A heron over Padarn lake near Snowdon, Wales.
A heron launches himself across Padarn Lake, Llanberis, at the foot of Mt Snowdon in Wales.
Part 1 of 2
ONCE upon a time an aged Heron,* who had lived all his days beside a lake teeming with fish, was compelled to admit he was getting a little too stiff in the joints to catch his own meals. After thinking it over, he wandered across to a Crab, and sighed heavily.
‘What ails you, Heron?’ inquired the Crab.
‘Alas,’ the bird wept, ‘I heard two Fishermen say, that there were many good fish in this lake, and that when they had fished their own lake till naught was left, they would come hither, and fish this one. All the dear little fishes will die; and I (who have not taken above two fish in a day, and done no real harm) will starve!’
Seeing that the Crab was much distressed by this news, the Heron hurried on. ‘But fear not! There is another lake, beautiful as the dawn, so clear that the bird aloft may count the grains of sand upon the floor. No net is cast there, neither is there line nor lure. I will take the little fishes there myself, by two and by two. It is a great labour, but I must bear it.’
* This story is told within another, the Fable of The Raven and the Snake.
Précis
An ageing Heron (so the fable goes) devised a cunning plan to get the fish to serve themselves up as food without any effort on his part. He told an influential Crab that fishermen were poised to catch all the fish, and that he was willing to transport them to another lake, a place of heavenly peace and safety. (59 / 60 words)
Part Two
Ghost crab in Bateman’s Bay, NSW.
A surprised-looking ghost crab in Bateman’s Bay, New South Wales, Australia.
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’.*
* Psalm 7:16. The Persian tale, naturally enough, quotes from the Koran to the same effect.
Précis
The fish eagerly accepted the Heron’s offer, and were carried away two by two. When the Crab’s turn came, he spotted as they flew a heap of fishbones beyond the ridge; and, realising the grim truth, he throttled the Heron there and then. The Heron was left to reflect that the wicked are often the authors of their own punishment. (60 / 60 words)
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