The Curious Queen-Bee: How Ananse's Trick Won Him the Stories - A West African Tale

"All the stories will be yours if you bring me bees in a gourd,"

Hyena told Ananse.

Ananse took a gourd and went into the woods, muttering.

Queen-Bee asked, "What's wrong, Ananse?"

"I made a bet with Hyena about how many bees this gourd can hold,"

said Ananse. "But I don't know the answer."

"I don't know either!" said Queen-Bee.

"Let's find out. You can count us!"

Then the bees followed their queen,

buzz-buzz-buzzing into Ananse's gourd.

When the gourd was full,

Ananse plugged the hole and took the gourd to Hyena.

"Now all the stories are mine!" Ananse shouted.