Page 15 - AHATA

Thursday 3 July 2025 locAl
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The stories of “Compa Nanzi”

(Oranjestad)—The most popular charac- won’t get away with his schemes. To get
ter you may hear about in the Caribbe- to the ocean, the soldier walked a long
an is Anansi, known locally on Aruba as distance, and where beginning to feel
“Compa Nanzi”. Local children grew up very thirsty. Luckily they passed by a pub,
hearing the tales of the conniving spider, and decided to have a nice cold beer.
and his legacy forms part of the oral nar- They set the sack with Nanzi in it outside
rative tradition that is common in Aruba. and went to enjoy the refreshments. Nan-
zi was still trembling with fear in the sack.
Although the stories are most popular in What is that he hears? A herd of sheep
the Caribbean, “Compa Nanzi” is not en- walking by?
tirely unknown globally, especially not in “Compadre, listen here!” Nanzi screamed
the West African region. Brought to the as loud as he could. The sheep herder
“new world” by enslaved Africans from got close to the sack. “What is this?”
Ghana, the historical thread of how Nan- “Man, there is something very beautiful in
zi was introduced on Aruba follows the here that you can see. It’s very rare and
enslaved Africans in Curacao during the strange, but indeed, there is something so
colonial era, which saw the biggest pop- beautiful in here that you’ve never seen
ulation of enslaved Africans in the Dutch or will ever see,” Nanzi told the herder.
Caribbean. The herder, very dumb, believed Nanzi’s
The stories of Compa Nanzi were a sign word. “Let me see!” he said.
of hope for freedom among the slaves, “Well if you must insist,” Nanzi said, “I’ll let
who passed around different stories in- you take a look, but only for a quick sec-
volving the famous spider through word ond.” The herder opened the sack, and
of mouth, due to not being able to ex- Nanzi immediately jumped out. Before
press their native culture in the new world. the herder could even take a look into
These stories were a way to not only pre- the sack, Nanzi pushed him in it, and the
serve their culture, but it acted as a me- herder fell head first in.
dium for relief during the harsh treatment Nanzi didn’t waste any time, and closed
to which they were subjected to. off the sack real tight. He then picked
It wasn’t until the end of the nineteenth up the herder’s hat and starting walking
century that the stories of Nanzi were writ- behind the traveling sheep as if nothing
ten down in different languages. Howev- happened. After a little while, the soldiers
er, not all stories are completely alike in headed back outside to continue their
every country, as is the risk of oral story journey. As they picked up the sack, the
telling. However, one thing will always be poor herder started screaming to let him
dominant in Compa Nanzi’s stories: his out, but the soldiers ignored him, thinking
sneaky ways to get what he wants! it was Nanzi.
How Nanzi fooled the king Shon Arei went strolling a while later. He
One day Nanzi was taking a stroll near thought to himself: “This time Nanzi could
the castle of Shon Arei, the king. He had not get away with his foolishness. He prob-
this sudden urge to walk in. He didn’t ably drowned in that sack ages ago.”
think too much about it and committed That is why, when he saw Nanzi walk be-
to what he had in mind. It was a warm hind the herd of sheep on the street, he
afternoon, and the castle personnel was flabbergasted again. “Nanzi! Aren’t
were taking their afternoon nap. Even you suppose to be at the bottom of the
the soldier guarding the castle door was ocean floor?”
fast asleep, snoring so loud that his beard “I was, Your Majesty,” Nanzi replied. But
bounced up and down on his chin. Nanzi you know what, there is so many things to
just slipped past him, looked back for a see down there in the sack! Like this herd
moment then walk right on in. of sheep. Seeing that they had no herd-
Nanzi stumbled upon the king’s quarters. er, I started walking behind them and
With all his excitement he sat in the king’s gained their trust pretty quickly. At the
throne, and put on his crown that was bottom of the ocean there are so many
hanging on the side of the throne. It was wonderful things, like diamonds, and
very hot that day, and it wasn’t long until bags of gold. Chests of silver and other
Nanzi too fell asleep, right there on the precious stones,” Nanzi told the king.
king’s throne. He was so deep in sleep “What is that you say?” the king was in-
and snoring so loud, that even when the trigued. “I want to see it too!”
king found him in his seat, Nanzi did not The king immediately demanded to
even notice. his soldiers to be put in a sack and be
Shon Arei was flabbergasted by the sight placed in the ocean. Naturally, Shon Arei
of Nanzi on his throne, wearing his crown. died because of this. He was never found
How disrespectful! “Soldiers, get him!” he again. Nanzi followed the soldier back to
commanded. Nanzi was sound asleep, the castle, where sat once again on the
but when the soldiers picked him up, he late king’s thrown and put his crown on.
jumped from fright. By then though, the He took possession of all of Shon Arei’s
soldier already had him in their hold. belongings, and lived the rest of his life
“Put him in a sack, stitch it up and throw as king.q
him in the ocean!” the king said furi-
ously. Two soldiers immediately entered Story and pictures are from “Kon Nanzi a
the chamber, took the crown off Nanzi’s Nek Shon Arei (i otro kuentanan antiano di e
head and pushed him in a sack. araña sabi)” by Nilda Pinto.
Nanzi was terrified; it looks like this time he