The Brahmin and the Crab
A mother will not let her son travel alone, so she fishes a crab out of the tank and sends it along in a camphor box. He humours her.
In a certain place lived a brahmin named Brahmadatta. Once he was setting out for some village, and his mother said: "Son! Why go alone? Find yourself a companion."
He said: "Mother, do not worry; this road is quite safe; I shall go alone."
Seeing that he insisted, his mother took a crab out of the tank nearby and said: "Son, if you must go, then take this crab at least as your companion."
He agreed, put the crab into a camphor box, dropped it into his bag, and set off briskly.
Going on, he came to a tree, and tired out by the heat he lay down and slept beneath it.
Meanwhile a black snake came out of a hollow in that tree. Drawn by the smell of camphor, it came close and began biting at the very box in which the crab was.
The crab understood, caught the snake in his sharp claws, and killed it on the spot.
When the brahmin woke he saw the snake lying dead, and the crab standing on top of the box.
He reflected: "It was this crab that killed it." And he said with delight: "My mother was right that one should always take a companion and never go alone. And because I accepted her word in good faith, this crab has saved me from death."
So it is said: even on a road no longer than a crow's footprint, a second companion makes for safety.
अपि काकपदे मार्गे द्वितीयः क्षेमकारकः । कर्कटेन द्वितीयेन जीवितं परिरक्षितम् ॥
Moral: Even on a road no longer than a crow's footprint, a second companion makes for safety — a life was saved by having a crab for company.
From the Panchatantra, Book V — Ill-Considered Action.
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