Deeply moved, the Crab went and told the fish. They begged the Heron to transport them to this heavenly lake, and so next morning he came, gently gathered two fish into his bill, and flew up and away over the mountain ridge. When he returned, other fish swam up, jostling and pleading, and he gathered them gently into his bill and flew away behind the ridge.

At length, the Crab too asked the Heron to carry him, and climbed up upon his neck. Up soared the Heron; and as he breasted the ridge, the Crab espied upon the far side a great heap of fish bones. Now he knew how matters really stood; and in an instant, he had his pincers around the Heron’s throat, and down they came in ruin.

Finding himself unhurt, the Crab left the wicked Heron lying stunned, and scuttled back to his lake, where he told the fish how they had all been deceived. As for the Heron, he should have heeded the warning of Scripture: ‘His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate’.*