Ananse and the Pot of Wisdom

Long long ago people didn’t know anything. They didn’t know how to plant crops, or how to weave cloth, or how to make iron tools. The god Nyame up in the sky had all the wisdom of the world. He kept it safe in a clay pot.

One day, Nyame decided that he would give the pot of wisdom to Ananse. Every time Ananse looked in the clay pot, he learned something new. It was so exciting!

Greedy Ananse thought, “I’ll keep the pot safe at the top of a tall tree. Then I can have it all to myself!” He spun a long thread, wound it round the clay pot, and tied it to his stomach. He began to climb the tree. But it was hard climbing the tree with the pot bumping him in the knees all the time.


All the time Ananse’s young son had been standing at the bottom of the tree watching. He said, “Wouldn’t it be easier to climb if you tied the pot to your back instead?” 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 my son was cleverer 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. The wisdom was free for everyone to share. And that is how people learned to farm, to weave cloth, to make iron tools, and all the other things that people know how to do.