Reading Notes: Fables of Bipai Part B

The Crane and the Crab

Illustration by E. Boyd Smith (1908)

There once was a crane that lived next to a pond where she could eat as many fish as she wanted and lived in luxury. When she was old she realized that she should have gathered provisions for when she was too old to fish, so she started complaining and moaning. A crab swam to the surface and asked why she was so sad, and she explained that two fishermen said that they would go back to the pond in a few weeks to fish, so she would surely die of starvation. The crab told the fish who were all very anxious and scared, so they approached the crane to develop a plan together. The crane said that she knew of an enchanted pond where they would be safe, so she could carry three or four fish at a time every day. So that morning she took some of the fish and instead of taking them to a pond, she ate them, having once again food regardless of her old age. When it was time to carry the crab she wanted to get rid of him, so she had him grab on to her neck. However, as they flew the crab noticed the fish's bones, so he strangled the crane and she fell to her death. 

Story source: The Tortoise and the Geese and Other Fables of Bidpai by Maude Barrows Dutton, with illustrations by E. Boyd Smith, 1908.