Tale of sandcrab

Once upon a time, a farm couple had a garden having a cave in where a snake couple lived. The man’s name was Da Trang (name of a kind of crabs) he used to work next to the cave and had known a snake couples were living in.

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One day, he saw male snake swept out of the cave alone while the female was curling inside the cave, it had just shed. A short time later, the male came back to cave, brought a fog and gave it to female.

Weeks later, he saw the female went out alone. That time, the male shed it was lying silently in the cave. Long time later, the female came back with another male. They had stood front of cave for few minutes then the other male swept alone to cave. The man realized what that male wants to do and he felt sorry to the male was lying in cave so he grabbed his archery and shot to the other male but the arrow lost its way and shot into the female head. The female was died. He came home and had never gone back that cave.
One day, when he was picking vegetables, he heard crows were talking with others about a dead deer. He asked them and they talked that a deer was killed lying at the moutain behind his house so he came and got it but left them its stomach. Follow crows’ word, he came and took a piece of meat. He also talked to his neighbor but forgot talked them left its stomach for crows so they left nothing.

Soldiers found out the arrow belonged to DaTrang so he was detained. Although he had explained very hard but the arrow exactly belong to him. Still not give up, he continued explaining. At last, soldiers decided brought him to King to judge.

The couple felt poor for Da Trang so they decided to kill a goose they had to treat him. While the couples were talking, the male goose was standing nearly and had heard. It came back cage stall and said with male goose that: “You must alive to take care of our offspring, I will stand frozen so they could catch me.” The female didn’t agree, she wanted to die instead of her husband but the male didn’t change his decision, he ran up to his offspring, talked them: “My offspring, you, since now, will have to live with your mom. I will have never met you again”. The female, on the other hand, still ran after the male and insisted to die. Meanwhile, Da Trang was lying in bed and hearing what they were talking. He felt sorry for those geese so he was waiting until when his friend caught a goose he would stop killing that goose. Although he was so tired, he still awoke. Midnight, his fiend came to stall to catch the poor goose. Da Trang ran to kitchen immediately and said:”Please, let it free. I don’t like kill any animals. Our friendship only needed our hearts which are enough. If you kill it, I will leave immediately.”

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When his friend had heard, he let the goose go and asked his wife to get some shrimps instead. After eating, Da Trang went. He passed a lake where the couples of geese and their offspring were standing. The male goose gifted him a gem and said: “To thank you for saving my life, I gift you this gem. If you bring it, not only you will walk in water easily but also you could stir water to bottom of the sea by waving your hand which held this gem”. “About shrim, we will have never eaten them for saving their lives” he added

Da Trang received the gem and went up. When he came to a river, he held the gem and walk down to river which was slitted in two. He had walked around for long times, watching all things in the bottom of river. To check the remaining words of the goose, he waved his hand. God Dragon (King of all animals in the water) and his servants who were taking a conversation suddenly felt their castle shaky. He forced his servent to take a look immediately. Following the wave, they found out Da Trang but they didn’t dare to do anything. Therefore, they invited him to castle in the bottom of the sea. When Da Trang met God Dragon, he said he only wanted try on some magical. The God Dragon and his servants had heard, they felt scared, they thought that if he did it again their castle and their life would be ruined. Therefore, King Dragon was treating him very kind while he was stay in the castle. When he left, King Dragon gifted him very much gold to respect him and went with him until he have arrived his home.

Five days later, while he was lying in hammock, he talked the story about snacks to his wife. He had just finished, he heard a hissing sound from his roof. They looked up quickly and saw a big snake was lying in his roof which peered its head to the man and said human language: “I had thought you are enemy so I had lain here for few days to bite you but after hearing your story I think I am wrong. Therefore, I gift you this gem which will help you hear and understand all kinds of birds in the world”. He received the gem and always brought it.

The crows didn’t see the stomach. They thought that he got entire the deer so they arrived his house and yelled. Knowing that his neighbors made him become not honest he explained but crows didn’t believe and still yelled. Being angry, he took his archery and shot but crows could dodge. They brought his arrow away. When they were flying across a river, they saw a cadaver so they flew down and stuck his arrow on the cadaver’s throat.

They stopped at a restaurant to rest. The next morning, when he had wake up, he heard some sparrows were flying across, talking that:

“Hurry up, this time we don’t need to worry about food

Whose is the rice?

It belong King of neighbor country. They are going to attack this country but the wagon of rice had just crossed boder then fell down so they came back to took another. We can eat as much as we want.”

After that, he talked to soldier to see Kingdom for some dangerous things coming. The soldiers asked for detail but he did say nothing. After saw the King, he said him that the neighbors country was going to attack their country, they was waiting for enough rice to go.

Kingdom was so worry and he asked him again. Da Trang bowed his head for sure and added that if he lied he would except to die and if he was true he wanted to be free. The soldier spread any direction to look for information. The next day, he was free. He walked to home. Afternoon, he visited his friend and his friend’s wife to rest. He talked them about whole story that he had nearly lost his head.

After coming back home, he made a pocket, putted his gems into it and always brought it. One day, he was invited to a party and left his pocket at home. Although he participated the party but he felt so worry about pocket. The party had finished, he walked up immediately to home. But when he came home, he couldn’t find both his pocket and his wife. At last, he found out a paper in which his wife write that Kig Dragon said her he will let her become queen if he gave him his gems so she stole his gems to give God Dragon.

After reading her paper, he was fainting. He never thought that both his wife and God Dragon could be hideous as that. He felt crazy and wanted his gems back. He had taken sands to fill the sea to make a road toward the castle on the bottom of see until he died. After he died, he was transformed in to a crab but had still not given up. Now crabs still take sands to fill the sea. This story explains why crabs always take sands and why geese never eat shrimps

THE END

"Translated by Hung Nguyen"

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