WEBVTT
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Think about a time someone showed you generosity. Maybe a
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friend let you borrow a favorite toy, or a family
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member gave you a gift, and it wasn't even your birthday.
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We're about to meet a character who shows a whole
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lot of generosity, but he shows it to no one
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but himself. Whistling I'm Rebecca Sheer, and welcome to Circle Round,
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where story time happens all the time. Today our story
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is called Pulling Strings. Versions of this story originally come
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from the Ashanti people of Ghana, and features a popular
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trickster we've met in past Circle Round stories, Anansi. Some
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really great people came together to bring you our adaptation
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of this tale, including Bashir Salahuddin, a comedian, writer, and
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actor you grown-ups may recognize from Southside on HBO Max.
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He's currently starring in the blockbuster film Top Gun Maverick.
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So circle around, everyone, for Pulling Strings. There once was
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a time when Anansi the spider was as round as
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a balloon, unlike the spiders we see today with their
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teeny tiny little waists. Anansi's body was plump and full.
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This is the story of how everything changed, and not
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just for Anansi, but for all the spiders who came
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after him. It began one day in the forest, when
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Anansi woke up bright and early and hungry.
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Oh boy, oh boy, am I famished! I sure could
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go for a nice big meal. Oh, but that means
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that I'd have to gather the ingredients and chop the
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ingredients and mix the ingredients and cook the ingredients. And
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who wants to do all of that work? Certainly not me.
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See, that's the thing about Anansi. He loved to eat,
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but he did not love to work. He didn't want
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to spend time and energy preparing food. He'd much rather
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scheme his way to his next meal. And as he
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rubbed his great big belly, that's precisely what he decided
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he would do.
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Let's see. There must be a way for me to
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enjoy a nice big meal without lifting a finger. The
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question is, how?
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Anansi thought and thought. But then.
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Mmm.
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The answer came to him straight through his nose.
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Oh, what is that delicious smell wafting through the forest?
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It's so rich, so fragrant. I must find out where
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it's coming from.
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Anansi took off on his eight spindly legs, dashing in
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the direction of the rich, fragrant smell.
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Okay, I think I'm getting closer. And closer. And.
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Anansi's eyes grew wide as he reached a village full
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of thatched huts. In the middle of the village, a
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group of villagers were gathered around a big iron kettle
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simmering with peanut stew. When the villagers caught sight of Anansi,
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their faces broke into wide grins.
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Greetings, Brother Spider.
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Welcome to our village.
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We were just cooking up some peanut stew.
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Today is a big holiday, you know.
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And every single village is having a feast.
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Would you care to join us?
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At the thought of devouring a splendid feast, Anansi's mouth watered.
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And at the thought of not having to do any
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work for it, his spirit soared.
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Why, I'd love to join you folks. Thank you for
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your generosity.
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Oh, we're always happy to share with new friends.
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Hospitality is very important in our community.
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Very important.
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Thing is, the stew isn't ready yet. So while we're waiting,
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we could really use an extra hand to help us
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prepare for our feast.
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Yes, you could start by setting the table. Fetching drinking
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water from the well.
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There are all sorts of jobs to be done.
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So, what do you say? Can we put you to work?
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Anansi's spirit was no longer soaring. Instead, the mention of
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all this work... It plummeted.
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Uh, put me to work, you say?
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Um, well.
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Anansi's mind began to race. He did not like the
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sound of these chores, but he loved the smell of
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that stew. Surely there was a way he could fill
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his big empty belly without toiling away. Then suddenly, he
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had an idea.
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Actually, you know what, folks? I completely forgot that I
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have an important errand to run in another village all
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the way across the forest. But I wouldn't want to
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miss out on that peanut stew, so here.
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Anansi used the special organs on his belly, the spinnerets,
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to spin a nice, strong thread. He held the thread
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out to the villagers.
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Take this thread. Hold on to it. And when the
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stew is ready, give the thread a firm tug. Then
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I'll come running.
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The villagers agreed, and Anansi handed them the thread. Then
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he scampered back to the forest with a spring in
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his step and a mischievous smile on his face.
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Oh, this is perfect. Instead of helping those villagers with
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their silly chores, I'll find another village whose food is
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ready to eat. After all, if every single village is
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throwing a feast, surely another one will have their food
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cooked by now. I'll gobble it up. Then, when the
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peanut stew is done, I'll go back to the first village.
