Stories are a part of our lives. We all grew up with stories. They could anecdotes of our family, narratives of our friends, tales that we read. We hear stories at work, at school, on television and in the movies. Stories bring us on adventures, to faraway places that open our imaginations to a world of possibilities.
Basically, stories are a powerful communication tool. Many have morals behind them and could help us navigate our way through life’s many tributaries.
Recently, my best friend gave my son the book.
“The Crane and the Crab” by S R Nathan – the former President of Singapore.
The book is a retelling of the Jataka tale, written thousands of years ago about the previous lives of the Buddha.
I am sure many people have read this story but here is a summary of the story.
A long, long time ago in a kampong, there was a pond with plenty of fish.
But the pond soon begins to dry up, and a watchful and greedy crane has an idea: He fools the fish into thinking that he will bring them to a large, sparkling lake.
As the story goes, the crane would pick up the fish with its beak to bring them to the lake. But instead of bringing the fish to the lake, the crane eats the fish. The crane does this with one fish at a time until all the fish in the pond are gone – all gobbled up by the greedy crane.
In the meantime, a crab that has been watching the crane has plans of his own. Once the crane returned to the pond after eating the final fish in the lake, the crab made his move.
The crab asked the crane if he could take him to the lake as well. The crane, being a greedy one that he is thought why not? A crab would certainly taste delicious after all the fish the crane had already eaten.
When the crane was about to pick up the crab with its beak, the crab said that he would prefer to ride on the crane’s back instead.
The crane was unsure about having the crab’s claws around his neck but as he was eager to make the crab his next meal, he agreed.
When they reached the lake, the crane turned to eat the crab. But knowing what the crane planned to do, the crab used his claws to squeeze the neck of the crane.
“Why are you doing that crab?” cried the crane.
The crab replied “Do you think I really believed that you took those poor fish to the lake?”
“I am not going to be your next meal,” the crab said.
The crane begged to be freed from the crab’s claws and said that he has learned his lesson. When the crab released his grip on the crane’s neck, the bird flew off without even looking behind.
The crab, meanwhile, happily made his way to the cool waters of the lake.
The moral of this story is undoubtedly the most important part of the story, and the story of the crane and the crab has many lessons to offer.
One of those is that it teaches us not to trust anyone blindly, and to always look for any possible motive or hidden agenda.
Another is that it also teaches us to use our brain to get out of tricky situations.
In the book by S R Nathan, the lesson stated is: you may take much pleasure in fooling others. But be careful – there will always be others waiting to teach you a very painful lesson.
I don’t know if being on this earth for 46 years qualifies me as having much wisdom but in life, I think that whatever age we are, we make our way through life by learning lessons along the way.
I particularly like this story about the crane and crab because of the lesson it teaches us. Most of us have met people like the crane. I certainly have. While they put up a friendly front, it is the hidden agenda that lies in their hearts that can land one in a problematic situation.
And if you were not as smart as the crab, you would get eaten up just like the fish. Basically, in my opinion, someone who is like the crane only has his or her interest at heart and would without any remorse, compassion or guilty conscience will do anything to ensure his or her agenda is reached.
My son often asks to read this book before he goes to sleep. It has become part of his bedtime ritual. Whenever we come to end of the story, he would ask me to explain (again) the lesson of the story to him.
“Are there really people like the crane Mummy?” he would ask.
“Yes definitely,” I tell him.
“But that is such a mean thing to do. To tell a lie just because you want something for yourself. Like the crane lied to the fish and ate them all up. Poor fish,” my son said shaking his head.
“That is why you have to be smart and be alert. In life you will come across people like the crane. They can be manipulative and sometimes, are constantly coming up with devious ways to make things bad for you. So you need to be observant and vigilant,” I explained.
Hopefully, that doesn’t scare my son too much and that he grows to manoeuvre his way through life with good instincts – like the crab.
