The Monkeys And The Crabs
: Nature's Riddles and Their Answers: Laos Folk-lore Of Farther India
All the monkeys which live in the forests near the great sea in the
south, watch the tide running out, hoping to catch the sea-crabs which
are left in the soft earth. If they can find a crab above the ground,
they immediately catch and eat it.
Sometimes, the crabs bury themselves in the mud, and the monkeys, seeing
the tunnels they have made, reach down into them with their long tails,
and torment the crabs until they, in anger, seizing the tormenting tail,
are drawn out and devoured by their cunning foes. But, sometimes, alas,
the crab fails to come out! No matter with what strength the monkey
pulls and tugs, the crabs do not appear, and the poor monkey is held
fast, while the tide comes in and drowns it. When the tide goes out
again, leaving the luckless monkey on the beach, the crabs come out from
their strongholds and feast on the dead enemy.
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