: The Giant Crab and Other Tales from Old India by Rouse W H D William Henry Denham Robinson W Heath William Heath Illustrator - Folklore India; Tipitaka. Suttapitaka. Khuddakanikaya. Jataka Paraphrases English

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The Giant Crab 1 The Hypocritical Cat 6 The Crocodile and the Monkey 9 The Axe, the Drum, the Bowl, and the Diamond 14 The Wise Parrot and the Foolish Parrot 26 The Dishonest Friend 30 The Mouse and the Farmer 34 The Talkative Tortoise 38 The Monkeys and the Gardener 41 The Goblin and the Sneeze 45 The Grateful Beasts and the Ungrateful Prince 49 The Goblin in the Pool 56 The Foolish Farmer and the King 59 The Pious Wolf 62 Birds of a Feather 64 Spend a Pound to Win a Penny 68 The Cunning Crane and the Crab 70 Union is Strength 77 Silence is Golden 80 The Great Yellow King and his Porter 82 The Quail and the Falcon 86 Pride Must Have a Fall 88 The Bold Beggar 95 The Jackal Would A-Wooing Go 97 The Lion and the Boar 102 The Goblin City 106 Lacknose 111 The King's Lesson 114

THE GIANT CRAB

Once upon a time there was a lake in the mountains, and in that lake lived a huge Crab. I daresay you have often seen crabs boiled, and put on a dish for you to eat; and perhaps at the seaside you have watched them sidling away at the bottom of a pool. Sometimes a boy or girl bathing in the sea gets a nip from a crab, and then there is squeaking and squealing. But our Crab was much larger than these; he was the largest Crab ever heard of; he was bigger than a dining-room table, and his claws were as big as an armchair. Fancy what it must be to have a nip from such claws as those!

Well, this huge Crab lived all alone in the lake. Now the different animals that lived in the wild mountains used to come to that lake to drink; deer and antelopes, foxes and wolves, lions and tigers and elephants. And whenever they came into the water to drink, the great Crab was on the watch; and one of them at least never went up out of the water again. The Crab used to nip it with one of his huge claws and pull it under, and then the poor beast was drowned, and made a fine dinner for the big Crab.

This went on for a long time, and the Crab grew bigger and bigger every day, fattening on the animals that came there to drink. So at last all the animals were afraid to go near that lake. This was a pity, because there was very little water in the mountains, and the creatures did not know what to do when they were thirsty.

At last a great Elephant made up his mind to put an end to the Crab and his doings. So he and his wife agreed that they would lead a herd of elephants there to drink, and while the other elephants were drinking, they would look out for the Crab.

They did as they arranged. When the herd of elephants got to the lake, these two went in first, and kept farthest out in the water, watching for the Crab; and the others drank, and trumpeted, and washed themselves close inshore.

Soon they had had enough, and began to go out of the water; and then, sure enough, the Elephant felt a tremendous nip on the leg. The Crab had crawled up under the water and got him fast. He nodded to his wife, who bravely stayed by his side; and then she began:

"Dear Mr. Crab!" she said, "please let my husband go!"

The Crab poked his eyes out of the water. You know a crab's eyes grow on a kind of little stalk; and this Crab was so big, that his eyes looked like two thick tree-trunks, with a cannon-ball on the top of each. Now this Crab was a great flirt, or rather he used to be a great flirt, but lately he had nobody to flirt with, because he had eaten up all the creatures that came near him. And Mrs. Elephant was a beautiful elephant, with a shiny brown skin, and elegant flapping ears, and a curly trunk, and two white tusks that twinkled when she smiled. So when the big Crab saw this beautiful elephant, he thought he would like to have a kiss; and he said in a wheedling tone:

"Dear little Elephant! Will you give me a kiss?"

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