The Heron and the Crab
Too old to catch fish, a heron weeps on the bank and offers to carry them one at a time to a safer lake. Then a crab asks to go next.
In a forest region there was a large lake full of water creatures of every sort. An old heron lived there. Age had made him too slow to catch fish, and he went about faint with hunger.
One day he sat on the bank and began to weep. The water creatures gathered and asked: "Uncle! Why are you crying today instead of eating?" The heron said: "Children, I have grown detached from all that. But today I overheard some fishermen — tomorrow they will cast their nets in this lake and take every fish in it. My heart breaks at the thought of your destruction."
At this the creatures panicked and threw themselves on his mercy: "Uncle, save us!" The heron said: "I am weak, but there is one way. Nearby is a deep, clear lake. I will carry you there one at a time in my beak."
The fish began pushing forward — "Me first! Me first!" The heron would lift one, fly a short way, settle on a rock and eat it at leisure, then come back for the next. Day after day this went on, and he grew fat.
At last a crab said: "Uncle, take me to that lake too; I am afraid as well." The heron thought: "I am tired of fish; today I shall taste crab" — and flew off with him on his back.
When they came over the rock, the crab looked down and saw a heap of fish bones. He asked: "Uncle, how much further is this lake? I am getting heavy." The heron laughed: "Fool! There is no other lake. This is how I make my living. Say a prayer to whatever god you have."
But the crab had already fastened his sharp claws around that long neck. The heron thrashed to get free; the crab tightened his grip and cut the neck through. The heron dropped dead where he was.
The crab carried the neck slowly back to the lake and told the fish the whole story. The survivors reckoned him their benefactor, and lived from then on without fear.
अतिलोभाद्बको मत्स्यानधमोत्तममध्यमान् । भक्षयित्वा गतो मृत्युं कर्कटस्य निपातनात् ॥
Moral: Out of sheer greed the heron devoured fish of every kind — high, middling and low — and then met his death at the claws of a crab.
From the Panchatantra, Book I — The Loss of Friends.
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