The Monkeys and the Crabs

The Monkeys and the Crabs

In the south, beside a warm sea, there was a forest that grew almost to the shore. During the day, monkeys chattered in its branches. Below them, where the waves pulled away from the sand twice each day, crabs made their homes. When the tide went out, the sea slowly moved away. Shells, small pools, and little burrows appeared on the wet sand. The monkeys knew this time well. “To the shore!” cried one. “Quickly, while the water is far away!” called another. The whole troop came down from the trees. The crabs knew they had to be careful too. When they heard paws thumping and monkeys calling, they hurried into the soft mud. But monkeys are curious. And, to tell the truth, sometimes too playful. One day, a young monkey named Kiki noticed a fresh crab burrow. “Someone is in there!” she said. “Do not poke about,” warned an old monkey. “Everyone on the shore needs a place where they will not be disturbed.” But Kiki laughed. “I only want to look.” She bent over the burrow, but she could not see anything. Then she sat with her back to the opening and lowered the tip of her long tail inside. “Come out, little crab!” she teased. “Who is hiding in there?” A large crab sat in the burrow. At first, he tried to be patient. Kiki wiggled her tail again and again. At last, the crab clicked his claws and grabbed her tail tightly. “Ow!” Kiki jumped. She pulled her tail toward herself. The crab did not let go. Kiki pulled harder. The crab braced all his legs against the sides of the burrow. “Help!” cried the young monkey. The other monkeys ran over and caught hold of her paws. “One, two, three, pull!” They pulled Kiki. Kiki pulled her tail. The crab held on to the tail. Everyone was so busy that no one noticed the sea changing. The waves were no longer moving away. They were returning. At first, water touched the sand nearby. Then it rolled closer. “The tide is coming in!” cried the old monkey. “We must go now!” Kiki stopped tugging. The crab in the burrow felt the cold seawater too. For a moment, everyone was still. Then Kiki said, “Crab, I will not tease you again. Please let me go.” Perhaps the crab understood. Or perhaps he simply wanted to hide from all the confusion. He opened his claw. Kiki leaped away at once. “To the trees!” called the old monkey. The monkeys ran into the forest, while the crab burrowed deeper into the wet sand. A few moments later, water covered the place where they had been arguing. From a high branch, Kiki looked down at the waves without speaking. “Well?” asked the old monkey. “Was it interesting?” Kiki rubbed her tail. “It was. But I do not want to do that again.” The next day, the sea pulled back once more. The monkeys came to the shore again. This time, when Kiki saw a crab burrow, she walked around it. “That is someone’s home,” she told the younger monkeys. “Do not put your tail into it.” From then on, the monkeys remembered two things. First, the shore at low tide never belongs only to the one who arrives first. Second, if you tease someone simply because they are smaller or hiding, you may find yourself in a very large problem. And whenever the crabs heard monkey footsteps above them, they stayed quietly in their burrows until the noisy company passed by. The sea is wide, the shore is long, and there is room for everyone when no one makes life harder for another.

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