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The Two Crabs

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By Staff Middle Land

April 3, 2024
5:24 pm
Los Angeles, CA

Adapted from Aesop* ONCE upon a time there was a Great Big Crab and once upon a time there was a little bit of a Crab. And the Big Crab used to come out of the sea and walk along on the sand of the beach. And the Little Crab used to come out of the sea and walk along on the sand of the beach also. So the Big Crab and the Little Crab would walk along together and the great green lobsters and the starfish and all the other creatures of the sea would stand in a row to watch them. Now the Big Crab thought himself a very big crab indeed. He rolled his eyes about to see who was looking at him whenever he went

Adapted from Aesop*

ONCE upon a time there was a Great Big Crab and once upon a time there was a little bit of a Crab. And the Big Crab used to come out of the sea and walk along on the sand of the beach. And the Little Crab used to come out of the sea and walk along on the sand of the beach also. So the Big Crab and the Little Crab would walk along together and the great green lobsters and the starfish and all the other creatures of the sea would stand in a row to watch them. Now the Big Crab thought himself a very big crab indeed. He rolled his eyes about to see who was looking at him whenever he went out to walk. But, one day, when he was thinking how everyone must be admiring him, as he walked along with his friend, he chanced to look down and see that the Little Crab was walking queerly. Waddle, waddle, twist and hitch the Little Crab was going.

“Dear me! Dear me!” the Big Crab said to himself. “Nobody will think much of me if they see me with such a poor Little Crab who doesn’t know how to walk but goes along waddle, waddle, twist and hitch and waddle!”

So the Big Crab said to the Little Crab: “Child, you walk very queerly, twisting all the time and waddling from side to side. I hate to be seen in company with such a clumsy creature. Pray stop this waddle-waddle and walk in a straight line forward, one foot before the other.”

Well, the Little Crab felt very sorry that his walk did not please his friend and he very much wanted to change it; so he said, “I’ll just look at the Big Crab and learn how to walk from him.” Then he turned his eyes to look, and lo and behold, the Big Crab, the great, big, fine-feeling Big Crab, was going waddle, waddle, twist and hitch himself!
“Well, well, well!” said the Little Crab. “Here’s a fine state of affairs! If you want me to walk straight, you must show me how, my friend, by first walking straight yourself! The only way to teach others how to do what is right, is just to do right yourself!”

*The slave boy, Aesop, told animal fables in Greece about 600 B.C. Although his tales were not written down till long after his death, they have lived through the ages and been translated into many languages