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Trickster Tale

Ananse's Tar-Stump Trick: How the Spider Framed Goat for His Theft

1 min read

About this folktale

Ananse's Tar-Stump Trick: How the Spider Framed Goat for His Theft is published on Mythopia by Konlan Mikpekoah. The narrative connects to themes and tags including African Tales, 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 Tar-Stump Trick: How the Spider Framed Goat for His Theft

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Ananse and Tacoomah were neighbors.

During the night,

somebody was stealing Tacoomah's crops.

It was Ananse! But Tacoomah didn't know that.

Tacoomah made a tar-stump to trap the thief.

When Ananse found the tar-stump blocking his way to the field,

he got angry. "Move along!"

Ananse shouted at the tar-stump.

Tar-stump didn't move.

Ananse fought with the tar-stump and got stuck.

At dawn, Goat walked by.

"Help me fight this devil!" said Ananse.

Goat got stuck, and Ananse pushed himself loose.

Tacoomah came and found Goat. "You're the thief!" Tacoomah shouted.

Tacoomah killed Goat and shared the meat with Ananse.

THE END...