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.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru