Reading Notes: The Giant Crab and Other Tales from Old India, Part B

Birds of a Feather

• Horse named Chestnut was kind of restless and always hurt other people and horses. 
• The King wanted to buy some horses but was cheap so he had Chestnut let out so he would hurt the other horses and lower the price. 
• The next time the dealer went to sale the King horses he made sure to bring another wild one to occupy Chestnut, turns out they like each other
• Long story short, the King felt bad and gave the dealer double the money. 

Spend a Pound to Win a Penny

• A strange story about a monkey and some peas
• Basically don't be greedy.

The Cunning Crane and the Crab

• Crane wanted to eat the fish in a drying up pond so he thought he would trick them
• Fish did not fall for his trick at first bc they knew he wanted to eat them
• The crane convinced them that he would take them to a beautiful cool lake

             - They fell for it, and the crane ate all the fish

• The crane tried to trick a crab after he ate all the fish but the crab knew better
• he had him carry him but only if he let him secure himself with his claw around his neck
• The crane took him to the lake with the intent to eat him but the crane clipped his head off
• Revenge

Union is Strength

• There was a quail hunter and he would catch many quails in a net every day
• One smart quail said when he catches us we will all fly together and lift the net
• This worked for a while until the quail started to quarrel then they fought so much the quail hunter caught them all one day when they were too busy arguing with each other

Silence is Golden

• This story is kind of sad bc it is about a lion who sounded like a jackal so all the other lions made fun of him. Reminds me of Rudolf the Red nose reindeer. 

The Quail and the Falcon

• There was a quail and he lived on the land of a farmer with a plough 
• One day he decided to venture out but while he was out a Falcon saw him and swooped down do grab him
• The quail convinced him to take him back to his own farm so the falcon could see it but when they landed the falcon stumbled and died

The Bold Beggar

• Story about a King who ate his fine meal in front of everyone
• One day a beggar came running and pretended to faint so the king let him eat some of his food
• When he was done and asked what the news was he said I was hungry and now I am not
• The king laughed

The Jackal Would A- Wooing Go

• A jackal fell in love with a lioness with 3 brothers
• he waited to propose to her until her brothers went off hunting
• The lioness was surprised and wanted nothing to do with the jackal, in fact she was disgusted. 
• He left all sad with his tail bw his legs
• When the brothers came home she told them this outrageous story and they one went to kill the jackal but he was behind a crystal wall and the two eldest cracked their skulls
• The youngest roared so loud it gave the jackal a heart attack and he died
• The sister wasn't even sad her two eldest brothers died. 
• Geez, kind of reminds me of Varuka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The Lion and the Boar

(Lion)

• Boar and Lion at water hole drinking
• Boar challenges lion to a fight
• Lion agrees to fight in a week bc he was full
• Boar goes back home and tells everyone what is going to happen, they freak out

“Dirty Boar, I want no more,

You’re saved from being eaten;

If you would fight, I yield me quite,

And own that I am beaten!”

• The boar rolled in mud so the lion would refuse to fight him.. it worked.

The Goblin City

• story about female goblins
• Maybe my story could be about this for Halloween
• Ship wreck

“Man’s meat, man’s meat,

That’s what Goblins like to eat!”

• The women goblin tricked the ship wrecked men into marrying them like they had others
• The captain found out they married goblins though 
• A magic horse saved them 

Lacknose

• Basically a story about a go with no nose but these kids who want a flower from his garden do not have a filter and offend him with their poems so he does not give them a flower
• The last little boy tells the gardner how it is and he gets a posy.
• Maybe I could make a rhyme about a posy

The King's Lesson

• A wise, good king named Godfrey.. this is ironic bc it reminds me of King Geoffrey from Game of Thrones... & he is not nice.
• This is a strange story about two kings who basically fight bc they are both too nice

Bibliography: The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India. W.H.D. Rouse. Illustrated by W. Robinson. 1897.