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If all goes according to plan, I'll be eating like
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a king.
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Anansi walked and walked. He still hadn't eaten, so his
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stomach felt as empty as a scooped-out melon. But the
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thought of not one but two holiday feasts kept him going.
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And then.
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I.
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Smell another delicious aroma. I must be nearing another village.
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Anansi took off in the direction of the tantalizing fragrance.
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I think I'm getting closer. And closer.
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Whoa!
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Anansi's jaw dropped open as he reached another village. Here,
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the villagers were gathered around an open fire, roasting sweet
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yams on a spit. When the villagers caught sight of Anansi,
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big grins spread across their faces.
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Good day, Brother Spider.
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Welcome to our village.
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We were just roasting some sweet yams. Today is a
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major holiday, you know.
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And each and every village is having a big communal feast.
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Would you care to join us?
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Anansi's bulging body tingled with excitement. Everything was going according
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to plan.
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You know, I'd be honored to join you folks. I
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appreciate your generosity.
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Oh, we're always delighted to share with new friends.
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Hospitality is very important in our community.
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Very important. However, the yams aren't ready yet, and there's
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so much still to do. We could really use your help.
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Yes, you could start by putting out the plates.
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Filling the pitchers with wine.
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There are all sorts of jobs to be done.
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So, what do you say?
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Can we put you to work?
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Anansi could hardly believe his ears. Another village eager to
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put him to work? No, thank you. But luckily, the clever,
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mischievous spider knew just what he would do. What do
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you think Anansi will do? Will he get to enjoy
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the fruits of everyone else's labors without having to labor himself?
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We'll find out after a quick break.
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100 years from now in a land far, far away.
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Hang on. It's not so far away at all, actually. Hey,
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Circle Round families. We're here to share a new listening
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experience from WBUR, The Midnight Rebellion. It's a climate podcast
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adventure for kids 8 and up. Time-traveling, problem-solving, laughs in danger,
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it's here. Follow the feed to listen. Oh, and bring
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your goggles and boots. That's The Midnight Rebellion. In your
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feed or wherever you get podcasts.
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I'm Rebecca Shear. Welcome back to Circle Round. Today, our
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story is called Pulling Strings. Before the break, each village
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around Anansi's forest was honoring a big holiday by holding
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a feast. Anansi, the big-bellied spider, loved eating, but he
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hated working. So when the second village he visited, the
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one roasting up sweet yams, asked him to help prepare
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their feast, he was ready with a trick up his sleeve.
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Actually, you know what, folks? I completely forgot. that I
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have a very important errand to run in another village
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all the way across the forest. But I wouldn't want
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to miss those sweet yams. So here.
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Anansi used his spinnerets to spin another nice, strong thread.
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Take this thread. Hold on to it. And when the
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yams are ready... Give the thread a firm tug and
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I'll come running.
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The villagers held on to Anansi's thread, then wished him
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well as he scurried back to the forest.
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Am I a genius or what? Now I'll find a
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third village that's preparing a feast. I'll gobble it all down.
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Then I'll go back to the first two villages and
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eat even more. I'll let everyone else do the work.
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Then I'll enjoy the fruits of their labors.
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Sure enough, as Anansi walked amongst the trees....
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Ah, I smell another succulent scent. I must be nearing
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another village.
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Anansi followed his nose toward the delicious smell.
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I think I'm getting closer and closer and....
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Anansi's face glowed as he reached a whole new village.
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These villagers were gathered around a big clay pot, cooking
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up chicken and rice. When they caught sight of Anansi,
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their lips curled in to grins.
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How goes it, Brother Spider? Welcome to our village.
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We were just cooking some chicken and rice. Today is
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a special holiday, you know.
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And each and every village is having a feast.
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Would you care to join us for ours?
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Anansi felt a rush of happiness in his heart. and
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a rumble of hunger in his belly.
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Gosh, I'd be honored to join you folks. Thanks for
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your generosity.
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Oh, we're always excited to share with new friends. Hospitality
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is very important in our community.
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Very important. However, the chicken and rice isn't ready yet.
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So while we're waiting, how about helping us get ready
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for our feast?
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Yes, of course.
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You could pitch in by bringing the tables outside.
