They say that there once was a certain woman who was so unfortunate that whenever she gave birth to a child it died. So she set out to consult one of the lessor-gods about it and to tell him that she desired a child. The lesser-god said, “I shall give you one, but as for the child, all the work he will ever do will be to get you into debt, but nevertheless, some day he will repay you.”

It was not two days, it was not three days after consulting the lessor-god, when the woman conceived. She gave birth to a child – a spider-story child it was, for it was not long in growing up. The infant grew into a comely youth. One day he was with his mother and he said, “Mother, give me gold dust that I may go to the Edge-of-the-Sea-Country and buy salt.”

The mother said, “How much do you want?”

He said, “An asuanu.” And the mother took it and gave to him, and he set out on the journey.

Now, as he was going, he met a certain man and his spotted dog. He said, “bring it that I may buy it.”

The dog’s master said, “You cannot buy it.”

The youth said, “How much is it?”

The dog’s master replied, “An asuanu’s weight of gold dust.”

The youth said, “What’s that to me! Take this asuanu.” He received the dog and brought it back home.

When he returned, his mother said, “Why did you not reach your destination?”

He replied, “I used the gold dust to buy a dog.”

His mother said, “Ho!”

Now they were living there, it would be for about one moon, when the youth said, “Mother, give me gold dust that I may go trading.”

She said, “As for you, as is your wont, you will only take the gold dust and throw it away again, but how much do you want?”

He replied, “An asuanu-and-suru’s worth of gold dust.”

She said, “Take it, then.” So he set out along the trade road.

As he was going along, he met a certain man carrying a cat. He said, “Man, bring that animal that always falls on its feet, that I may buy it.”

The man said, “When I lie down in my room, the mice gnaw my feet; for that reason I bought it.”

He said, “I beseech you, ; let me have it.”

The man said, “You cannot buy it.”

The youth asked, “How much will you take for it?”

The man then replied, “An asuanu-and-suru’s worth of gold dust.”

The boy said, “So that’s why you say I cannot buy it! Here, take it.” The boy received the cat and went off home with it.

When he reached home, he said, “Mother, look here at what I have brought.”

She replied, “Ah, that is just what they said would happen.” The child remained there at home.

It would be about forty days later when the son again addressed his mother, saying, “Give me gold dust that I may go trading.”

The mother said, “All the money I have about me is finished with the exception of an asuasa’s weight of gold dust. If I give you this, and you go, and you do not buy goods with it, that’s the end of this business.”

The boy said, “I have heard.”

The next morning, when things became visible, the youth took up his bag and was off, pa! As he was going, he met a certain Ashanti fellow who was carrying a pigeon. He said, “Friend, bring that creature of yours that I may buy it.”

The Ashanti replied, “I am not selling it, for I amuse myself with it.”

The youth said, “I shall buy it.”

The bird’s master said, “I will not sell it, for I know what it may do for me.”

The boy said, “Oh, give it to me.”

He said, “Will you be able to buy it?”

The boy said, “How much?”

He replied, “An asuasa’s weight of gold dust.”

He said, “Do you suppose because of that I would not buy it?” Here is the sum.”

The boy brought the bird home. His mother said, “This has turned out no better than before. So this is what you have brought?” He replied, “Nevertheless, this is what I have brought.”

Now one day the boy was living there at home, when the pigeon called to him, saying, “Come.” When he went up to it, the pigeon informed him, saying, “In my own village I am chief, and I was about to go on a journey when a certain fellow came and seized hold of me. Then you, out of your kindness, bought me, and now I beseech you, if you will only take me back to my town, the people will take you greatly.”

The boy said, “You are telling me lies. You will run away. “

The pigeon said, “If you can’t see your way to do as I ask, then take a string and tie it to my leg, and take me along.

The boy took a string and fastened it to the pigeon’s leg, and it followed slowly behind him until they arrived at the pigeon’s town. When they reached the outskirts of the town, the children were playing nte marbles. As soon as they saw the bird they said, “Here is the chief! Here is the chief!” one of the children ran to tell the Korenti chief, but they seized him and cut his throat, saying, “You are causing us to call to mind our late sorrow.” But another one went again with the same tidings.

And now the Akwamu chief said, “You, Gyase chief, do you yourself go and see what this is all about.”

He went and looked, and returned. He said, “Oh, it is true!” Then they got a hammock and the regalia and went to bring the chief to his house. The whole tribe was told the news – how he was setting out on a journey, and how a certain fellow had caught him, and how this youth by his kindness had bought him, and how today he had brought him home.

Elders and young people all rose up and thanked the youth. The queen mother brought a water-pot full of gold dust, and all of the elders also each gave a water-pot full of gold dust. The chief himself looked on his hand and slipped off a ring and gave it to the youth. And he said, “Take this ring, and whatever you desire this ring will give you.”

He said, “I have heard.” And he went off with the ring to his village, and he showed the gold dust and the ring to his mother.

Then the mother said, Welcome Aku, welcome Aku!”

Formerly, when the boy, having burned up his gold dust and returned from his journeys, would salute his mother, she used not to answer him. And he gave his mother the news, saying, “You have seen this gold dust and this ring; I shall go and build a great village for us to live in.”

The mother said, “Press your eyes hard; try your best to do so.”

The youth set out and went and stood in the bush. He slipped off the ring and placed it on the ground and said, “Ring, clear all this land of forest and of bush for me.” And the whole of the place became cleared. He said, “Collect all which you have cleared into heaps for burning.” And it did so. He said, “Set up houses.” And it set up many houses. He said, “Ring, let people come and inhabit these houses.” And people came.

The youth made his mother the queen mother and he became chief.

