# How Ananse Escaped Tiger's Water-Gourd

Tiger was hotly pursuing Ananse when the clever spider made a desperate choice—hiding inside Tiger's own water-gourd. Unaware of Ananse's hiding place, Tiger grew frustrated at losing track of his prey. When Tiger picked up the gourd to fetch water, Ananse faced a deadly predicament: he would drown if Tiger filled the gourd with water. Thinking quickly, Ananse created an echoing voice from inside the gourd, repeatedly announcing, "Tiger's mother is dead-dead-DEAD!" At first, Tiger merely listened curiously, but as Ananse increased the urgency and volume of his proclamation, the worried Tiger dropped the gourd and raced to his mother's house to verify this alarming news. Finding his mother perfectly alive and well, Tiger realised he had been tricked, but by then it was too late—Ananse had already escaped from the abandoned water-gourd, using Tiger's familial concern against him.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

https://mythopia.io/story/153/ananse-in-the-gourd

# How Ananse Escaped Tiger's Tar Trap

Tiger, tired of someone stealing his peanuts, created an ingenious trap by covering a stump with tar and placing a hat on it. When Ananse came to steal peanuts, he encountered what appeared to be a silent figure. Irritated by the "person's" lack of response to his greeting, Ananse grabbed the stump with one hand, which immediately became stuck in the tar. He then used his other hand to free himself, but it also became trapped. Growing more frustrated, Ananse butted the stump with his head and kicked it with his feet, resulting in his complete entrapment.

Tiger arrived, laughing triumphantly at capturing the thief, and declared he would burn Ananse as punishment. After Tiger pulled him free from the tar, the quick-thinking spider suggested that Tiger should jump over the fire first for good luck. As the gullible Tiger jumped, Ananse pushed him into the flames, killing him. With his enemy eliminated, Ananse freely took all the peanuts, once again using his cunning to escape punishment and profit from his misdeeds.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

https://mythopia.io/story/152/ananse-and-the-tar-stump

# How Leopard Got Even with Ananse

While hunting Mr. Man's pigs together, Leopard did all the work with his accurate shooting. Ananse, though missing every shot, still demanded half the meat for himself. Frustrated by this unfair arrangement, Leopard devised a clever trick. He suddenly warned that the pigs' owner was approaching, causing them both to hide. From their hiding place, Leopard created whip-cracking sounds and then imitated Mr. Man's voice, demanding to know who had shot his pigs. The frightened Ananse quickly betrayed his partner, shouting "Leopard shot the pigs!" When Leopard made another whip sound, the panicking Ananse further incriminated himself by adding, "Not me, Mister Man! I can't shoot! Leopard shot those pigs." This admission that he couldn't shoot contradicted his earlier claims that entitled him to half the meat. Leopard revealed the deception with laughter and took all the meat home, leaving the dishonest Ananse with nothing—a rare instance where the spider's trickery failed and justice prevailed.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

https://mythopia.io/story/102/african-folktale-the-hunter-becomes-the-hunted-west-african-trickster-tales