Because there was a famine in the land, the spider and his family grew thinner and thinner and hungrier and hungrier. In his desperation, the spider said to his wife: “Here we are, starving, while the elephant and hippo have stored away much grain for these lean times. The big ones have, the little ones have not, but tomorrow we shall have our share.”

At sunrise, the spider spoke with the elephant: “Great land animal, king wherever you walk on the earth, I come to you as a messenger from the hippo. The King of the Water requests you to deliver one hundred baskets of grain to the river’s edge, in exchange for which he will give you a fine horse when the harvest comes again. But none of the lower animals must hear of this transaction which is a matter only for kings. This evening when the sun goes down, may it please your majesty?”

That evening the young elephants deposited one hundred bags of grain on the riverbank. The spider thanked them and said he would tell the hippo to collect them, but no sooner had the elephants tramped off into the bush than his own family swarmed onto the riverbank to carry the grain home with them. That night the spider family and all their relatives and friends ate until their bodies were bulging, but the spider
was still not content.

With the morning sun bounding into the African sky, he appeared on the riverbank to address the hippo: “Great water animal, king wherever you go in the river, I come to you as a messenger from the elephant. The King of the Land has much grain but needs fish to make soup, so he requests you to deliver one hundred baskets of fish to the river’s edge, in return for which he will give you a fine horse when the harvest comes again.  But none of the lower animals must hear of the transaction which is a matter only for kings. This evening when the sun is going down, may it please your majesty?”

That evening the young hippos placed one hundred baskets of fish on the riverbank, and as soon as they had splashed back into the river, the bubbles breaking on the surface above their heads, hordes of spiders scuttled down to the water’s edge to drag the fish away.

Again, there was a night of carousing and guzzling, and shortly before the sun came up the spider addressed his family and friends: “Listen – he said -, for two nights we have driven our hunger away, and there is enough left over for many nights to come. But the famine will not last forever, and one day we shall be called upon to pay for all this lovely food. So, I must ask you to plait a long thick rope, as thick as a cobra and as long as from here to Bajimso. And here is my plan.”

When he had told them, they rolled about laughing, and small groups of them danced like tiny dervishes in their glee.The rains came, the fields waved with grain, and the famine was only a memory, when the elephant sent for the spider and demanded his fine horse.

The spider said he would talk with the hippo and return the day after the next. The spider’s family and friends helped him drag the long rope to a very thick baobab tree.

Tying one end securely around the tree, he pulled the other end through the jungle and handed it to the elephant. “Here is a rope, King of the Land. Tomorrow the King of the Water will tie the horse – which is still wild and untamed – to the other end of the rope; in the meanwhile, you must attach your end to a strong tree. At dawn, when the tree shakes, let all young elephants pull for all they are worth so that the horse
will be brought to you.”

Then he went to the hippo, saying that the elephant had kept his promise of a gift of a fine horse, but as a spider’s strength was not sufficient to pull a horse, especially such a wild and untamed one, he had fastened the rope to a baobab tree. “At dawn, let your young hippos unfasten the rope and pull for all they are worth so that the horse will be brought to you.”

When the elephants saw the branches of the tree shaking in the dawn and the leaves dancing, they untied the rope and pulled with all their combined strength. But the hippos were pulling with all theirs, and neither side moved backward or forwards while the sun rose in the morning and set at the end of the day, and elephants and hippos lay down utterly exhausted and slept where they fell.

On the next day, they tried again, with as little success. “Tie the rope to a tree,” said the elephant, and far away the hippo said the same.

The next morning the elephant and the hippo met halfway, each one nearly bursting with rage. “I’ve come to ask you what kind of a horse it is that can keep my young hippos pulling and straining in vain for two whole days,” bellowed the hippo.

As the elephant protested, the spider said, “If I hear again that you are looking for me, you will share the fate of the unfortunate antelope who was misguided enough to argue with me.”

“That’s exactly what I’ve come to see you about,” replied the angry elephant. When they realized that they had been engaged in a fruitless and exhausting tug-of-war, that there was no horse, and that the crafty spider had tricked each of them in turn, they vowed to catch and punish the tiny rogue. But the spider went into hiding, afraid to show himself, growing thin and weak until he had to emerge – or die of hunger.

Staggering along, looking for food, he found an antelope hide, complete with hoofs and head, and crawled under it just as the elephant crashed through the trees and lumbered into the clearing. His cunning brain working swiftly, he asked, “0 mighty elephant, are you looking for the spider? Look what he has done to me, until recently an antelope in my prime. We argued, and look what he has done to me.”

The elephant cried, “Do you mean to say that the spider made you so frail? But how? How?” “He pointed at me, that was all, and my health and strength drained out of me, but, please, do not mention this to anybody, for I do not want him to come again. Next time he will surely destroy me completely. Oh, the power of that tiny insect!”.

“Certainly – stammered the elephant -, on condition that you promise not to tell him that I am looking for him.” And as he turned to go, the spider came out into the open, saying, “Elephant, I believe you are seeking me.”

As the elephant protested, the spider said, “If I hear again that you are looking for me, you will share the fate of the unfortunate antelope who was misguided enough to argue with me.”

After the elephant had fled, the spider’s strength returned with some food he found, and he scurried under the antelope’s hide just as the hippo emerged snorting under the trees. “How feeble and decrepit you look, antelope. Whatever has happened to reduce you to such a state?”

“Do not mention it to anybody because I do not want to suffer still further, but I was foolish enough to involve myself in an argument with the spider. He pointed at me and I withered away. So small he is, but so powerful. But how was I to know that until I fell victim to his spell!”

“Well – said the hippo in alarm -, there is no need to mention that I am looking for him, or should I say was looking for him. That will be our little secret, antelope, and I hope your recovery will be swift and complete.”

He turned to go, and the spider came out, saying, “Hippo, it is said in the forest that you are looking for me. Well, here I am!”

“Rumours, my dear fellow, rumours, unfounded at that – blurted the hippo -. What have you ever done to me, eh, that I should be seeking you? No, dear little friend, I am not looking for you, just out for a quiet stroll. But now I must get back to my family. Goodbye, spider!”

And the spider laughed to hear the hippo blundering into trees in his panic, and finally hurling himself into the river with a splash that could be heard as far away as Bajimso. (Illustration: Pixabay)

 Folktale from Hausa People, Nigeria