Anansi Borrows
Money
By Ervin Beck, professor
of English
Professor
of English Ervin Beck spent much of his four trips to Belize collecting folktales.
Beck spent the 1975-1976 school year leading GC’s Study-Service Term program
in Belize and was a Fulbright scholar at the University College of Belize in
1991.
Beck left copies of many of his collected
tales at a library in Belize City, where editor Tim Hagerty found them and used
five in If Di Pin Neva Ben, a collection of Belizean tales. “Anansi Borrows
Money,” a story about the renowned trickster spider, contains dialogue
written in Belizean Creole English. In the story, Anansi borrows money from
five friends, promising to pay them back the next morning; the payback, however,
is nothing like the friends expected.
Bra
Anansi was one of the trickiest guys around. He and Mrs. Anansi had just gotten
married and Mrs. Anansi got pregnant. When it came time for her to deliver, Anansi
didn’t have enough money to pay the midwife. He only needed five dollars
to pay her, so he decided to borrow it from his friends. So he went out looking
for his friends, and the first one he ran into was Bra Fowl Cock.
“Braa Fowl Kak,” he said, “Ah
eena wahn lee trobl ya.”
“Weh hapm tu yu, Anasi?”
“Braa Fowl Kak, mi wife wahn gi bert timaaro,
an Ah mos geh wahn five dallar. Aall Ah need frahn yu da wandalla, and timaaro
maanin ate a klak yu kuh kohn rite da mi hous an kalek yu dalla.”
Bra Fowl Cock said, “Luk ya, Braa Anasi,
Ah noh mek fun, yu noa. Tingz haad wid mi. Bot kaaz yu eena trobl an diffikolt
pozishan, Ah wahn len yu dis dalla, but by ate a klak timaaro Ah waahn mi dalla
bak.”
Bra Anansi responded, “Dat safe, man.”
So he lent him the dollar.
[Anansi next meets Bra Fox, then Bra Dog. He
borrows a dollar from each of them and tells them to collect the next morning
at 9 o’clock and 10 o’clock, respectively.]
The next one he ran into was Bra Tiger. He could
tell Bra Tiger was hungry because he was hunting, so he jumped up in a tree.
“Braa Taiga, fi pay di midwife weh wahn
atten tu mi wife timaaro, len mi di dalla, noh man?”
“Well mek Ah tell yu sohnting,” Bra
Tiger said. “If Ah no geh mi mony bak timaaro, da hell bitween mee an yu.
Ah wahn eat yu.”
“Man, ilebm a klak yu koh kohn rite da
mi doa, an yu wahn fine yu dalla rite da mi taybl.”
So Bra Tiger lent him the dollar. Anansi hadn’t
gone very far when he heard the brush cracking in the bush. He looked around and
saw a hunter with his gun on his shoulder. He called out to Bra Hunter and said,
“Aay, Braa Honta Man.”
“Aay, Anasi, weh yu di du out ya eena dis
dark?”
“Well, yu noe, tingz stan bad, man. Ah
di hont, an Ah kyaahn fine notn at aal.” Then Anansi tells him a lie, “Mek
Ah tell yu sohnting, man. Ah meet wahn drove a pikayri jos bout a mile aweyh.
Bot bifoe yu go aata dehn, man, len mi wahn dalla, noh man? Ah need wahn dalla
bad, bad, bad.”
“Luk ya, Braa Anasi, Ah di out aal nite
di luk fi britl fi mi pikni dehn, an da mi laas dalla Ah gat eena mi shatbeg.
Ah kyaan affoad fu len yu dat dalla tunite.”
“But, man, anda dehya kandishan, man, only
wahn dalla Ah need. An noh moe if mi wife noh ded rite now.”
Anansi explained the whole story again and told
the hunter he must have the dollar.
So the hunter said, “Aal rite, Ah wahn
len yu di dalla, bot timaaro twelv a’klak Ah whan deh rite da yu hous mi
me dalla bak.”
Anansi said, “Shore, man. Kohn, you wahn
get ahn.”
