Reading Notes: The Giant Crab

Image Source

Setting: Lake in the Mountains

Long ago there was a giant crab who lived in the lake. The crab was a lot bigger than any other kind of crab that has been seen before. This crab was the biggest crab that ever existed. They compared his arms to an armchair and his body to a dining room table. The crab lived by himself in the lake. Any animals that would come down to the lake to take a drink of water, the crab would pinch with its enormous claws and eat them. Most of the animals that went down for a drink never reappeared again. With each animal that the crab consumed, the crab would grow larger in size. The animals began to notice that the animals that went to the lake for a drink would never come back, so the animals began to fear the lake. This became a problem because the animals had very few areas to get water from. An elephant decided he was tired of the crab so he gathered a herd of elephants and made a plan to have one elephant drink while the others watched for the crab. The elephants did as they planned and one elephant was drinking from the lake while the other one washed in the lake.  They began to leave the lake when the husband felt a nip on the leg. The wife stood by his side and asked the crab to let go of her husband. The crab looked out of the water with its eyes as big as tree trunks. The crab noticed how beautiful the elephant was and asked her for a kiss. The girl elephant looked so sweet back that the crab let go of her husband. Once the husband felt the crab let go he made a loud trumpet noise and got on the crab's back. The crab's shell began to crack and the elephant continued jumping on it. The crab was crushed to death leaving its large claws behind. The elephants carried his claws back to the city where the King used his claws for drums.



Bibliography:
Title: The Giant Crab
Author: The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse with illustrations by W. Robinson
Link: Story