“Oh! brother Lion, I am so glad you have come; never mind what tale I have told you, but come and sit down—­it was only my fun.”

So Lion sat down and began to eat; but before Ananzi had eaten two fish, Lion had emptied one of the sacks.  Then said Ananzi to himself: 

“Greedy fellow, eating up all my fish.”

“What do you say, sir?”

“I only said you do not eat half fast enough,” for he was afraid the Lion would eat him up.

Then they went on eating, but Ananzi wanted to revenge himself, and he said to the Lion, “Which of us do you think is the stronger?”

The Lion said, “Why, I am, of course.”

Then Ananzi said, “We will tie one another to the tree, and we shall see which is the stronger.”

Now they agreed that the Lion should tie Ananzi first, and he tied him with some very fine string, and did not tie him tight.  Ananzi twisted himself about two or three times, and the string broke.

Then it was Ananzi’s turn to tie the Lion, and he took some very strong cord.  The Lion said, “You must not tie me tight, for I did not tie you tight.”  And Ananzi said, “Oh! no, to be sure, I will not.”  But he tied him as tight as ever he could, and then told him to try and get loose.

The Lion tried and tried in vain—­he could not get loose.  Then Ananzi thought, now is my chance; so he got a big stick and beat him, and then went away and left him, for he was afraid to loose him lest he should kill him.

Now there was a woman called Miss Nancy, who was going out one morning to get some “callalou” (spinach) in the wood, and as she was going she heard some one say, “Good morning, Miss Nancy!” She could not tell who spoke to her, but she looked where the voice came from, and saw the Lion tied to the tree.

“Good morning, Mr. Lion, what are you doing there?”

He said, “It is all that fellow Ananzi who has tied me to the tree, but will you loose me?”

But she said, “No, for I am afraid, if I do, you will kill me.”  But he gave her his word he would not; still she could not trust him; but he begged her again and again, and said: 

“Well, if I do try to eat you, I hope all the trees will cry out shame upon me.”

So at last she consented; but she had no sooner loosed him, than he came up to her to eat her, for he had been so many days without food that he was quite ravenous, but the trees immediately cried out, “Shame,” and so he could not eat her.  Then she went away as fast as she could, and the Lion found his way home.

When Lion got home he told his wife and children all that happened to him, and how Miss Nancy had saved his life, so they said they would have a great dinner, and ask Miss Nancy.  Now when Ananzi heard of it, he wanted to go to the dinner, so he went to Miss Nancy, and said she must take him with her as her child, but she said, “No.”  Then he said, “I can turn myself into quite a little