Under the Mango Tree

About a month ago I spent a few days making these gouache & watercolor paintings based on the African Folk tale about How the Desert Came Into the World. I have no idea what to do with them yet, (maybe a part of an upcoming installation piece?) so they've just been buried in my armoire, but I thought I'd take them out and share them here. You can read the tale or you can scroll through the images. But at the very minimum, they deserve to see the light of day.

Long ago, Ananse and his friend Akwasi were the best farmers in the world. People came from far and near to buy foodstuffs from them. They became very rich, but one day the rains stopped coming, and for one whole year there was no rain. Akwasi decided to go to Nana Nyankopon, the creator of the universe, to solicit his help.

So one Thursday morning, he called on Nana Nyankopon and said to him, "Nana, there has not been rains for many days. All the streams and rivers have dried up. Please, send us some rains." God was moved and said to him, "I have delegated some of my work to people, because I get so tired of small requests from people. Go and see Nsiah the hunchback and ask him to give you some rain."

Akwasi was very happy and thanked Nyankopon. He set off to look for Nsiah the hunchback. Akwasi found Nsiah sitting under a tree taking a rest from the heavy task God had given him. He greeted him politely and told him that God had told him to come and look for him to give him some rain. "If it is God who sent you, I cannot refuse to give you any rain. Take a small stick and beat my back" he said.

Aswasi picked two small sticks and gently hit Nsiah's back two times, thanked him and went home. In the morning, he went to his farm and sure enough, there had been a heavy shower. And all the plants were standing upright and green. Ananse passed by Akwasi's farm the next morning. He was so happy because he thought the rain had fallen on his farm, too. But when he got to his farm, he realised that the rains had stopped at the boundary of his farm.

He became suspicious of his friend and decided to go and ask him how on earth he got rains on his farm. Akwasi did not want to tell Ananse about God's rainmaker because of Ananse's sly nature, but he told him what had happened.

As soon as Ananse heard this, he decided to go and look for the rainmaker. He found him sitting under a tree taking a rest from the heavy task God had given him. As soon as Ananse saw him, he picked up a big stick and hit the hunchback's back with all his might. The hunchback cried in pain. But Ananse continued hitting him at the back with all his might. After awhile, the hunchback lay still, not moving. Ananse called out to the hunchback, but there was no response. Ananse had killed God's rainmaker.

Ananse became frightened. He wanted to run, but realised that if he ran away it would only make matters worse. So sly was Ananse that, it wasn't long before he came out with a solution on what to do. He picked up the dead body of the rainmaker and went to hide it in the middle of a mango tree. He then went to call on Akwasi and told him that he had seen a mango tree which was full of ripe mangoes. He told Akwasi that they should go and pluck the mangoes. Akwasi liked mangoes very much but he was reluctant to go, because he didn't trust Ananse. But he eventually agreed to go.

When they got to the mango tree, Ananse told Akwasi to climb up the mango tree and shake it . So Akwasi climbed the mango tree and when he got to the top, started shaking it vigorously so the fruit would fall out. Suddenly there was a big crash. The body of God's rainmaker had fallen from the tree top when Akwasi shook the tree. Ananse started shouting and wailing. "Akwasi, see what you have done. You have killed God's rainmaker. He must have been hiding in the tree taking a rest from the heavy task that God had given him. See what you have done now, you have killed him. What will God say now?"

Akwasi became confused, he didn't know what to do. He climbed down from the tree quietly, but then as he was climbing down he realized that he had been tricked. He pretended to be shocked and said he was going to see God about it. He went away after saying this. Ananse was very happy and jumped and clapped his hands. "Fool, I have put you into trouble. God will really punish you." Unknown to Kwaku Ananse, his friend Akwasi had also gone to make a plan to teach Ananse that he wasn't a fool after all.

So very soon Akwasi came with the people and told Ananse that there was no problem at all. God was happy that the rainmaker was dead. He had been lazy at times and refused to work. "I am going to reward you for killing him" God said. And Akwasi started singing and dancing happily. He said again that he had come with God's messengers to carry the dead body to God. Ananse at once became furious when he heard this. He said angrily "Look, Akwasi, don't try to be too clever. I killed him! I was afraid God was going to punish me, so I hid the body in the tree. I am going to claim the reward." So he carried the body on his shoulders and quickly went to God's Palace to tell him that he had killed the hunchback and that he should be rewarded.

God was so furious, he punished Ananse severely. After the punishment, no rain ever fell on Ananse's farm, and up till today if you look at
the desert there is no rain.

Ananse's farm is where the desert is now.