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Setting up some chairs. There's all sorts of preparations to
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be done.
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So, what do you say?
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Can we put you to work?
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Anansi clenched his teeth. Yet another village that wanted to
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put him to work? Not if he could help it.
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Actually, you know what, folks? I completely forgot that I
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have an errand to run. In another village, all the
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way across the forest... but I wouldn't want to miss
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out on that chicken and rice.
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So here.
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Again, Anansi spun some thread. Again, he handed it to
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the villagers. And again, he told them to give it
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a firm tug once the chicken and rice was ready.
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Anansi spent the next hour tromping from village to village.
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Hiya, Brother Spider.
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Salutations, Brother Spider.
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How do you do, Brother Spider?
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Just as he hoped, all of them were cooking up
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some sort of delicious food. But wouldn't you know it?
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The grilled fish isn't ready yet.
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The okra soup isn't ready yet.
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The banana fritters aren't ready yet.
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So while we're waiting, how about helping us prepare for
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our feast?
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There are all sorts of jobs to be done.
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Can we put you to work?
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Naturally, Anansi was not about to let anyone put him
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to work. So he handed out more thread, told the
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villagers to give it a tug when the food was ready...
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Then he moved on. Soon, he had dozens of threads
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tied around his waist and was getting weak from hunger.
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Surely, one of the villages has their food ready by now.
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Any second, I'm sure one of them will give my
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thread a firm tug. Any second, any....
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All at once, Anansi felt a yank on one of
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the threads.
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Oh, the peanut stew must be ready in the first
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village I visited. I'll just start heading that way.
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Suddenly, Anansi felt another thread get pulled.
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Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!
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The sweet yams must be ready. I'll just go to
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the first village, gobble up some peanut stew, then I'll
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head to the second village.
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And ow, oh!
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Now Anansi felt another thread get jerked.
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Oh, the chicken and rice must be ready. Ow, oh!
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Grilled fish! The okra soup!
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The banana fritters!
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Anansi felt one tug after another. Each village's feast seemed
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to be ready at the exact same time. But Anansi
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couldn't make a move toward any of them. because he
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was being yanked and pulled and jerked in every direction.
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All at once.
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The threads were wrapped and tangled around Anansi's round belly now,
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and with every tug, they squeezed his tummy tighter and
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tighter and tighter. And then, as Anansi squirmed and squiggled,
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writhed and wriggled, he realized that his waist was getting
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smaller and smaller and smaller until finally... Oh, my waist.
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Is as narrow as a needle, with my top and
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bottom half bulging out on either side.
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Indeed, Anansi had gotten so tangled in his own web
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of greed that he was no longer round and plump,
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and he never made it back to the villages to
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enjoy their feasts. Ever since then, all spiders have a
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big head and a big bottom with a teeny tiny
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waist in between. And they have to put in a
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lot of effort to catch their own meal in their
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own webs. It's all because of Anansi, a mischievous trickster
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who tried gobbling all the food without doing a lick
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of work. Now it's your turn. Find some paper, something
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to color with. Then draw two pictures of Anansi. How
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he looked at the start of the story, when he
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was as round as a balloon. And at the end
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of the story, once he got his teeny tiny waist...
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After that, we'd love for you to share your pictures
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with us. Grown-ups, you can tag us on Instagram at
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CircleRoundPodcast or email a photo of your kiddo and their art.
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Our address is CircleRound at WBUR.org. This week's story, Pulling Strings,
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was adapted by me, Rebecca Shear. It was edited by
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CircleRound's supervising producer, Nora Sachs. Our original music and sound
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design is by Eric Shimalonis. Our artist is Sabina Han.
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Sabina has drawn a black and white picture for every
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Circle Round story, and you can print them out and
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color them in. Grown-ups, find all of our coloring pages
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on our website, wbur.org slash circleround. Special thanks to this
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week's actors, Evan Casey, Theodore Chin, Shelley Lee, Sean Richards,
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Mike Smith, Marian Toro, Don Ursula, and Bashir Salahuddin. Watch
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for Bashir Salahuddin in the third season of Southside, set
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to premiere later this year on HBO Max, as well
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as the blockbuster action film Top Gun Maverick. Our featured
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instrument this week was the double bass. You can learn
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more about the largest and lowest pitched bowed string instrument
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and see a photo of Eric Shimalonis playing it on
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our website. Again, that's wbur.org slash Circle Round. Never want
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to miss an episode of Circle Round? Follow us on
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Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening right now. And please
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help us spread the Circle Round word by writing us
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a five-star review and telling your friends about the show.
