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Ananse and the Pot of Wisdom
A Tale From Ghana West Africa
Long ago, people knew very little. They knew nothing about farming, tools, or how to weave cloths. Nyame, the God of heaven had all the wisdom. He kept all the wisdom stored up in a clay pot. One day Nyame gave Ananse the spider a special gift; the pot, with all the wisdom in it.
Ananse was excited. Every time he looked in the clay pot, he learned something new. Greedily, he decided to keep the pot away from the world. He did not want to share with anyone else. He tied a rope around his waist so he would be able to climb a tree. Also, he tied the rope around the pot of wisdom and it hung down in front of him. He began to climb the tree.
Ananse tried tying the clay pot full of wisdom to his back, and it really was a lot easier. In no time he reached the top of the tree. But then he stopped and thought. "I'm supposed to be the one with all the wisdom, and here this little kid was smarter than me!" Ananse was so angry about this that he threw the clay pot down out of the tree. It smashed into pieces on the ground. Of course, all the wisdom got out and flew away all over the world. That is how people learned to farm, and to make clothes, and to make iron, and all the other things that people know how to do.
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