Anansi and the Stubborn Drum

Anansi and the Stubborn Drum

In a small village near the forest, Anansi liked good meals, cool shade, and easy talk. He did not like hard work. When other people went to the farms at sunrise, Anansi often stood at the edge of the road and said, "The sun is too hot today. I will work tomorrow." When fishermen pulled their nets from the river, he smiled and said, "Fish taste best when another person catches them." Still, Anansi was clever. He always found a little food here and a little food there, so he never felt the full weight of his lazy ways. Then one year the village had a hard season. The yams were small. The plantains were thin. Even the children stopped singing on the way home because their bellies were empty. Anansi opened his cooking pot and saw only one lonely bean at the bottom. He stared at it for a long time. "One bean cannot sing in a pot by itself," he said. At last he knew he must go looking for help, because clever words were not filling his stomach anymore.

A Gift on the Forest Road

Anansi walked down the forest road until the trees grew thick and cool. There he saw an old woman trying to lift a bundle of firewood onto her head. Anansi thought first about walking past her. Then he thought about his empty pot at home. So he smiled his widest smile and said, "Grandmother, let me help you. My hands are strong when they choose to be." The old woman laughed softly, as if she had heard many things about Anansi before. She let him carry the firewood to her hut. He swept her yard, brought water from the stream, and fixed a broken stool. By evening his back hurt and his feet ached, but the old woman gave him a bowl of rich stew. Anansi ate so fast that tears came to his eyes. Before he left, the woman brought out a small carved drum. "This is a magic drum," she said. "Tap it gently and sing with a thankful heart. It will give food when food is truly needed. But listen well, Anansi. It is not a servant for greed, and it does not love rude hands." Anansi nodded quickly. He heard the words, but he did not hold them inside for very long.

Good Days in the Village

When Anansi reached home, he set the drum in the middle of his hut. He tapped it once and sang, "Little drum, little drum, my bowl is bare. If you have kindness, send a meal to share." At once the drum gave a warm sound like rain on leaves. A bowl of rice appeared. Then beans. Then roasted fish. Anansi danced around the room until his sandals flew off. The next morning he tapped the drum again, and this time he called his neighbors. Soon old people, mothers, and children sat outside his hut, eating sweet yams and groundnut soup. The whole village praised him. "See how generous Anansi is!" they said. Anansi liked those words very much. He began to stand taller. He told the story of the drum again and again, always making himself sound a little wiser and a little more important. For some days, the drum truly helped everyone. If a child was sick, soup appeared. If a worker came home late, hot food arrived. The village felt hope again. Even Anansi did a few small chores, because he wanted to look like a man who deserved such a gift.

When Cleverness Turned Lazy

But easy food can make a weak habit grow strong. After a short time, Anansi stopped going to the farm completely. "Why bend over the soil," he said, "when music can cook better than the earth?" He slept late. He left his yard unswept. He let his roof leak. If a friend asked him for help carrying wood, he waved one hand and answered, "I am busy with important drum matters." Worse still, Anansi changed the way he spoke to the drum. He no longer sang with thanks. He slapped it hard and shouted, "Drum, bring meat! Drum, bring cakes! Drum, fill my hut from wall to wall!" At first food still came, but it was strange. One day he asked for smoked fish and got three tiny dried minnows. Another day he demanded yam porridge and received a heap of raw yams with dirt still on them. When he shouted for honey cakes, the drum gave him plain flour and a very disappointed silence. Anansi grew angry. He beat the drum harder. The drum answered with one dull sound and nothing more. It sat on the floor like a goat that refuses to move. The famous magic drum had become a stubborn drum.

The Drum Teaches Back

That evening the village gathered for a festival, but Anansi had no food to bring. Ashamed, he carried the silent drum to the old woman's hut in the forest. She listened while he complained. When he finished, she asked, "Did the drum fail you, or did you fail the drum?" Anansi looked down at his dusty feet. He remembered the good meals, the happy children, and the first careful song he had sung. He also remembered the days he had done nothing while others worked. The old woman touched the drum and said, "Magic can open a door, but it cannot walk through life for you. This drum was given to help need, not to feed laziness. Work with your people. Share with respect. Then the drum may choose to sing again." So Anansi went home and changed his ways, at least more than before. He repaired his roof. He planted beans. He helped at harvest time. On days of sickness, weddings, or real hunger, he tapped the drum gently and asked with thanks. Then good food came once more. People still laughed and said Anansi was clever, but now they added another line: "Yes, clever, but only after a stubborn drum taught him sense." And Anansi never argued with that, because he knew it was true.