Reading Notes: Crane and Crab

Wow what a story. I knew that Indian folklore usually involves a moral lesson, but this story had a great payoff. The story involves a cunning, deceitful and particularly evil crane. This crane lives on the bank of a lake and spends his days hunting and eating fish. There is a pool nearby that has all but dried up and is filled with fish. The crane hatches a plan that involves tricking the fish into thinking they're being helped, only to eat them when he gains their trust. He tells each fish that he will take them to the lake so that they can live more comfortably and then takes them to his tree to eat them. Once he's eaten all the fish in the pool, he's so desperate for food that he resorts to trying to trick a crab into trusting him. However, this crab is smarter than the fish and is suspicious of the crane's motives. He makes a deal that the crane is to allow him to hold onto the crane's neck as he transports the crab to the lake. The crab makes it known to the crane that he can kill him at any moment and the crane spares his life. But at the last moment before the crab reaches the lake, he uses his claw to cut the crane's head off, stopping his trickery for good.

The Crane and the Crab (Mom Junction)

The Cunning Crane and Crab by W. H. D. Rouse