Authors note: The story below was inspired from the Indian Tales of Bidpai. You can find more information and read the story here.
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| Photo of a crab taken by Bill Bumgarne. |
Once there was a fish and
a crab. The fish lived at the bottom of the ocean and the crab swam near the
top. The fish needed the crabs help to catch top-feeding fish. The Fish said to
the crab, “crab I will let you share all my fish if you help me catch some
right now and then from here on out we will share everything.” The crab
responded and said “no Fish, I don’t need your food. I can catch my own. I
don’t need your help.” The fish was sad and decided to just get his own food.
The fish was swimming around looking for food when he saw the crab swimming
near the bottom. The fish said, “Crab what’s wrong? Why are you swimming near
the bottom?” The crab told the fish “My claws are stuck together and I can’t
catch any food. Can I share with you?” The Fish said “No you can’t because you
wouldn’t help me earlier so I cant help you now. The crab was mad and said
“Fish, I will help you after if you just help me now. I need food or I am going
to die”. The fish didn’t care. The crab didn’t help him earlier so he wasn’t going
to help him now. The crab started to sink farther and farther down. The fish
started to feel bad for the crab, so he swam to the bottom put the crab on his
back and started to look for food for the both of them. The crab started to
regain his strength and so did the fish. The fish helped the crab get his claws
working again. The crab was quickly swimming around and had his strength back.
Fish said, “now that you have your strength can you please help me find some
food. I am old and need your help”. The crab said, “Silly fish I am not going
to help you. I wasn’t before and I am not now. Go away and don’t speak to me”.
The fish was so upset. He had now been fooled by the crab twice and was so mad
at him. He swam furiously at the crab and ripped one of his claws off. The fish
couldn’t believe what he had just done. The crab said, “How could you do that?
Now I cant find food!” The fish said, “You didn’t help me twice now so you now
know what its like to be deceived”.
Hi Averey,
ReplyDeleteYour story was interesting. At first, I felt some sympathy for the fish. However, by the end, I did not feel very sympathetic toward either the fish or the crab. It seemed very much to me that they both sealed their own fates, so to speak. The last line, “so you now know what its like to be deceived” really stuck out to me the most out of all of the story. Overall, it was an interesting story. I think you chose a good topic to write about.
Hi Averey,
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job of retelling the story. It had the same kind of feel that the Indian tales have. I think that the way they tell stories are so different than ours, because it's not always going to be pretty or have a happy ending. I feel bad for both the fish and the crab that they were to stubborn to work together for the good of all. Reminds me a bit of our current global situation. It is never pleasant to be decieved and you did a great job of showing us that in your story. The story even though told about animals is very easily identified with as a human.