Why Anansi Has Eight Thin Legs

Once upon a time, deep in the Really Cool Jungle—seriously, this place had the best treehouses—there lived a spider named Anansi. Now, this guy was not your regular spider. Imagine if he were a cake. He'd be a big, chocolate cake with extra frosting and sprinkles. He had a big head, a chubby body, and eight—yup, EIGHT—really fat legs. This spider loved to party and eat yummy food!

"One, two, three, PARTY!" Anansi yelled one sunny day, finding out about four amazing parties all happening at the same time. "I want to be at all of them! My fans need me!"

But, uh-oh, there was a problem. All the parties were at the same time. "Hmm," thought Anansi. "This is like having to pick between ice cream and, well, more ice cream!"

"Ooo, I got it! Genius idea coming through!" Anansi tied a long rope around each of his four sets of legs. Zoom! Off he went to see his friends: Rabbit, who loved carrots; Monkey, who was super funny; Turtle, who liked slow and chill music; and Bird, who could sing really high notes.

"Here’s the deal," Anansi told each friend, handing them a rope. "When the yummy food comes out, pull this rope really hard. I'll feel it and zoom over!"

Back in the middle of the Really Cool Jungle, Anansi sat down on a comfy mushroom. "Ah, I can already taste the carrot cake and banana splits!"

Suddenly, he felt a little tug. "Yes! Party time!" But then—oh no!—all the ropes started pulling at once. "Hey, what's going on? This wasn't part of the plan!"

Anansi got pulled this way and that way, like a toy on super-fast wheels. "Wait a minute! This is not what I had in mind!"

When the music stopped and the parties were over, poor Anansi had legs as skinny as pieces of string. He didn’t even get one bite of food!

"So, kids," Anansi said later, sipping some warm tea, "here's a life lesson for you. If you try to be everywhere, you might just end up nowhere."

And that's why Anansi and all spiders now have eight skinny legs. It's all because he wanted to go to every party at the same time!

Anansi, plump and full of cheer,
Loved parties more than anything near.
With a large head and legs so stout,
Food and fun were all he thought about.

"Four big parties, what a treat!"
Thought Anansi, "Oh, what shall I eat?"
But alas, they happened side by side,
A tricky problem he couldn't just hide.

With ropes in hand, he made his way
To Rabbit, Monkey, Bird, Turtle—“Hooray!
When you smell food, give a pull,
I'll dash right over, my belly to full!”

Anansi sat, feeling quite grand,
Then ropes tugged hard from every friend's land.
Pulled this way and that, his plan went askew,
"Oh no, this wasn't what I meant to do!"

His legs stretched long, no longer stout,
And he missed the food, without a doubt.
From that day on, spiders bear the sign
Of Anansi's folly—a thin-legged design.