Saru Kani Gassen

Saru Kani Gassen
(The Quarrel of the Monkey and the Crab) Once upon a time a crab and a monkey were walking together. As they were going on their way, the crab found a rice ball and the monkey found a persimmon seed. The monkey wanted the rice ball, so he proposed a trade. The crab knew it was an unfair trade, but was finally persuaded by the monkey to trade the rice ball for the persimmon seed. They exchanged the two items, but immediately after receiving the rice ball, monkey gobbled it up. The crab took the inedible persimmon seed to his garden and planted. He cared for it every day and it grew and grew, from a seed to a fine tree. One autumn day the crab went out to pick some of the ripe persimmons from his tree, but no matter