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Time: Performing
each of these stories will take 15 to 25 minutes
For young
children Rudi will sing songs and play his guitar as part
of the perfomance, and will invite the children to partake
as actors playing the story.
Anansi borrows
money from Mr. Cockroach, Sister Chicken, Brother Fox, Tiger
and Hunter. He arranges for them to come in that same order
to get back their money. He causes Chicken to eat Cockroach,
Fox to eat Chicken, Tiger to eat Fox, and Hunter to shoot
Tiger. In the end Anansi is free of debts and even succeeds
to get some money by blackmailing Hunter.
Anansi throws
a bet with all the other creatures in the forest that he will
use King Tiger as his horse and ride him through the woods.
Knowing Tiger's pride and bad temper, they raised high bets
against Anansi's plan. By staging a dramatic act with two
rotten eggs, he makes King Tiger believe that he's severely
ill. Thus he succeeds in getting a ride on Tiger's back to
go see the dentist and wins his bets.
In order to
marry the wealthy Princess Wrinckleface, Anansi has to pass
the test of eating a bowl full of the hottest peppers without
showing any signs of discomfort. By faking all the signs of
severe pepper burning as the natural behavior of his kind,
Anansi passes the test.
Anansi visits
the Rats, while carrying in a basket on his back, the best
singer of the forest and his friend Brother Cat. Reassuring
the Rats, Anansi explains that their natural enemy recently
had a severe burning accident. Cat showes his his leggs in
bandages and starts singing while Anansi plays his guitar.
The Rats adore good music, and soon they forget their fears
and join the swinging party that is going on. In the climax
of the feast, Brother Cat suddenly takes off his bandages
and kills many Rats before they understand what is happening.
And so Anansi and Cat had enough food for a while.
Anansi, on his
nightly predatory expedition in King Tiger's garden, gets
caught in a trap. Stuck onto the glue-doll His Majesty had
placed on the path, Anansi gets helped by Grandma Cricket.
But while helping Anansi, she gets glued to the doll and is
left behind helpless by Anansi.......
In search of
food, Anansi came at a hut, in front of which there was a
smoking grill full of freshly smoked meats. At the door sat
a person clad in a cape, so that his face was quite hidden.
Anansi politely asks for some food, but getting no answer
simply serves himself a good meal and then takes some home
for his family. After some more visites Anansi takes his eldest
daughter there and leaves her with the old man to help him
in housekeeping. Now being a relative, he had the right to
share the old man's food. When on the next visit he found
pieces of his daughter on the smoke table, he beat up the
old man, who then revealed himself as Death and angrily chased
Anansi all the way to where the Humans live....
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Anansi
Rides on Tiger's Back
