The Crane and the Crab is an old fable. This story starts long ago in a deserted land. There was a crane and he couldn’t find anything to eat. The crane embarked on a journey away from the barren land and he found an old jungle. In the jungle, the crane was able to find a pond filled with fish.
The pond was low on water because it was summertime. This made the fish visible under the water. One of the fish was unaware of the crane’s intention and so he took shelter under the crane’s shadow. The innocent fish must have not been aware of the crane’s nature.
The crane was getting ready to take the fish with its long beak. However, he stopped himself. The crane thought to himself, that if he attacked the fish then the other fish in the pond would swim away and this would make it difficult for him to the fish.
One of the fish noticed that the crane was lost in thought and he asked why the crane was troubled. Then the crane replied to the fish that he was thinking about him. The crane was coming up with a cunning plan to take the fish.
The crane deceitfully told the fish that he was worried about them. He told the fish that the water in the pond was getting low and he was wondering how the fish would survive. The fish asked the crane what they should do.
The crane cunningly told the fish that he would transport all the fish to a much bigger pool which has five types of lotus. The crane told the fish that the bigger pool would be their new sanctuary, however it was far. He explained to the fish that he would only be able to carry them one at a time.
The crane told the fish that it would take days to bring all the fish to the bigger pool. The crane excited the fishes by sharing its plan to move us to a larger pool.
Each morning, the crane would carry one fish in his beak and the crane would carry the fish to a lonely area and he would eat it. This was done by the crane until there was no fish left in the pond. All that remained in the pond was a hermit crab.
The crane told the hermit crab that he had successfully carried all the fish to a new pool covered with lots of lotus. He told the hermit crab that he would also take him to the new pool.
The crab asked the crane how he would be able to carry him. The crane replied that he could carry him in his beak. The crab told the crane that his shell was hard and slippery. Being cautious by nature, the crab warned the crane that he was slippery and that if the crane lifted him, he might fall.
Afterward, the crab climbed into the beak of the crane and they took off. When they were closer to the location where the crane had eaten the other animals, the crab spotted some bones of the other animals. The crab quickly understood that the crane didn’t have any good intentions.
Before the crane could land, the crab used it claws to hold the neck of the crane tightly. Because of this, the crane had difficulty breathing and soon he died. After seeing that he had died, the crab then let go of the crane’s neck and he went back to his pond.