Week 9 Reading B: The Crab and the Monkey

 The Crab and the Monkey

This story is one that I would like to retell because I really like the character of the crab! She's smart, independent, and stands up for herself. This story is similar to a lot of other fables because it involves the triumph of cunning over brute strength. However, this story has the added level of teamwork that I also think is really cute.

Plot:

- there's a crab who has a nice little crab house and one day a pilgrim dropped some rice outside of her house

- the crab is excited and starts to take the rice back to her house, when a monkey comes up and asks to trade for a half eaten kaki kernel, the crab agrees

- the crab plants the kernel and it grows into a kaki tree

- the monkey comes back and asks if he can have some, so the crab lets him climb up in the tree, but the monkey is greedy and eats all the best ones and puts the ripe ones in his pockets

- the crab dares him to do a somersault, and tricks him into spilling kakis on the ground for her

- the monkey is so angry that he beats her up and almost kills her

- the crab's friends: the wasp, a rice mortar, and an egg, conspire to get revenge on the monkey

- they trick the monkey into coming back into the crab's house, and the egg explodes and scratches him, the wasp stings him, and the mortar falls from the ceiling and kills him

- the crab lives happily ever after

a "kaki" is another name for a Japanese Persimmon

The only thing I don't like about this story is that it advocates for revenge - which isn't the best motivation. But I do like how the crab's friends come together to protect her from the monkey, who is clearly very dangerous. 

Bibliography: "The Crab and the Monkey,"  The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1903).