Crab That Played With The Sea, The

[Music] this is the story of the crab that played with the sea it's a true story and it happened just so long ago in the high and far off times there was the time of the very beginning this was the time that the eldest magician was was getting the world ready for all to enjoy first he got the Earth ready then he got the sea ready then one by one he showed every animal in the world the part it should play in the pattern of things and by evening he had told just about all the birds and beasts and Fishes the play they were to play then he came upon man with his little girl daughter and said now it is time for you to play your part I will make all the animals in the world obey you if you promise to always care for them properly I promise that I shall and my little girl daughter will help me lurking nearby was the gigantic puu AMA king of C abbs H he thought I will never obey this son of Adam I will play my own play alone in the deepest water in the [Music] world but the little girl daughter saw him slip away and kept the memory of it safe in her Mind's Eye thinking that he had given orders to absolutely every animal on earth the eldest magician decided to see that all the animals were playing properly he looked North to the elephant is this right said the elephant that is quite right said the eldest magician and created the great Himalayan Mountains he looked East to the cow is this right that is quite right said the eldest magician and created the Indian and Sahara deserts he looked West to the beaver is this right said the beaver quite right said the eldest magician and created the Everglades in Florida he looked South to the turtle is this right said the turtle that is quite right said the eldest magician and created the beautiful melee archipelago oh son of Adam are all the animals obedient to you yes said the man and are you taking care of them yes said the man is all the Earth obedient to you yes said the man is all the sea obedient to you no said the man once a day and Once a Night the sea runs up the perak river causing much harm and alarm and once a day and Once a Night the river runs back down to the Sea leaving death and destruction really well this is a very bad thing somebody is playing with the sea who dares to disobey my commands then all the birds and beasts and Fishes said not us eldest magician we play the plays you taught us but none of us would ever play with the sea oh Fisher of the Moon boomed the eldest magician are you playing with the sea no said the fisherman I am too busy trying to catch the world and my hook and you rat of the Moon are you playing with the sea no said the rat I'm too busy trying to bite through the line of this old fisherman then the little girl daughter said at the time of the very beginning I saw one Beast who went away naughtily into the sea before you had taught him his play he was huge and round with strong armor upon his back his eyes grew on stalks and he walked sideways like this ah wisest of humans said the eldest magician I think it's time we talk to paama come out paama called the eldest magician and explain what you have been doing go away I'm doing no harm once a day and once a night I go out to look for food once a day and once a night I return surely that is of no consequence look said the magician your movements are of great consequence when you go out the Waters of the sea sink and the rivers shrink back from their Shores when you come back the Waters of the sea rise and flood the land causing much harm and alarm ho ho said paama I never knew I was so important in future I will go out seven times a day and the waters shall never be still and the eldest magician grew very angry you know that I cannot force you to play properly because you escaped me at the very beginning however I could make a bargain with you so come up and face me unless you are afraid of course I am the most important creature in the world tell me of your bargain attend closely said the eldest magician for the first part begins like this oh no gasped paama without my hard shell I I am not important at all I am so soft that everyone from sharks to Dogfish will try to eat me and I'm so big that the only place to hide is in the deepest water at the heart of the sea oh please please tell me the rest of your bargain well I could make every hole and bunch of weed a safe place for you to hide I could make the dry land a safe place for you to Scuttle around in said the man I could give you these golden scissors so that you could hunt for food and defend yourself said the girl daughter that is all very well said the not so important king crab but without my hard shell all these things are of no use to me tell me what I must do as my part of the bargain [Music] you must accept your shell back again said the magician but this time it will remain hard for only 11 months of the year during the 12th month it will go all soft as it is now to remind you that I am the all powerful maker of the world and you are only a crab and should Play Your Part along with everyone else well that all sounds fair enough said paama I shall keep my side of the bargain and accept my shell back again and we smiled the magician will keep our side of the bargain too then the tiny paama smallest of all king crabs said I can hide in the seaweed I can breathe fresh air I can crack nuts that was well done said the man but now without pama's Great Wave to help us I shall have to paddle back home and it's such a long way you are lazy said the magician so you and your children's children will always be called my lazy the lazy people but I owe your little girl daughter a kindness so fisherman pull this Lazy Man's canoe home with your line was that right said the fisherman that was quite right said the eldest magician see now that you pull the sea twice a day and twice a night to save the maayi from having to paddle in and out of the perak river and ever since that day the moon has pulled the sea up and down in what we call tides and as for pama's children's children they Scuttle safely from seaweed to Stones frightening off naughty children who try to catch them and once a year their hard shells turn soft precisely as the eldest magician warned it would be when he cut paama down to size e [Music]