On the great plains of Africa lived two farmers. Their names were Anansi, the Spider-Man, and his son, Sin. Every year they had rich harvests of grain, but one year after the seed had been sown, no rain fell for more than a month. The ground dried up and cracked under the hot sun, and it seemed the seeds would never grow. Each day, Sin looked at the bare, dusty ground and grew full of despair, for if the crops did not grow, his family would surely starve. One day, he saw a small, hunchbacked dwarf sitting at the edge of his fields. "'What makes you so sad?' asked the dwarf. "'If there is no rain, there will be no crops,' replied Sin sadly. "'And if there are no crops, we will all starve.' "'I will help you,' said the dwarf. "'Just take two small sticks and tap me lightly on the back.' Sin did as he was asked, while the dwarf sang, "'Oh, water go up, up, rain come down, down!' And to Sin's amazement, it began to rain immediately. Down came the raining torrents until all his land was soaked. His seedlings soon sprouted through the ground. Now Sin's father, Anansi, heard how well his son's crops were growing, but his fields were still dry and bare, and he became determined to know his son's secret. "'How is it that your fields flourish, while mine are bare and dry?' he asked. Sin told him the story, and on hearing this, Anansi decided he had better have his crops watered in the same way. "'If my son was able to make the dwarf work with two small sticks, then I should be able to make him work twice as hard with two big ones,' he thought to himself. So he cut two huge sticks, hid them under his coat, put a miserable expression on his face, and set off to find the dwarf. After travelling some distance, he saw the dwarf coming along the road. "'What makes you look so sad?' asked the dwarf. Anansi told him, and the dwarf said, "'Take two small sticks and tap me lightly on the back, then I will make the rain come down for you.' But instead of two small sticks, Anansi took the two large sticks from under his coat, and beat the dwarf so hard he fell down dead. At the terror of his evil deed, Anansi became very frightened, for he knew that the dwarf was really the king's favourite jester. He wondered how he could place the blame onto somebody else. He dragged the dwarf to a nearby tree, and slinging him over his shoulder, climbed to the top, and placed him on one of the topmost branches. He then climbed down and sat under the tree and waited. Presently, Tzin came along, to see if his father had succeeded in having his crops watered. "'Did you find the dwarf?' he asked his father. "'I did,' replied Anansi, "'but he climbed the tree to pick some fruit, and I'm waiting for him to come down.' "'I'll go up and bring him down,' said Tzin, and he began climbing the tree. But as he reached the dwarf, he accidentally knocked him, and the dwarf fell down to the ground. "'Look what you've done!' cried Anansi. "'You have killed the king's jester!' Tzin at once realised his father's trick. "'That's all right,' he said quietly. "'I hear the king is very angry with the dwarf, "'and will be delighted to hear of his death. "'In fact, I hear he has offered a large reward of gold "'to whoever gets rid of him, "'so I'll take the body to the king and claim the reward.' "'Oh no, you won't, my boy!' shouted Anansi. "'I killed him, so I'll take him to the king. "'The reward is really mine!' "'So Anansi flung the dwarf's body over his shoulder "'and went with it to the palace. "'But the king was sad and full of anger "'when he saw what had happened to his jester. "'He had the body put into a strong wooden box, "'which Anansi was condemned to carry on his head forever. "'As the king was a magician, he cast a spell on the box "'so that it could only be removed from Anansi "'if he could find someone who was willing to carry it for him. "'Of course no one would do this.' "'Anansi was worn out by his heavy burden. "'Then one day he met an ant. "'Ant!' he said. "'Will you please carry this box for me "'while I go to the market to buy goods I need urgently?' "'But the ant said, "'I know your tricks, Anansi. "'You want to pass your burden on to me.' "'No, no!' cried Anansi. "'I promise I'll be back for it.' "'The ant, who was such an honest fellow, "'always keeping his own promises, believed Anansi. "'He took the box on his head "'and Anansi thanked him and hurried away. "'Needless to say, Anansi had no intention of keeping his word. "'The ant waited and waited, "'and he waited in vain for Anansi's return. "'As he didn't return, "'the ant had to carry the box on his head for the rest of his life. "'And that's why we often see ants "'carrying bundles as big as themselves.'"