One day, all the animals of the field and forest argued which of them was older and worthy of more respect. Each of them repeated: “I am the oldest.” They argued long and heatedly and finally decided to go to the judge. They went to the house of the spider Anansi and told him:
“Kwaku Anansi, we can’t decide which of us deserves more respect.” Listen to us!
Anansi ordered his children to bring him a nut shell, sat down on it with dignity, like a tribal leader in a carved chair, and began to listen.
The guinea fowl started first. She said:
- I swear it's true! I am the oldest of all living beings. When I was born, there was a great forest fire. No one in the world but me could have put out this terrible fire, but I ran into the very flames and trampled the fire. I was badly burned then, and, as you can see for yourself, my legs are still red.
And then everyone said:
- Yes, yes! She's older than all of us!
Then the parrot spoke:
- I swear that I'm telling the truth! The oldest of all living beings is me. When I was born, there were no tools or weapons yet. It was I who made the first hammer for blacksmiths; I hit the iron with my beak, knocked it off, and that’s why my beak is crooked.
Everyone looked at the parrot's beak and exclaimed:
- Yes, yes! The parrot is indeed the eldest of us.
Then the elephant began to speak:
- I swear that I'm telling the truth! I am older than the parrot and the guinea fowl. When I was born, the sky god gave me a long and very comfortable nose. And when the god of the sky began to create other animals, there was not enough material, and they received very small noses.