Anansi Talking Skull

tale:anansi_talking_skull

Wandering, a man finds a skull that speaks, saying its own mouth brought it to this place; amazed, the man boasts to the king of a talking skull, on pain of death if it proves false. Brought before the court, the skull stays silent, and the man is executed — whereupon the skull speaks at last: a mouth brought you here, just as a mouth brought me. Moral: idle boasting digs its own grave. — Anansi folktale