Nobody wanted Ananse to succeed in drinking the cup of hot water and win,Adiefe, the Chief's beautiful daughter.Ananse grabbed the cup of hot water,bowed as gracefully as possible and smiled confidently. He lifted the cup and said, slowly and calmly, ' Nana, look........!'
Nana Apo barked 'yes, it's hot. Drink it right now!' But Ananse kept a cool head.Then, in the full glare of all present, he shook the cup vigorously for some time in order to cool its content. After this, he began to sip the now- lukewarm water as if it was still hot. Between the sips, the pain he seemed to be going through made him frown. He shut the left eye and his right eye shone brightly. He *deliberately* let his left hand drop loosely by his side. Nana Apo smiled. Queen Amola grinned. Adiefe giggled -all in happy anticipation of Ananse's failure.
     
Suddenly, Ananse began to drink the warm water more quickly and noisily. Soon, all was gone. He turned the cup upside down towards Nana and, indeed, there was not a single drop in it. Lo and behold, Kweku Ananse, the notorious trickster, had succeeded where all others had failed. There was complete silence. Even the wind seemed to have stopped blowing. The impossible had happened and people's expectation that Kweku Ananse would lose the contest had failed. Eventually, Kweku Ananse's victory had won him the hand of pretty Princess, Adiefe.
   
Nana Apo and Queen Amola, with great reluctance, led their daughter, Adiefe and handed her over to victorious Kweku Ananse.....

 ASSIGNMENT 

1.What was the attitude of the people present before the contest?

2.Why do you think Ananse shook the cup?

3.State *three* tricks Ananse used to show that he was in pain.

4.(I) Why did Ananse turn the cup upside down?

(II) What was the mood of Nana Apo and Queen Amola in the end?

5.Explain the following expressions in your own words:
(I)'Ananse kept a cool head"
(II)'all was gone'
(III) 'The impossible had happened'

6. For each of the following words , give another word or phrase that means the same and can fit into the passage:
(I)grabbed
(II)barked
(III)deliberately
(IV)Eventually
(V) pretty