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Trickster Tale

Ananse's Failed Plot: How Cunning-More-Than-Father Outwitted His Father and the Hyena

1 min read

About this folktale

Ananse's Failed Plot: How Cunning-More-Than-Father Outwitted His Father and the Hyena is published on Mythopia by Konlan Mikpekoah. The narrative connects to themes and tags including Ghanaian Tales, Ananse, African Stories. 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 Failed Plot: How Cunning-More-Than-Father Outwitted His Father and the Hyena

Ananse hated his son Cunning-More-Than-Father and wanted to kill him.

While Ananse plotted with Hyena,

Cunning-More-Than-Father pretended to be asleep under the table,

but he was listening.

"Help me kill him!" Ananse said to Hyena.

"I'll hide in the pepper-plant," Hyena said. "Send your son there."

At suppertime, Ananse said, "Son, go pick peppers from the pepper-plant!"

But Cunning-More-Than-Father took a stick from the fire and poked the pepper-plant.

The fire-stick burned Hyena's face! Hyena screamed and ran away.

Cunning-More-Than-Father then told Ananse,

"The pepper-plant screamed,

so I didn't pick any peppers."

Ananse had to eat supper without any peppers.

THE END...