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And did you hear? We've gone from podcast to the
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page with a new series of picture books. Our first
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two books, A Taste of Honey and The Tale of
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the Unwelcome Guest, are out now. Visit WBUR.org slash Circle
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Round to get your copies now. Circle Round is a
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production of WBUR, Boston's NPR news station. I'm Rebecca Shear.
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Thanks for circling around with us. One of the best
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things about creating Circle Round is hearing from listeners like you.
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Circle Round fans have been telling us about their favorite
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Circle Round stories, and we're excited to share some of
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their voices with you today.
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Hello, Circle Round. My name is Emmeline, and I'm from Wyoming.
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My favorite Circle Round is the lumps of clay because
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I like the part where the jeweler gets out of
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the kingdom. Hello, my name is Athena, and I'm from
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New York. And my favorite episode of Circle Round is
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Fool's Threshing. I like it because the birds get their songs.
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My name's Eel, and my favorite story is the giant causeway,
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because it looks so clever.
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Hi, I'm Clementina.
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Hi, I'm Atea. We're sisters, and we live in one house.
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D.C.
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Our favorite story is the Weiser Advisor because we like
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the part where the little jewelry girl makes the bronze ring. Hello,
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my name is Hazel.
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I live in Virginia and my favorite circle round story
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is the Queen of the Forest. I like it when
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Cricket says, we are not a bug, we are an insect.
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A bug is a type of insect.
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My name is Lauren. I live in Arizona. And my
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favorite circle around is share, love, share, love, like. My
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favorite part is where he just doesn't eat one food.
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My name is Nora, and I live in Massachusetts. And
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my favorite circle around story is the bright yellow hat
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I like the part where she gets the bright yellow hat.
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Did someone mention an episode you missed? No problem. You
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can find every single Circle Round story on our website.
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That's WBUR.org slash Circle Round or wherever you and your
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grown-ups get your podcasts.
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Think about a time someone showed you generosity. Maybe a
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friend let you borrow a favorite toy, or a family
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member gave you a gift, and it wasn't even your birthday.
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We're about to meet a character who shows a whole
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lot of generosity, but he shows it to no one
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but himself. Whistling I'm Rebecca Sheer, and welcome to Circle Round,
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where story time happens all the time. Today our story
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00:00:38.090 --> 00:00:41.950
is called Pulling Strings. Versions of this story originally come
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from the Ashanti people of Ghana, and features a popular
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trickster we've met in past Circle Round stories, Anansi. Some
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really great people came together to bring you our adaptation
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of this tale, including Bashir Salahuddin, a comedian, writer, and
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actor you grown-ups may recognize from Southside on HBO Max.
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He's currently starring in the blockbuster film Top Gun Maverick.
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So circle around, everyone, for Pulling Strings. There once was
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a time when Anansi the spider was as round as
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a balloon, unlike the spiders we see today with their
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teeny tiny little waists. Anansi's body was plump and full.
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This is the story of how everything changed, and not
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just for Anansi, but for all the spiders who came
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after him. It began one day in the forest, when
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Anansi woke up bright and early and hungry.
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Oh boy, oh boy, am I famished! I sure could
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go for a nice big meal. Oh, but that means
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that I'd have to gather the ingredients and chop the
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ingredients and mix the ingredients and cook the ingredients. And
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who wants to do all of that work? Certainly not me.
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See, that's the thing about Anansi. He loved to eat,
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but he did not love to work. He didn't want
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to spend time and energy preparing food. He'd much rather
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scheme his way to his next meal. And as he
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rubbed his great big belly, that's precisely what he decided
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he would do.
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Let's see. There must be a way for me to
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enjoy a nice big meal without lifting a finger. The
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question is, how?
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Anansi thought and thought. But then.
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Mmm.
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The answer came to him straight through his nose.
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Oh, what is that delicious smell wafting through the forest?
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It's so rich, so fragrant. I must find out where
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it's coming from.
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Anansi took off on his eight spindly legs, dashing in
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the direction of the rich, fragrant smell.
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Okay, I think I'm getting closer. And closer. And.
