The affectionate crab

Title

Language

English

Year

1939

Subject

Tall tales

Philippine tales

Tale (Literary form)

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

THE MONTHLY TALL STORY ranmiHCBiwavBiwKriHvaqnivaHmnnnBmuanHiBiMiiiiaHiiaii#H The Affeciionaie Crab Mankind in the large is not aware of the gentle feelings and tender sentiments which may animate our familiar crustacean friend, the crab Human beings value the crab principally as crabmeat salad and crabmeat cocktail, and fried soft-shelled crabs, or, as an arduous delkacy+ boiled hard-shelled crabs. Seldom docs anyone show any appreciation of the warm and sentimental heart that may beat within a crab's rugged shell. There was once a diver and he has had occasion to observe the less-known ways of the den izens of the ocean floor. He relates that he was at work in his diver’s suit a hundred and fifty feet below the surface of the ocean. He was looking for a lost anchor. When he found the anchor he discovered that it was covered with the seaweed called kelp. He was in a kneel ing position and clearing away the kelp with his knife. His attention was diverted by a bigr ferocious-looking lobster near him. That lobster had in its claws a young female crab. The diver, a kindly soul, reached over, freed young Miss Crab from the lobster’s claws. and handed Old Man Lobster a good whacking with the han dle of the knife. The lobster gave him a mean look and slunk off. The diver thought no more of the incident and went on clearing the kelp away from the anchor. Having to unwind a large piece of the seaweed, he laid his knife at his feet for a moment. When he reached for the knife again he found it gone, vanished. And it occurred to him that rhe malicious old lob ster had sneaked up and stolen his knife in revenge. That was a bad situation, be cause the diver then saw a man^ eating shark lurking in the green distance of the underwater- And he had no knife with which to fight the shark. Then he felt something brushing and bumping against his feet- He looked down and saw a little female crab. She was pushing against his kg- In his anxiety he was impatient, and didn't pay much attention to the tiny creature. He kicked her rudely away. But the little female crab would not be driven away. 63 Panorama He observed her more closely now. With one claw she was pulling at his trousers. In het other claw she had the njissing knife. She realized now that he understood. She swam up and placed the knife in his hand. He noticed now that several of her legs were missing and she Was clawed up a bit, and he realized that the vengeful lob ster had stolen his knife, and the little crab had witnessed the act. She had seen the shark, and out of gratitude had flung herself upon the lobster. and. though badly bruised and mangled in the struggle, had taken the knife away from him. The diver saw a look of af fectionate alarm in the face of the little creature and then he saw that the shark was close at hand- He brandished his knife and the hideous monster of the deep fled. When the diver finished the work on the anchor and was drawn to rhe surface. he took the little crab with him. In the cabin of the boat that night he told the story to the other div ers. and the little crustacean in stantly became a universal fa vorite. They kept her and fed her. and when she became of marriageable age they caught a handsome young mate for her. In due time she became a mother crab and had a hundred or so babies. The divers knew that, in spite of all the affection human beings could lavish upon a crab, a boat was no place for a large and growing crab fam ily. So they released their friend and her mate and all of her ba bies. The whole clan went scur rying away through the water, but first the little female crab turned around for one last look ar her human friends. And there were moist eyes and a sn if Re or two among the hard ened men of the underwater.— r/toTHiur tjx Tnif StcriffiT. ¥ # Brown: "Your wife is a very ayatematie woman, isn't she?1'* Jones: ^Yes, very. She works on the theory that you can find whatever you want when you donft want it by look tn g where it wouldn't be if you did want it,"—JFeeWy _VewB (Atu^faREf, N. JANUABr, 1639 63

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