Anansi the Spider-Man - Anansi Stories - Extra Mythology - #1

myths are not stories that are untrue rather they are tales that don't fit neatly into the historical record which serve as a foundation to a culture in the beginning when all the world was made there were many stories about many different things but they were all owned by the sky god Niamh then one day the spider Anansi climbed his silken web to the sky to ask me ami if he could buy all the stories of the world some say he did this so the world could be a more interesting place filled with stories as well as life while others say he did this so he could make all the stories about him either way the sky God said no but then he reconsidered [Music] me ami made an ancien offer if a Nancy could bring him the three most dangerous beasts in the world a Python a tiger and a jar full of Hornets then he would give Anansi the stories so undeterred a Nancy left and began to scheme about how he might accomplish these things first he went to the home of the Python and when he was right outside began to speak very loudly he pretended to have a debate with his wife about how long the Python really was and when the Python slithered out of its house to ask an on see what all the racket was about he told him that his wife had said that there was no way that the Python could possibly be as long as the trunk of a palm tree they found and when Anansie showed him the palm trunk the Python proud of his great length assured Anansi he was much longer than that puny stick he brought and a Nancy agreed with him and told him this was the very thing he'd been saying to his wife this entire time but to convince her he would have to make sure so a Nancy told the Python to stretch himself all the way out and lay next to the palm the Python tried and tried but every time before he could get all the way stretched out some part of him would always start to coil up so Anansi offered a simple solution he said oh wow yeah hew coiling up is a bit of a pickle you know I have an idea why don't you let me tie you to part of this poem and then if any of you you know hang past it we'll know for sure if you are longer the Python readily agreed to this completely sensible solution so a Nancy tied him up and promptly brought him to the sky God BAM first beast in the bag but he still had two other creatures to capture so next he went to the lair of the tiger and late at night dug a great pit then covered it with leaves the next day when the tiger left his home he fell into the pit and cried out for help then Anansi conveniently appeared at the pits edge and offered to lower him down his silk the tiger gratefully agreed but as the tiger began to climb the silk stuck to him and each time he pulled himself up it would further wrap around his body so by the time he was at the top he was wrapped almost entirely in spider silk he then asked a non-si to free him but instead announced he just brought him straight to the sky god catching two for two but there was one last task to complete capturing the Hornets he thought and thought on this problem it would be much more difficult than the other two because he needed to trick many creatures at once and not just a single creature like he done in the past but a stroke of inspiration came to him first he grabbed a great leaf filled it with water and poured it on himself next he then fill belief again and poured the water on the hornets nest they came out in a fury ready to sting him to death when he said whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa there little fellas uh it's been definitely raining as you can see due to the fact that I too am soaking wet and in no way did this to myself and I think it's going to actually rain again so if you don't want to you know get your little wings wet I suggest flying into this warm little jar I've prepared and you can then be safe from the oncoming uh rain and so they did moved by this clearly logical plan they flew inside the jar three-for-three hat-trick achievement unlocked thus announced his task complete he received his payment from the sky god and became the lord of stories and people came from all over to ask for his wisdom and advice but one day a group of men were very rude to him so he decided to punish all humankind by hiding his wisdom from them he gathered all the knowledge he had and placed it into a great pot this he carefully sealed and decided he would hide it somewhere where no human could ever reach but Anansi had a son who was quite clever like his old spider-man he could see his father was up to something so he observed Anansi closely and followed him when the next night he snuck out of the house with a great pot he followed his father through the jungle and watched as he tied the pot around his neck and started to climb a great tall tree but with the huge pot in front of him the climb was nearly impossible even for a Nancy again and again he tried but no matter how much he strained the pot would get in the way and he would slide back down the tree at last unable to contain himself any longer his son shouted up father why don't you hang the pot behind you and a Nancy startled by this cry out exclaimed who huh you know I thought I put all the world's wisdom in this little pot doohickey thing here but clearly my boy uh you possess even more than perhaps dare I say uh I do and so he tossed the useless pot to the ground where it shattered and let the wisdom out into all of the world now with the whole world having access to wisdom Anansi became poor and lived in a meager Hut but nearby there lived a very rich man named nothing nothing lived in a great palace and you know lacked for nothing except a wife so a Nancy and he decided one day that they would go to a neighboring village in search of brides while on their journey announced he said oh it's a wee bit chilly out here nothing would you mind maybe trading me your fine clothes for my a thread pair of rags here so I could warm up a bit wanting to make sure his friend was okay nothing generously agreed but when they arrived at the village most of the women fond over a Nancy and treated nothing with contempt for they thought uh Nancy was rich and nothing was poor but one girl did look sympathetically at nothing and decided that he would make the better husband all of the other women mocked her but the ceremony was done and they all headed to their new homes when they got to where the path splits and the women saw that nothing had a great palace with servants sent out to greet them and a Nancy had nothing but a hovel they were shocked in fact so many of them had decided to marry uh Nancy that he didn't even have enough food to feed them so had to live off unripe fruit until one day nothing's wife invited them all over for a feast upon seeing the finery of nothing's house all of a Nancy's wives simply refused to leave which in turn made Anansi furious and he tried many devious ways to slay nothing out of jealousy but nothing was well-guarded and none of his attempts succeeded so at last Anansi convinced his friends the rats to dig a great hole outside nothings door then he lined the hole with knives and broken bottles and covered nothing steps in aqua juice so they were so slippery no one could stand on them well that escalated real quick finally when night came a Nancy called out to nothing to come out and see his old friend but as soon as Nothings foot touched the first step he slipped and fell into the deadly pit his cries woke the household and they ran out with torches ablaze but it was too late his wife was so filled with sorrow she knew that she alone could not bear the grief so she boiled all the yams the servants could bring made tiny cakes of them and brought them around to all of the houses and to every child she met she gave one of these cakes and asked that the child might help cry for her husband and that's why often to this day if you see an upset child and ask them what they're crying about they very well may tell you it's nothing [Music] legendary thanks to patron Kyle Murgatroyd [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music]

Channel: undefined

Views: 435,715

Rating: 4.9587369 out of 5

Keywords: documentary, extra credits, extra credits mythology, extra mythology, james portnow, joe maslov, matt krol, video essay, mythology, african mythology, africa, anansi the spider, anansi stories, anansi the spider folktales, kids, spider, trickster, folktale, anansi (deity)

Id: G0dsjv9c5MU

Length: 8min 40sec (520 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 07 2019