Once upon a time there was a lake in the mountains, and in that lake
lived a huge Crab. I daresay you have often seen crabs boiled, and
put on a dish for you to eat; and perhaps at the seaside you have
watched them sidling away at the bottom of a pool. Sometimes a boy
or girl bathing in the sea gets a nip from a crab, and then there is
squeaking and squealing. But our Crab was much larger than these; he
was the largest Crab ever heard of; he was bigger than a dining-room
table, and his claws were as big as an armchair. Fancy what it must
be to have a nip from such claws as those!
Well, this huge Crab lived all alone in the lake. Now the different
animals that lived in the wild mountains used to come to that lake
to drink; deer and antelopes, foxes and wolves, lions and tigers and
elephants. And whenever they came into the water to drink, the great
Crab was on the watch; and one of them at least never went up out of
the water again. The Crab used to nip it with one of his huge claws
and pull it under, and then the poor beast was drowned, and made a
fine dinner for the big Crab.
This went on for a long time, and the Crab grew bigger and bigger
every day, fattening on the animals that came there to drink. So at
last all the animals were afraid to go near that lake. This was a
pity, because there was very little water in the mountains, and the
creatures did not know what to do when they were thirsty.
At last a great Elephant made up his mind to put an end to the Crab and
his doings. So he and his wife agreed that they would lead a herd of
elephants there to drink, and while the other elephants were drinking,
they would look out for the Crab.
They did as they arranged. When the herd of elephants got to the
lake, these two went in first, and kept farthest out in the water,
watching for the Crab; and the others drank, and trumpeted, and washed
themselves close inshore.
Soon they had had enough, and began to go out of the water; and then,
sure enough, the Elephant felt a tremendous nip on the leg. The Crab
had crawled up under the water and got him fast. He nodded to his wife,
who bravely stayed by his side; and then she began:
"Dear Mr. Crab!" she said, "please let my husband go!"
The Crab poked his eyes out of the water. You know a crab's eyes
grow on a kind of little stalk; and this Crab was so big, that his
eyes looked like two thick tree-trunks, with a cannon-ball on the top
of each. Now this Crab was a great flirt, or rather he used to be a
great flirt, but lately he had nobody to flirt with, because he had
eaten up all the creatures that came near him. And Mrs. Elephant was
a beautiful elephant, with a shiny brown skin, and elegant flapping
ears, and a curly trunk, and two white tusks that twinkled when she
smiled. So when the big Crab saw this beautiful elephant, he thought
he would like to have a kiss; and he said in a wheedling tone:
"Dear little Elephant! Will you give me a kiss?"
Then Mrs. Elephant pretended to be very pleased, and put her head
on one side, and flapped her tail; and she looked so sweet and so
tempting, that the Crab let go the other elephant, and began to crawl
slowly towards her, waving his eyes about as he went.
All this while Mr. Elephant had been in great pain from the nip of
the Crab's claw, but he had said nothing, for he was a very brave
Elephant. But he did not mean to let his wife come to any harm;
not he! It was all part of their trick. And as soon as he felt his
leg free, he trumpeted loud and long, and jumped right upon the
Crab's back!
Crack, crack! went the Crab's shell; for, big as he was, an elephant
was too heavy for him to carry. Crack, crack, crack! The Elephant
jumped up and down on his back, and in a very short time the Crab
was crushed to mincemeat.
What rejoicing there was among the animals when they saw the Crab
crushed to death! From far and near they came, and passed a vote of
thanks to the Elephant and his wife, and made them King and Queen of
all the animals in the mountains.
As for the Crab, there was nothing left of him but his claws, which
were so hard that nothing could even crack them; so they were left in
the pool. And in the autumn there came a great flood, and carried the
claws down into the river; and the river carried them hundreds of miles
away, to a great city; where the King's sons found them, and made out
of them two immense drums, which they always beat when they go to war;
and the very sound of these drums is enough to frighten the enemy away.