Long ago in the Animal Kingdom, Crab was one of the most blessed and most beautiful. Odomankoma Nyankopon, creator of all things made Crab special; he had a big beautiful head, he had wits, he was kind, he was rich and he was wise. Crab gave good counsel and was charitable, which earned him many, many friends. Stories of his kindness spread through the Kingdom, many stories were told of his riches and benevolence.
And in order to keep up his image, Crab gave and gave, never saying no. Despite his wisdom, the concept of self love eluded him. He didn’t pay attention to his own needs, he didn’t set much boundaries all the cared about was how others saw him.And the more he gave, the more his friends asked of him, and took undue advantage of him. He gave up his comfortable home so Sansi the snake could lay her eggs and raise her children. Crab gave his gold and other rare and expensive ornaments to Goldfish so he could go marry a wife. He lent his blanket to Pangolin so he could use it to safely tumble down the mountains. Alas, Crab didn’t have much left, even the clothes on his back were gone, borrowed, never returned. And so he sat alone, on the banks of a river, clutching his beautiful head in his claws, enjoying the cool breeze, deep in thought.
Along came Ananse the Spider, with his silver tongue and cunning ways. He asked to borrow Crab’s beautiful head, he had a meeting with his in-laws and needed to impress them. “My head is all I have left, when will you return it?” Crab asked his friend. “6pm tonight”, Ananse replied, “I swear by my silky web and eight limbs”, he added.
Thus Crab handed Ananse his head, and sat headless, unable to see, waiting for Ananse to return. He waited and waited and waited some more. Ananse did not return.
Upon seeing Crab’s plight, Odamankoma, broke two tiny sticks, made them into eyes and fixed them on Crab’s body to enable him see. That is how the Crab lost his head and came to have two sticks for eyes.