Well, if you noticed, Anansi arranged it so
that there was an hour between the time each person was supposed to collect. Now
that he had the five dollars, what do you think he did? He went and bought a bottle
of rum for one dollar. With the four dollars he had left, he went to pay the midwife.
She accepted the four dollars because Anansi promised he would pay her the other
dollar later.
The next day
Mrs. Anansi gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. Anansi took a big drink and said,
“Aay! Ah feel gud. Ah feel like man now.”
At eight o’clock on the dot the first of
the creditors arrived. It was Bra Fowl Cock. When Anansi heard the knock he said,
“Hu dat?”
“Da mee, Braa Fowl Kak. Ah kohn fi me dalla.”
Anansi said, “Wayt, Braa Fowl Kak. Ah wahn
get yu dalla rite now bot kohn eenside, man. Kohn eenside, man. Ah gat wahn bounsin
bwai, man. Yu mos tek wahn jrink wid mi, man.”
Bra Fowl Cock answered, “Luk ya, Anasi,
mee da man no jrink, yu noe?”
“Ah noe yu noh jrink, bot tek wahn lee
shat, man.”
So Bra Fowl Cock sat down and they talked and
talked and talked. Then they heard another rap on the door. Who do you think it
was? Bra Fox. Well, you know that the fox and the fowl don’t get along. So
Bra Fowl Cock ran and hid under the bed.
When Bra Fox came in the door, Anansi gestured
to him and said, “Braa Fowl Kak anda di bed.” Bra Fox smelled around
and the next thing you could hear was Bra Fowl Cock screaming as Bra Fox killed
him and ate him.
“Well, Braa Anasi, yu da wahn gud fren
fi true. If ah neva waak, luk how ah geh mi britl, aay? Soh eazy, bot Ah still
waahn mi dalla, yu noh?”
Anansi said, “Shore man, bot bifore yu
go, man, tek wahn jrink. Kaaz Ah di selibrate tideh man.”
As they were talking, they heard another knock
on the door. So Anansi opened the door and saw Bra Dog. He made a sign for Bra
Fox to hide under the table. So Bra Fox ran and hid under the table. He wrapped
his tail around himself. As soon as Bra Dog came in the door, he smelled bra Fox.
He ran under the table and bit him. Then he killed him and ate him.
“Braa Anasi,” he said, “yu da
gud fren fi true. Ah geh free meat ya tideh, agen.”
“Bot Braa Daag, tek wahn jrink, man. Yes,
tek wahn jrink an den yu wahn get yu dalla.”
While they were drinking they heard another
knock on the door. It was Bra Tiger. Anansi told Bra Tiger that Bra Dog was in
the house. Bra Tiger rushed under the bed where Bra Dog was hiding. He killed
him and ate him. After he finished eating him, he said, “Aay, now Ah feel
like man. Ah di tek wahn jrink wid yu now fi true.”
As they were drinking and talking, they heard
another knock on the door. It was Bra Hunter Man and he had his gun with him.
Anansi said, “Braa Honta Man, luk da loft, man. Braa Taiga op da loft.”
He shoved the cartridge into the gun and shot.
Bam! Bra Tiger fell to the ground. Bra Hunter Man said, “Aay! Dis da livin,
fi true, kaaz di skin alone wot wahn honjrid dalla frahn dehn Amerikan. An mek
Ah tell yu sohnting. Dehn waahn dehnya ya kine a skin. Da di lepad taiga. Da di
kine ih waahn – di kalad wahn dehn.”
So all Anasi paid was one dollar to the Hunter
Man. This shows that Anansi is a tricky man. Don’t ever trust him.
If di pin neva ben, di stoay noh mi wahn en.
From the Beck collection,
Vol. I. Narrated by Ed Casasola from Belize City, 1978. Excerpted from If
Di Pin Neva Ben, edited by Tim Hagerty and Mary Parham, Cubola Productions,
2000. Available at amazon.com.
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contents
About this Issue – A Goshen
College book club?
In Praise of Faculty
Salsa: A Taste of Hispanic Culture
Coffee Break
Night's Black Weight
Berman's Lament
Sexuality: God's Gift
Roll It: GC Alums strike success
in soap box racing and celluloid
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