A long time ago a there was crab who lived in a hole on the shady side of a mountain. She was a very good housewife. She took great pride in her hole and none was as neat or clean as hers in the whole land and she took great pride in it.
One day she saw a handful of rice that had landed near her hole. This was probably by some traveler who had let it fall while he was eating his dinner. Delighted to this discovery, she hastened to the spot and placed the rice on her back to carry back to her hole. Just then, a monkey who lived in some nearby trees came down to see what the crab was doing.
His eyes grew bright when he spied the rice, which was his favorite food. Being a sly monkey, he proposed a bargain for the rice with the crab. She was to give him half of the rice for a kernel of a sweet khaki fruit that he had just eaten. He half expected the crab to laugh in his face at his impudent proposal. However, she looked at him for a moment with her head to one side and said that she would agree to the exchange. So the monkey went off with the rice and the crab returned to her hole with the kernel.
For some time the crab saw no more of the monkey who had gone for a visit to the sunny side of the mountain. But one morning he happened to pass by the hole and saw her sitting under the shadow of the beautiful khaki tree.
"Good day" said the monkey, "You have some fine fruit there. I am very hungry, could you spare me one or two?" "Oh certainly", replied the crab. "But you must forgive me, I cannot get them for you as I am not a tree climber."
"You do not have to apologize" answered the monkey. "Now that I have your permission I can get them myself quite easily." The crab consented to let him go up by merely saying that he had to throw her down half of the fruit.
In another moment he was swinging from branch to branch eating all of the ripest fruit and filling his pockets to their fullest. The few fruits that he threw down to the crab were either not ripe yet or were fully rotten.
"You are a shocking rogue" the crab called out in rage. But the monkey took no notice and continued eating as fast as he could. The crab understood that scolding the monkey would do no good, so she resolved to try what cunning would do.
"Sir Monkey" she said, "you are certainly a very good climber but now that you have eaten so much I doubt that you could still do one of your somersaults." The monkey quite prided himself in turning somersaults better than anyone in his family. So, he instantly went head over heels three times on the branch on which he was sitting. All of the beautiful khakis that were in his pockets fell to the ground. Quick as lightning, the crab picked them up and carried a quantity of them into her home. But when she went for another, the monkey sprang upon her and treated her so badly that he left her for dead. When he had beaten her so badly that his arms hurt, he went on his way.
It was a lucky thing for that the poor crab that some of her friends had come to help or surely she would have died right there. The wasp flew to her, took her back to her bed, and looked after her. Then, he consulted with a rice-mortar and an egg which had fallen out of a nearby nest, that when the monkey returned they would punish him severely for beating the poor crab. So, the mortar climbed up the beam over the front door and the egg lied quite still on the ground, while the wasp set down the water bucket in a corner. Then, the crab dug a deep hole in the ground so that not even the tip of her claws might be seen.
Soon, after everything was ready, the monkey jumped down from his tree and creeping to the door began a long hypocritical speech asking pardon for all that he had done. He waited for an answer of some sort but none came. He listened, but all was still. Then, he peeped and saw no one. Then, he went in. He peered about for the crab but in vain. However, his eyes fell upon the egg which he snatched up and set on fire. But in a moment the egg burst into a thousand pieces and its sharp shell struck him in the face and scratched him horribly. Smarting with pain, he ran to the bucket and stooped down to throw some water over his head. As he stretched out his hand, the wasp stung him sharply on his nose. The monkey shrieked and ran for the door. As he ran through down fell the mortar and struck him dead.
After that, the crab lived happily for many years and at length died in peace under her own khaki tree,
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