The Clever Crab

Once, near a big lake, lived an old heron. When he was young, he used to catch plenty of fish to eat. But now, he had grown old and weak. He could no longer catch fish easily. Many days passed, and he had nothing to eat.

The heron thought, "If I don’t do something soon, I will starve. I need a clever plan."

Soon, he came up with an idea. He sat sadly by the lake, pretending to be deep in thought. A crab who also lived in the lake saw him and asked kindly, “Why do you look so sad, my friend?”

The heron sighed and replied, “Today I heard something very bad. An astrologer said that there will be no rain for the next twelve years. This lake will dry up, and all of us will die.”

The crab was shocked. “Oh no! That’s terrible. What can we do?”

“I’m old, so it doesn’t matter if I die,” said the heron. “But I feel sorry for all the young ones like you. I know of a big lake far from here. If you want, I can carry the fish there one by one.”

The crab told the fish what the heron had said. The fish became very scared. “Please take us to the other lake!” they begged.

So, the heron began taking the fish one by one. But instead of taking them to another lake, he flew to a nearby rock, ate them, and returned later pretending he had helped them.

After a few days, the crab said to the heron, “You’ve helped so many fish. Can you take me to the new lake too?”

The heron smiled slyly. “I’m bored of eating fish. Crab meat will be tasty for a change.” he thought.

“Sure,” said the heron. But the crab was too big to carry in his beak, so he climbed on the heron’s back.

As they flew, the crab asked, “Is the lake still far?”

The heron laughed. “You silly crab! I’m not taking you to any lake. I’m going to smash you on those rocks and eat you—just like I did with all the fish.”

But the clever crab didn’t panic. “I’m not so easy to fool,” he said.

With his strong claws, he grabbed the heron’s neck tightly and choked him. The heron died, and the crab safely climbed down and returned to the lake.

From that day on, all the animals in the lake remembered how the clever crab had saved them from the wicked heron.

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