, it was Saturday and Anansi would then have to preach before the King the next morning. Anansi asked his wife if she could clean his black suit so that it would be ready in time for the sermon, and she agreed. His wife took the black suit the King had given him and then hung it outside to dry. Cockroach however, noticed this taking place, and saw that half of Anansi's suit hung above the fence separating his yard from Anansi's. Cockroach then took his own machete and, eager to enact vengeance Anansi for cutting his coconut fruit, cut the half of Anansi's suit that hung over his yard off.

The next morning, it was time to preach but Anansi saw what had happened to his suit and was unable to meet the King and deliver his sermon. The King thus did not get to hear Anansi preach at all and became very angry. In a fit, he had Anansi arrested and saw to it that the Spider was thrown into jail for offending him. Soon Anansi's time was served, and the next time he saw Cockroach again, the Spider told him that he would never forgive Cockroach for his treachery. He would never forget it for as long as he lived, for Cockroach's actions had cost him the job he wanted. So it was that Anansi tried and failed to become a preacher, and Cockroach became Anansi's enemy.

====How Death came to the city====

A very long time ago, Death had no presence for he had not come to the cities yet.<ref name="Herskovits 1934" />{{rp|111–113}} Death preferred to live deep inside a village in the bush. But a famine came one day and made Anansi very hungry, so he took Gun along with his hunting bag and decided to hunt for food. Anansi searched throughout the bush, but soon found that there were no animals he could find in the bush to eat. Anansi however, did not give up. Instead, Anansi continued to venture deep within the bush, searching for animals to hunt, and stumbled upon the village that Death lived in, and Death was seated in front of its entrance. Anansi did not want to offend Death, so he approached him and greeted him first. Anansi then told Death his plight, and noted that he had searched throughout the bush for an animal to kill for food, but had found none. Death told Anansi he could come into his village, and he would cook food for him.

Inside the village, Death brought Anansi to the house where meat was cooked, and Anansi saw that Death had a great amount. Anansi became enticed by all of the meat that Death was cooking, and saw that an enormous amount remained even after Death let the Spider have his fill of it to eat. Anansi thanked Death for his hospitality, but was still curious how Death had acquired such an impressive amount of meat, and asked him afterward. Death asked Anansi if he didn't recognize who he was, and the Spider responded that he did, realizing why he had not been able to find meat in the bush; Death owned it all. Anansi thus asked Death for a favor, explaining that he had come to the bush so that he could find food for his family during the famine. Anansi wished to bring some meat back to them and asked for Death's permission to do so. Death agreed, and gave Anansi meat that he could provide to his family.

Anansi took the meat that Death gave him and returned from the bush to his village in the city, where he met his family again and told them of his discovery. He told his wife that he could go to visit Death and take meat when necessary. However, Anansi's greed overcame him and he told her that he could even steal meat from Death. Thus, instead of asking like he had before, Anansi returned to Death's village while he was away and stole meat from him. Anansi's scheme would not last, for Death noticed that meat was missing from his village, although he did not know who'd stolen it. Death decided to wait in secret to see if he could discover who the thief was.

Anansi came to Death's village one day, completely unaware that he was still present, and then gathered a large basket of meat from his stores as he normally did. Death immediately surprised Anansi and asked him why he had chosen to steal from him, but Anansi was too afraid to answer his question. Instead, Anansi fled Death's village and Death soon chased after him. Try as he might, Anansi could not lose Death, no matter how fast he ran through the bush, and by the time Anansi had reached the city the Spider looked behind him and saw that Death was still close to reaching him. Anansi then cried out to the people that Death was coming, and that they should shut their doors if they wished to live. Yet, many people could not shut their doors in time, and Death took them. So it is that Death now lives in the city; had Anansi not stolen from him, Death would still remain quietly in the bush where no one could find it.