The Spider and The String

Kids are often credited with being the most imaginative beings on the planet, but I've learned that parents can be just as creative as well. For centuries and possibly millennia, parents have made up bedtime stories to not only send kids off to dreamland, but also to teach them valuable lessons. During the early 2000s, my mom was one of those parents who filled my childhood head with stories and sparked my love for storytelling.

Being from west Africa, my mom grew up learning stories that had no known author. They were simply passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. The stories often contained talking animals and ended with a life lesson and one of the recurring characters was Spider. Spider was (you guessed it) a spider and no matter what story he was in, I always knew that I was not supposed to be like him.

"Do you know the reason Spider's waist is so small?" my mom asked me one night after I had spent the day complaining about having to share my snacks with my cousins, even though I had more than I needed.

"No ma'am," I said.

She started the story with a "once upon time" to which I always responded "time" as was practiced in Liberian culture to make the story more interactive.

"Once upon a time, Spider was walking home when he saw his friend, Chimpanzee. Chimp greeted Spider and told him that he was having a party.

'What kind of food will be there?' Spider asked.

'All kinds of food,' Chimp replied, listing of rice and various stews.

Only being concerned about the food, Spider agreed to go to Chimp's party but only when the food was ready.

'Here' Spider said, tying a string around his waist and handing one end to Chimp, 'when the food is ready, just pull this string and I'll know to come.'

Chimp agreed and went off to finish preparing the food for his party.

As Spider continued his walk home, he saw his friend Baboon. Baboon greeted Spider and called him over.

'I'm having a party today,' Baboon told him. 'Will you come?'

'What kind of food will be there?' Spider asked.

Just like Chimp, Baboon listed off all kinds of foods that made Spider's mouth water. Although the food at Chimp's party would be more than enough for Spider, he was greedy, so he agreed to go to Baboon's party as well but only when the food was ready. And so he gave the other end of the string to Baboon and told him to pull it when the food was ready so that he would know when to come.

Baboon agreed and went off to finish cooking for his party.

When Spider got home, he was dreaming of all the good food he was going to eat that day. Soon after, he felt a tug on the string from the direction of Chimp's house. Then he felt a tug on the string from the opposite direction, where Baboon lived. Both Chimp and Baboon continued to pull on the string until they squeezed Spider's waist so small that he could not possibly eat all of the food they made for him. And to this day, that is why Spider has the smallest waist of all creatures."

My mom finished the story by asking me what I thought the lesson was.

I thought for awhile and responded "don't be greedy?"

"Exactly," she said, "or you might end up like Spider."

Even as a young child, I knew that wasn't the real reason why spiders are so small, but it didn't matter. The story stuck with me and so did the lesson. Although I didn't automatically decide to share more with my cousins, I couldn't help but think of Spider whenever my selfish or greedy instincts kicked in.

Now as an adult, I've heard the story of Spider and his greedy ways more times than I can count. With my nieces and nephews growing up, the story has taken new forms as it's been retold by my mother in her older age and my older sisters, and even by me.

"Don't be like Spider," my family warns when someone is becoming too greedy. We all know what it means and though it's become a little more than a passing reference for us, it's also connected us to our history and the great storytellers we come from.

One day I hope to have as much impact on future generations with my stories as my mom has with a simple bedtime story about a spider and a string.

-------------------------------------------

If you enjoyed this, feel free to leave a like and/or tip and check out some of my other stories. Also, follow me on Instagram @c.r.hughes

Thanks for reading!

-Chanté