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Trickster Tale

Ananse's Yam-Foofoo Trick: How His Clever Son Discovered the Secret Nam

1 min read

About this folktale

Ananse's Yam-Foofoo Trick: How His Clever Son Discovered the Secret Nam is published on Mythopia by Konlan Mikpekoah. The narrative connects to themes and tags including African Tales, Ghanaian Tales, Ananse. Even shorter folktales carry moral and cultural weight: readers often compare how the lesson applies today, and how the same motif appears across regions. If you know another version from your family or community, Mythopia welcomes a respectful retelling so audiences can compare tone, detail, and local wisdom alongside this text.

African folktale illustration – Ananse's Yam-Foofoo Trick: How His Clever Son Discovered the Secret Nam

Ananse planted a special yam named yam-foofoo,

and it grew big!

He took some home and cooked it.

"Tell me this yam's name,"

Ananse said. "Otherwise, you don't eat."

Nobody knew the yam's name,

so Ananse ate the whole yam.

Next day, Ananse's youngest son,

Cunning-More-Than-Father,

mashed some okra and spread it on the ground.

Then he hid and watched.

Coming home,

Ananse slipped on the okra and fell.

"Oh! I dropped my yam-foofoo!" he shouted.

Cunning-More-Than-Father ran home and told everybody.

When Ananse cooked the yam,

his wife and children said,

"Give us yam-foofoo!" and Ananse had to share.

THE END...