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Anansi's eyes grew wide as he reached a village full
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of thatched huts. In the middle of the village, a
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group of villagers were gathered around a big iron kettle
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simmering with peanut stew. When the villagers caught sight of Anansi,
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their faces broke into wide grins.
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Greetings, Brother Spider.
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Welcome to our village.
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We were just cooking up some peanut stew.
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Today is a big holiday, you know.
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And every single village is having a feast.
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Would you care to join us?
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At the thought of devouring a splendid feast, Anansi's mouth watered.
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And at the thought of not having to do any
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work for it, his spirit soared.
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Why, I'd love to join you folks. Thank you for
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your generosity.
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Oh, we're always happy to share with new friends.
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Hospitality is very important in our community.
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Very important.
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Thing is, the stew isn't ready yet. So while we're waiting,
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we could really use an extra hand to help us
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prepare for our feast.
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Yes, you could start by setting the table. Fetching drinking
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water from the well.
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There are all sorts of jobs to be done.
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So, what do you say? Can we put you to work?
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Anansi's spirit was no longer soaring. Instead, the mention of
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all this work... It plummeted.
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Uh, put me to work, you say?
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Um, well.
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Anansi's mind began to race. He did not like the
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sound of these chores, but he loved the smell of
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that stew. Surely there was a way he could fill
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his big empty belly without toiling away. Then suddenly, he
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had an idea.
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Actually, you know what, folks? I completely forgot that I
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have an important errand to run in another village all
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the way across the forest. But I wouldn't want to
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miss out on that peanut stew, so here.
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Anansi used the special organs on his belly, the spinnerets,
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to spin a nice, strong thread. He held the thread
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out to the villagers.
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Take this thread. Hold on to it. And when the
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stew is ready, give the thread a firm tug. Then
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I'll come running.
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The villagers agreed, and Anansi handed them the thread. Then
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he scampered back to the forest with a spring in
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his step and a mischievous smile on his face.
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Oh, this is perfect. Instead of helping those villagers with
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their silly chores, I'll find another village whose food is
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ready to eat. After all, if every single village is
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throwing a feast, surely another one will have their food
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cooked by now. I'll gobble it up. Then, when the
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peanut stew is done, I'll go back to the first village.
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If all goes according to plan, I'll be eating like
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a king.
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Anansi walked and walked. He still hadn't eaten, so his
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stomach felt as empty as a scooped-out melon. But the
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thought of not one but two holiday feasts kept him going.
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And then.
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I.
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Smell another delicious aroma. I must be nearing another village.
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Anansi took off in the direction of the tantalizing fragrance.
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I think I'm getting closer. And closer.
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Whoa!
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Anansi's jaw dropped open as he reached another village. Here,
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the villagers were gathered around an open fire, roasting sweet
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yams on a spit. When the villagers caught sight of Anansi,
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big grins spread across their faces.
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Good day, Brother Spider.
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Welcome to our village.
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We were just roasting some sweet yams. Today is a
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major holiday, you know.
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And each and every village is having a big communal feast.
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Would you care to join us?
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Anansi's bulging body tingled with excitement. Everything was going according
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to plan.
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You know, I'd be honored to join you folks. I
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appreciate your generosity.
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Oh, we're always delighted to share with new friends.
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Hospitality is very important in our community.
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Very important. However, the yams aren't ready yet, and there's
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so much still to do. We could really use your help.
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Yes, you could start by putting out the plates.
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Filling the pitchers with wine.
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There are all sorts of jobs to be done.
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So, what do you say?
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Can we put you to work?
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Anansi could hardly believe his ears. Another village eager to
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put him to work? No, thank you. But luckily, the clever,
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mischievous spider knew just what he would do. What do
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you think Anansi will do? Will he get to enjoy
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the fruits of everyone else's labors without having to labor himself?
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We'll find out after a quick break.
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100 years from now in a land far, far away.
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Hang on. It's not so far away at all, actually. Hey,
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Circle Round families. We're here to share a new listening
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experience from WBUR, The Midnight Rebellion. It's a climate podcast
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adventure for kids 8 and up. Time-traveling, problem-solving, laughs in danger,
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it's here. Follow the feed to listen. Oh, and bring
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your goggles and boots. That's The Midnight Rebellion. In your
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feed or wherever you get podcasts.
