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BEING GREEDY CHOKES ANANSI From Favorite Folktales around the world by Jane Yolen. One time, Anansi lived in a country that had a queen who was also a witch. And she decreed that whoever used the word five would fall down dead, because that was her secret name, and she didn’t want anyone using it. Now, Buh Anansi was a clever fellow, and a hungry one too. Things were especially bad because there was a famine, so Anansi made a little house for himself by the side of the river near where everyone came to get water. And when anybody came to get water, he would call out to them, “I beg you to tell me how many yam hills I have here. I can’t count very well.” So, one by one he thought they would come up and say, “One, two, three, four, five,” and they would fall down dead. Then Anansi would take them and corn them in his barrel and eat them, and that way he would have lots of food in hungry times and in times of plenty.

The Jack Story from Rooster's Wife by Russell Edson. There was the Jack of the beanstalk story, and a Jack Sprat who could eat no fat. And there was Jack-in-a-box who used to spring out of a box for no reason at all. And Jack who broke his crown fetching water with a certain Jill. Not to forget little Jack Horner, or the jack who jumped over a candlestick... Theirs is a club of Jacks. https://www.instagram.com/p/CjniuMsuDWM/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

It was slow work paddling but we got going We reached deep water, but that was all right because we had both nearly learned to swim. After a while we entered the sound near Red Rock. - Sculptor's Daughter by Tove Jansson #dailydrawing #tovejansson