Suriname folk-lore

5. Anąnsi nąŋga Bɔfru.

Anąnsi n' 'abi mɔni. A prakser' fa i sɑ du fō kɔ̨' na moni. Bɔfru bɛn dɛ d'rɛtɔro fō bąŋk. Anąnsi tai̯ki, ‘Mi-ɛ-go lɛn' wą' mɔni na Bɔfru.’ Di a gō, a aksi Bɔfrō ɛf' Bɔfru no ką' lɛni ɛ̨ŋ wą' mɔni. Bɔfru taki, ‘A bǭ', hɔmɛni yu wani?’ A taki ɛŋ wan' hɔndro xōldɛ. Ma Anąnsi nō taig' Bɔfro taki, ‘Tɛ m'ɛ kɔ̨' tɛk' na mɔni, mi-ɛ-go tyari wą' p'kin pagara kɔ̨' gi yu. Ma mi-ɛ-go lak ɛ̨ŋ. Dą' yu mu ɔr ɛ̨ŋ tɛ mi kɔ̨' baka fō kɔ̨' pai̯ yu. Dą' mi sɑ tɛki ɛ̨ŋ.’ Anąnsi teki karu nąŋga alei̯si nąŋga asisi, a pɔti n'ɩn' na pagara. D'a tyari g'a Bɔfro. A tek' 'a mɔni, a gi' Bɔfr' 'a pagara.

Ma nō, di a tyar' 'a moni go gi Bɔfru baka, den a tai̯g' Bɔfru taki, ‘Yu mu gi mi na pagara baka.’ Ma nō, di Bɔfro tyar' a pagara kɔm, a tai̯g' Bɔfrō taki, mɛk' Bɔfr' op' 'a pagara kant ɛ̨ŋ na tap' tafra fō teri ɛfu na san' di dɛ n' ɩn 'a pagara no mankyeri f'i. Bɔfro dɛ so dɔm, a tek' na pagara, a op' ɛ̨ŋ, a kant' a tap' tafra. Nō mō Anąnsi taki, ‘So, bɛgin fō teri, mi T'ta. Ma ɛf' a mankeri, mi n'e gi 'a mɔni baka, bika' na hɔndert xuldɛ yu bɛ̨' gi mi, na hɔndert mi mu gi yu baka. So ɛf' te yu teri den sani na ɩn' na pagara a mankeri, i n'e kɩs' 'a moni.’ Bɔfru bigɩn fō teri. A ter' na karu, nąŋga n'alei̯si,

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ma na asisi a no mąŋ f' ter' ɛ̨ŋ. Nō mō Anąnsi tai̯g' ɛ̨ŋ taki, ‘Wɛ, bai̯ya, mi no ką' yɛpi yu. So ląŋga yu no ter' hōmɛni na asisi dɛ, mi no ką' gi' 'a moni baka.’

Bɔfru nō, no mąŋ kɔ̨' ter' asisi, ɛn no wą' suma bɛ̨' ką' ter' ɛ̨ŋ tu. o Anąnsi kɔmopo nąŋga na mɔni. Ɛ̨#x014B; no pai̯ Bɔfru.

5. Outwitting Creditors: Anansi Tricks Banker Buffalo.³

Anansi had no money. He studied what he should do to come into money. Buffalo was director of the bank. Anansi said, ‘I am going to borrow some money from Buffalo.’ When he went, he asked Buffalo if he could not lend him some money. Buffalo said, ‘All right, how much do you want?’ He said he wanted a hundred guilders. But Anansi now said to Buffalo, he said, ‘When I come to take the money, I am going to bring you a little Indian basket. But, I am going to lock it. Then you must hold it until I come to pay you. Then I will take it back.’ Anansi took corn and rice and ashes, and he put them in the basket. Then he brought it to Buffalo. He took the money and gave Buffalo the basket.

But now, when he brought the money to give back to Buffalo, then he said to Buffalo, he said, ‘You must give me back my basket.’ But now when Buffalo brought the basket, he said to Buffalo, he said, let Buffalo open the basket, and turn it over on top of the table to count if what was in the basket was not short. Buffalo was so stupid that he took the basket, and opened it, and turned it over on the table. At once Anansi said, ‘So, begin to count, Father. But, if it is short, I won't give the money back to you, because you gave me a hundred guilders, and I must give you

3 Told by 1. Compare, for Nigeria (Yoruba), Frobenius 313-314, No. 54.

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back a hundred. And so if when yon count, the things in the basket are short, you won't get the money.’ Buffalo began to count. He counted the corn, and the rice, but the ashes he could not count. At once Anansi said to him, he said, ‘Well, brother, I cannot help you. As long as you do not count how many ashes there are, I cannot give you back the money.’

Now Buffalo could not count ashes, and no one else can count them, either. So Anansi came away with the money. He did not pay Buffalo.