Anansi and the Pot of Wisdom

The clever spider Anansi decided one day that he would gather up all the wisdom in the whole world and keep it for himself.

So he took a big clay pot and went walking. Every good idea he found, he dropped it in. Every clever trick, every wise word the old people knew - all of it went into the pot, until it was full to the brim.

“Now,” said Anansi, “I will hide this where nobody can reach it.” He set off for the very top of the tallest tree in the forest.

He tied the heavy pot to the front of his belly with a length of vine and began to climb. But the pot kept bumping the trunk and getting in his way. He slipped. He tried again. He slipped again.

Down below, his small son Ntikuma had been watching. At last the boy called up, “Father, why don’t you tie the pot on your back? Then you could hug the tree and climb easy.”

Anansi stopped. It was such a simple, sensible thing - and he, with a whole pot of the world’s wisdom strapped to him, had not thought of it. His own small child had.

He was so vexed that the pot slipped right out of his hands. It fell, hit the ground, and smashed to pieces. All the wisdom inside flew up and scattered on the wind, blowing into every corner of the world.

And that is why, to this day, no single person holds all the wisdom. A little piece blew everywhere - so everybody has some, even the smallest child.