Now, Ananse, the spider, was his best friend. One day, when he was living there in his new home, Kwaku Ananse set out to come to this youth’s village. When he reached it, he said, “Oh, little mother’s child, little father’s child, you have been fortunate and successful and you don’t care any more about me or to look after me. But what has happened to bring all this about?”

Then the youth told him all the news. The spider replied, “I shall go to my village to get something and return.”

Ananse went off to his village. He said to his niece, “I shall send you to my friend yonder, and when you go you will take this white wine for him, and pay attention and do whatever he orders, and you must try secretly to lay your hands on that ring.”

The girl set out and went to the youth’s village. The youth said to her, “As for this, I shall see to it that you do not go back again, for you must stay with me three days before you return..”

The girl said, “I have heard.”

Now he and the girl were there together, and the youth went to bathe.

He slipped off the ring and placed it on a table, and the girl took it and went off with it to her uncle, Kwaku Ananse. As soon a Ananse laid his hands upon it, he made use of the ring to build a big town.

Now, the youth, when he came to look for his ring, could not find it. He came to hear that the spider had built a big town which was greater than his own. Then he went off to consult one of the lesser-gods yonder. The lesser-god told him, “Ananse’s niece who came there to you has taken your ring and gone and given it to her uncle.” The spider also went to consult the lesser-god, and it was revealed to him that Okra, the cat, and Okraman, the dog, would be sent to recover the ring. Therefore he went and got medicine with which to treat the meat he was going to place on the path, so that when the animals who were walking there took some to eat, they would be unable again to go anywhere at all.

The youth who had lost his ring came home and told the cat and the dog: “The time has now come for me to tell you the reason I bought you, and it is this: something belonging to me has been lost, and they say it is in the possession of the spider, but that it lies in a box which is in the middle of all the rest of his boxes. They say he has taken medicine and mixed it with that flesh of the sheep and placed it on the path. So when you reach there, don’t eat it but jump over it.”

The dog said, “Cat, have you heard? You are the one who will chew it.”

The cat said, “Oh, go along, you who every little while take your nose to sniff and sniff!”

Then they began to talk a lot, and their master said, “That’s all right, be off.”

The two animals set out and were going along the path. Now there remained only a short time for them to reach the place where the meat was, when the dog detected the smell of it. He said, “Cat, I have a pain in my stomach and I cannot go on.”

The cat said, “Come, come! Let us go on, the business in hand is important.”

The dog said, “Cat, I am unable.”

The cat on alone. The dog then went to where the meat was, and he chewed up the whole of the meat. There he lay! He was unable to go on any more. And the cat reached Ananse’s village, and lay down in Ananse’s sleeping -room, on the ceiling above the room. As he lay there, he saw a mouse passing. Squeak! as he landed on its head. The mouse said, “Don’t catch me, what is the matter?”

The cat replied, “My master’s ring has been lost and they say it lies in Ananse’s box, which stands in the middle of all the rest of his boxes. If you are able to go and bring it to me, then I shall let you go.”

The mouse said, “I am able.”

The cat said, “Suppose I let you go, and you go off and don’t bring it but run away?”

The mouse said, “If you wish, fasten a string around my waist.”

The cat took a string and tied it around the mouse’s waist. Then the mouse went off into the spider’s room and gnawed a hole in the box which stood in the middle of all the rest. Little by little he made an opening, and soon it become large. He passed through it to go and get the ring to take to the cat. No sooner did the cat lay his hands upon it, than he ran off and came across the dog. He was lying just where the cat had left him. The cat said, “You are still lying here! And where is that meat?”

The dog said, “Oh, I did not see what became of it. Perhaps the people to whom it belonged came and removed it. But where is this ring?” The cat said, “here it is.” The dog said, “They say that the river which lies in the path is in flood, and as you, Cat, walk on the bottom when you cross water, it might be that the ring would fall down, so give it to me, for as for me, you know, I pass on the surface of the water.”

The cat said, “That’s so; you take it.”

They reached the river, and the dog jumped in – so did the cat. At once the cat crossed over. The dog reached the centre of the stream and became tired and, as he was about to take a deep breath, the ring fell out if his mouth into the water. He crossed over and came to where the cat was.

The cat said, “Where is that ring?” He said. “It fell out of my mouth into the water.” The cat ran and entered the water; he saw a great fish passing. The cat caught it. The fish said, “What is it?”

He said, “My ring has just fallen into this river, so unless you want trouble, give me what belongs to me at once. If you don’t give it to me I shall kill you immediately.”

The fish said, “Let us go to the river bank that I may give you what belongs to you.”

The fish said, “Let us go to the river bank that I may give you what belongs to you.”

When they both reached the bank, the fish vomited and the ring came out.

The cat took it and came and showed it to the dog. The dog said, “Father, I beg of you, when you go, don’t speak about what has happened.” The cat remained silent. They reached home and the cat told his master all that had happened, saying, “Because of the meat which the dog chewed as we were going along, he became unable to go farther. And again, when I had gone and got the ring and brought it back, the dog said to me, as he crossed a river on its surface, that I must hand over the ring to him. I gave it to him, and he threw it away in the river. It was only after a little while that I laid my hands on it again.”

All the people who were present said, “You, Cat, whatever kind of food I am eating, I will see to it that I break some and place in your little dish. Whatever mat I sleep upon, I shall only lie upon it provided you lie on some of it. As for you, Dog, you will only lie on the smoldering embers of the dead fire when the chilly might comes. Only with floggings, the folk will flog you.”

That is why you will always see the cat sleeping nowhere but on the best mat; also, if you cast come food down on the ground for him, he will not eat it unless it is on a plate. But as for the dog – we shall always see him sleeping in the courtyard on the dead ashes of the day’s fire; also you will see him there being beaten, he will yelp “Kao!”

It is all because of the time when the cat and the dog were sent on this business of the ring.

[ ASHANTI }