- an original folktale by Kawaida Seer-Sekou - Sept 23, 2011

Long long ago there lived a very shrewd spider. Brother Anansi was well-known, loved, feared and respected by all.

One day Brother Anansi fell into some good fortune. He happened upon an enormous cave of riches. The note at the entrance read, "Whosoever finds these riches, enjoy and share! - Mr. Lion."

It so happened that moments later Brother Turtle and Sister Cheetah stumbled upon the same cave. In his excitement, Brother Anansi forgot to remove the note. Brother Turtle and Sister Cheetah where excited beyond belief, until from out of the cave appeared Brother Anansi.

  

A huge argument erupted as to who had rights to the riches, since after all Brother Turtle and Sister Cheetah had the note but it was undeniable that Brother Anansi was there first. Brother Anansi, being clever and not wanting to share his riches three ways said, "Since I was here first. I will decide who shares with me." Sister Cheetah didn't like this one bit since just yesterday she had scolded Brother Anansi in public for being too greedy. "To be fair let's have a competition," she said.

Brother Anansi was elated! He loved games and thought to himself that he could send them on a very long journey from which they would never return, while he enjoyed his riches all to himself!

He knew of a palace far far away, high a top the highest mountain in the kingdom. The palace was the only place in the whole kingdom where beautiful black swans were said to live. "I will share equally with the first one to return with a black swan from the palace," declared Anansi knowing full well that the only road to the palace takes the average person one year to reach to the top and then they may never find the black swan!

Brother Anansi had created a "goose" chase. Brother Turtle and Sister Cheetah had no choice but to agree to the competition so they set out on their journey.

In those days Sister Cheetah had no need to move quickly and Brother Turtle had no need to move slowly. They moved at about the same pace and travelled together a short distance to the base of the mountain. At the base of the mountain they were met with two paths.

One path was well travelled, cleared of obstacles, not very steep and was well lit by the bright sun. However, it wound its way around the mountain in what looked like forever to get to the top. The other path was less travelled. It was hazy, very steep and for as far as you could see, you saw many obstacles. However, because of the general direction it was the shortest path to the top.

Well Sister Cheetah, looked at her strong sleek legs and her streamlined efficient body and thought to herself that if she really applied herself she could move ten or twenty times faster than normal. She would have to work extra hard to beat Brother Turtle.

Well Brother Turtle, looked at his short sturdy legs, his hard shell and his ability to retreat inside to protect himself from any danger. He thought to himself that if he could move very slowly and steadily he could find a path to the top in a tenth or twentieth of the time. So Sister Cheetah and Brother Turtle parted ways to pursue the path best suited to their character.

As it turns out, Brother Turtle's journey had many more obstacles than he imagined and he was never able to see very far along the path he had to make. However, he persistently forged the path, laying a rope as he went and reached the palace in only two weeks.

As it turns out, Sister Cheetah's journey was smooth, allowing her to gain more and more speed the further into the journey she went. Her agility came in handy when she navigated sharp corners. She gained so much speed that she reached the palace in only two weeks.

Both were surprised to find the other carrying a black swan from the palace! "I'm so strong, agile and fast," declared Sister Cheetah, "that it will only take me two weeks to get down the mountain!" Sister Cheetah knew she was tired. She was now older and knew it would probably take her many months to walk down the mountain with a black swan.

"I'm so smart and sturdy," retorted Brother Turtle, "that it will only take me two weeks to follow my rope back down the mountain to meet Brother Anansi and share in his riches." Brother Turtle knew he was not very agile so going down the mountain with a black swan would take much longer than coming up the very steep path alone.

Almost at the same time the both said, "Help me get down the hill and we will both get 1/3 of Brother Anansi's riches instead of maybe none at all." So Brother Turtle, and two black swans sat on Sister Cheetah's back. Following Brother Turtle's rope and using Sister Cheetah's agility, it only took the team 2 days to get to the bottom of the mountain!

How did Brother Anansi almost fall off of his throne when he saw, two black swans, Sister Cheetah and Brother Turtle walking hand in hand into the cave of riches after only being gone two weeks and three days!

"How did you cheat the mountain?," asked Brother Anansi. "We were in competition all the way which made us strive for excellence but at some point it was better to collaborate, combine forces and achieve a better result," they responded. "Here is your black swan. I am here to share in the riches of the cave with you equally," they declared in unison. Brother Anansi was speechless.

So this is why to this day, the Cheetah is very fast and agile, the turtle is very slow and persistent and the spider is clever but silent.