A MONKEY vs A CRAB

Ai Kitabatake
AE2B

This is a folk tale from Japan.

Once upon a time, there were a monkey and a crab. The crab had a rice ball and the monkey had a pit of persimmon. The monkey wanted a rice ball. So he asked the crab to exchange it for the pit. "If this pit grows up and bears fruit, I would climb the tree and give you fruits.' They promised and exchanged. then the crab raised it and grew it well. Then the tree bore many fruits. The crab called the monkey and asked him to pick up. However, the monkey did nothing but eat. He didn't try to hand the crab fruits. "Hey! Are you listening? Give me the fruits." The monkey said to crab, "Shutup!" and threw green persimmons at the tree. The hard fruits hit the crab. Unfritunitely, the crab died.
A son of the crab found his moher and became sad. The son decided to avenge his mother. A bee, some mortar, and chestnut helped the son.
At that, when the monkey went away, the crab group broke into the monkery's house. They hid themselves and waited for his return. the chestnut hid in a fireplace. The mortar stayed on the roof. The son hid in a water jar. The bee hid in a ceiling.
Finally, the monkey came back. Because it was cold, he tried to warm his hands at the fire. Suddenly, the roasted chestnut jumped into him. The monkey soaked his hand in the water jar. Then the crab appeared and cut his tail. At once the bee stung him. When the monkey want outside, the mortar jumped on him. Monkey said, "I'm so sorry. I regret what I did.'
The story concludes happily.


here is another version of this story.