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I'm Rebecca Shear. Welcome back to Circle Round. Today, our
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story is called Pulling Strings. Before the break, each village
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around Anansi's forest was honoring a big holiday by holding
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a feast. Anansi, the big-bellied spider, loved eating, but he
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hated working. So when the second village he visited, the
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one roasting up sweet yams, asked him to help prepare
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their feast, he was ready with a trick up his sleeve.
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Actually, you know what, folks? I completely forgot. that I
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have a very important errand to run in another village
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all the way across the forest. But I wouldn't want
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to miss those sweet yams. So here.
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Anansi used his spinnerets to spin another nice, strong thread.
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Take this thread. Hold on to it. And when the
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yams are ready... Give the thread a firm tug and
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I'll come running.
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The villagers held on to Anansi's thread, then wished him
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well as he scurried back to the forest.
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Am I a genius or what? Now I'll find a
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third village that's preparing a feast. I'll gobble it all down.
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Then I'll go back to the first two villages and
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eat even more. I'll let everyone else do the work.
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Then I'll enjoy the fruits of their labors.
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Sure enough, as Anansi walked amongst the trees....
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Ah, I smell another succulent scent. I must be nearing
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another village.
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Anansi followed his nose toward the delicious smell.
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I think I'm getting closer and closer and....
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Anansi's face glowed as he reached a whole new village.
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These villagers were gathered around a big clay pot, cooking
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up chicken and rice. When they caught sight of Anansi,
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their lips curled in to grins.
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How goes it, Brother Spider? Welcome to our village.
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We were just cooking some chicken and rice. Today is
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a special holiday, you know.
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And each and every village is having a feast.
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Would you care to join us for ours?
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Anansi felt a rush of happiness in his heart. and
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a rumble of hunger in his belly.
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Gosh, I'd be honored to join you folks. Thanks for
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your generosity.
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Oh, we're always excited to share with new friends. Hospitality
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is very important in our community.
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Very important. However, the chicken and rice isn't ready yet.
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So while we're waiting, how about helping us get ready
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for our feast?
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Yes, of course.
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You could pitch in by bringing the tables outside.
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Setting up some chairs. There's all sorts of preparations to
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be done.
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So, what do you say?
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Can we put you to work?
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Anansi clenched his teeth. Yet another village that wanted to
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put him to work? Not if he could help it.
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Actually, you know what, folks? I completely forgot that I
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have an errand to run. In another village, all the
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way across the forest... but I wouldn't want to miss
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out on that chicken and rice.
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So here.
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Again, Anansi spun some thread. Again, he handed it to
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the villagers. And again, he told them to give it
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a firm tug once the chicken and rice was ready.
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Anansi spent the next hour tromping from village to village.
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Hiya, Brother Spider.
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Salutations, Brother Spider.
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How do you do, Brother Spider?
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Just as he hoped, all of them were cooking up
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some sort of delicious food. But wouldn't you know it?
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The grilled fish isn't ready yet.
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The okra soup isn't ready yet.
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The banana fritters aren't ready yet.
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So while we're waiting, how about helping us prepare for
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our feast?
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There are all sorts of jobs to be done.
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Can we put you to work?
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Naturally, Anansi was not about to let anyone put him
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to work. So he handed out more thread, told the
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villagers to give it a tug when the food was ready...
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Then he moved on. Soon, he had dozens of threads
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tied around his waist and was getting weak from hunger.
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Surely, one of the villages has their food ready by now.
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Any second, I'm sure one of them will give my
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thread a firm tug. Any second, any....
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All at once, Anansi felt a yank on one of
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the threads.
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Oh, the peanut stew must be ready in the first
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village I visited. I'll just start heading that way.
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Suddenly, Anansi felt another thread get pulled.
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Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!
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The sweet yams must be ready. I'll just go to
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the first village, gobble up some peanut stew, then I'll
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head to the second village.
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And ow, oh!
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Now Anansi felt another thread get jerked.
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Oh, the chicken and rice must be ready. Ow, oh!
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Grilled fish! The okra soup!
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The banana fritters!
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Anansi felt one tug after another. Each village's feast seemed
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to be ready at the exact same time. But Anansi
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couldn't make a move toward any of them. because he
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was being yanked and pulled and jerked in every direction.
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All at once.
