By: thesongist

FolkTale Origins: Japan

The Japanese folktale, The Quarrel of the Monkey and the Crab, was published in Yei Theodora Ozaki's 1908 folktale retelling, Japan Fairy Tales. Some of the major themes present in this story include: the truth will always be revealed, evil will never prevail, greed guides the wicked to ruin, and pride comes before the fall. 

The story starts with a monkey and a crab playing along the riverside on a beautiful, fall day. While running along the river, the monkey and the crab discovered two food items: the crab, a rice dumpling; the monkey, a persimmon seed. Showing each other their findings, the monkey realized that the crab's rice dumpling looked a lot more appealing than his hard, inedible seed.

As greedy as he was, the cunning monkey devised a scheme. Although he wanted both the persimmon seed and the rice dumpling, the monkey decided the rice dumpling was his first priority. He proposed a trade with the crab who wasn't convinced that it was an equal exchange at first; however, the crab changed his mind when the monkey spoke of the seed's future fruit.

The crab envisioned the delicious fruits that the seed would eventually bear, and he agreed to make the trade with the monkey. While the monkey returned to his residence in the forest, the crab went back to his residence in the rocky area next to the river. The crab planted the seed as instructed and waited for the seed to blossom into a tree that would bear the promised fruit.

During the following spring, a small tree sprouted from the ground which made the crab very happy. Every year that passed the tree grew bigger and bigger. Finally, one fall, it produced fruit. The crab saw the large and plump persimmon fruits and was thankful that he had waited. However, the crab ran into a big problem: Crabs can't climb trees.

Saddened by his inability to climb the tree, the crab went to speak with his friend,

the monkey, whose body was perfect for climbing and retrieving the fruit. Once again, the greedy monkey concocted an evil scheme, one where he would eat all the persimmons by himself. And true to his initial thoughts, once the monkey was brought to the fully-ripened tree, the monkey devoured all of the ripened persimmon fruits and left only scraps for the crab.

The crab, who felt cheated by the monkey's stealing, complained to the monkey. After a while of constantly complaining, the monkey plucked one of the hardest, unripened persimmons and threw it directly at the crab's head. The persimmon smashed into the poor crab's head, severely hurting him. One hard persimmon after another, the monkey was relentless until the crab died. The crab's corpse was riddled with many bruises, and, on top of that, he had a crushed shell.

Fearing the consequences of the murder, the monkey hid in the forest. The crab, however, had a son. The crab's son found his father's corpse and mourned his death. He vowed to avenge his father's death and searched for clues around the persimmon tree. After realizing that only the ripest fruits from the top of the tree had been eaten and the rest discarded at the base and remembering his father's story about the persimmon seed and the rice dumpling, the crab's son determined that it was the monkey who killed his father.

Although he was consumed by rage, the crab's son stopped himself. He knew that with how cunning the monkey was, he couldn't take revenge alone. He went to his father's old friends, the mortar, the chestnut, and the bee, who vowed to help him take revenge after hearing the truth of their friend's death. Punishment would most certainly come to the murderous monkey. After plotting out their revenge plan against the monkey, the mortar helped him bury his father's body.

While the crab's son and his father's friends were carrying out their revenge plan, the monkey, who had hidden in the forest, fretted over the murder. However, he carried not the guilt of murdering his best friend, but rather he worried for his own skin. Eventually, the monkey convinced himself that none of the simpleton crabs would ever figure out his evil deed. He even went as far as eavesdropping on the crab's neighborhood gossip to see if he was safe.

Everything, however, was going according to the revenge plan of the crab's son. For the monkey was tricked due to the crabs feigning ignorance of the murderer. The crab's son had told his fellow crabs that his father died by falling while trying to pick the persimmon fruits. Filled with overconfidence, the tricked monkey returned back to his house in the forest.

One day, a young messenger crab came to visit the monkey and informed him of a feast in the deceased crab's honor. Thinking about all of the delicious food served at the death anniversary, the monkey greedily accepted the invitation with fake tears. After the messenger crab left the forest, the monkey openly mocked the "innocent" young crab who didn't discover the truth.

On the day of the feast, the monkey was greeted by the crab's family and friends with open arms. As the guest of honor, the monkey ate and drank as much food and drink as he could devour. After the main meal was over, the young crab chief (the crab's son) left the room and didn't return. Due to this, the monkey grew bored waiting for the tea ceremony to finish and for the host to come back. Neither of these happened.

The monkey drew closer to the fireplace and poured out the kettle's boiling water. Out of nowhere, the ash rose, and something struck him in the neck. That something was actually the chestnut, one of the deceased crab's old friends. The monkey ran out of the room in haste. The bee, another one of the deceased crab's old friends, stung him on the cheek as soon as he exited.

As the monkey tried to escape the residence through the stone gate, the mortar, one of the deceased crab's old friends, along with all the other stones fell atop the monkey's head. The monkey fell to the ground with all kinds of aches and pains from the stones crushing his body. The crab's son approached the monkey in his time of helplessness.

With his claws extended out toward the monkey, the crab's son questioned the monkey asking him if he remembered that he had killed his father. The monkey, even when crushed under the weight of the mortar and stones, responded that it was the crab's fault for his death, not his. Exacting revenge upon the unrepentant monkey, the crab's son chopped off his head.

Evil was thus vanquished by the claws of revenge.