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The threads were wrapped and tangled around Anansi's round belly now,
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and with every tug, they squeezed his tummy tighter and
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tighter and tighter. And then, as Anansi squirmed and squiggled,
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writhed and wriggled, he realized that his waist was getting
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smaller and smaller and smaller until finally... Oh, my waist.
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Is as narrow as a needle, with my top and
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bottom half bulging out on either side.
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Indeed, Anansi had gotten so tangled in his own web
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of greed that he was no longer round and plump,
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and he never made it back to the villages to
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enjoy their feasts. Ever since then, all spiders have a
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big head and a big bottom with a teeny tiny
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waist in between. And they have to put in a
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lot of effort to catch their own meal in their
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own webs. It's all because of Anansi, a mischievous trickster
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who tried gobbling all the food without doing a lick
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of work. Now it's your turn. Find some paper, something
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to color with. Then draw two pictures of Anansi. How
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he looked at the start of the story, when he
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was as round as a balloon. And at the end
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of the story, once he got his teeny tiny waist...
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After that, we'd love for you to share your pictures
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with us. Grown-ups, you can tag us on Instagram at
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CircleRoundPodcast or email a photo of your kiddo and their art.
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Our address is CircleRound at WBUR.org. This week's story, Pulling Strings,
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was adapted by me, Rebecca Shear. It was edited by
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CircleRound's supervising producer, Nora Sachs. Our original music and sound
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design is by Eric Shimalonis. Our artist is Sabina Han.
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Sabina has drawn a black and white picture for every
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Circle Round story, and you can print them out and
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color them in. Grown-ups, find all of our coloring pages
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on our website, wbur.org slash circleround. Special thanks to this
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week's actors, Evan Casey, Theodore Chin, Shelley Lee, Sean Richards,
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Mike Smith, Marian Toro, Don Ursula, and Bashir Salahuddin. Watch
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for Bashir Salahuddin in the third season of Southside, set
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to premiere later this year on HBO Max, as well
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as the blockbuster action film Top Gun Maverick. Our featured
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instrument this week was the double bass. You can learn
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more about the largest and lowest pitched bowed string instrument
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and see a photo of Eric Shimalonis playing it on
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our website. Again, that's wbur.org slash Circle Round. Never want
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to miss an episode of Circle Round? Follow us on
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Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening right now. And please
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help us spread the Circle Round word by writing us
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a five-star review and telling your friends about the show.
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And did you hear? We've gone from podcast to the
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page with a new series of picture books. Our first
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two books, A Taste of Honey and The Tale of
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the Unwelcome Guest, are out now. Visit WBUR.org slash Circle
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Round to get your copies now. Circle Round is a
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production of WBUR, Boston's NPR news station. I'm Rebecca Shear.
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Thanks for circling around with us. One of the best
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things about creating Circle Round is hearing from listeners like you.
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Circle Round fans have been telling us about their favorite
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Circle Round stories, and we're excited to share some of
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their voices with you today.
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Hello, Circle Round. My name is Emmeline, and I'm from Wyoming.
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My favorite Circle Round is the lumps of clay because
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I like the part where the jeweler gets out of
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the kingdom. Hello, my name is Athena, and I'm from
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New York. And my favorite episode of Circle Round is
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Fool's Threshing. I like it because the birds get their songs.
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My name's Eel, and my favorite story is the giant causeway,
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because it looks so clever.
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Hi, I'm Clementina.
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Hi, I'm Atea. We're sisters, and we live in one house.
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D.C.
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Our favorite story is the Weiser Advisor because we like
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the part where the little jewelry girl makes the bronze ring. Hello,
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my name is Hazel.
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I live in Virginia and my favorite circle round story
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is the Queen of the Forest. I like it when
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Cricket says, we are not a bug, we are an insect.
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A bug is a type of insect.
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My name is Lauren. I live in Arizona. And my
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favorite circle around is share, love, share, love, like. My
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favorite part is where he just doesn't eat one food.
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My name is Nora, and I live in Massachusetts. And
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my favorite circle around story is the bright yellow hat
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I like the part where she gets the bright yellow hat.
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Did someone mention an episode you missed? No problem. You
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can find every single Circle Round story on our website.
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That's WBUR.org slash Circle Round or wherever you and your
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grown-ups get your podcasts.