THE MOVING TAIL

A crocodile and a crab were very good friends. They lived near a big lake. There were many fish in the lake and so both of them easily caught fish for their meals and never went hungry.

One day, the crocodiles said to the crab, 'I am fed up of eating fish. I wish we could eat something else. "The crab agreed.

The crocodile continued, "All the animals are actually afraid to come to this lake because of me. so we have to eat only fish."

"It is boring to have fish all the time let me think. We should plan to make other animals start coming to this lake again, "Said the crab.

"How I wish they were not afraid of me1 Crabby, "Signed the crocodile.

"That is it, Cocky. Animals will only come here if they are not afraid of you, "said the crab.

"How?" asked the crocodile.

"Cocky, you can go and hide somewhere," said the crab.

"That will not help at all, Crabby. There are no secrets here in the forest. Everybody here knows what is happening everywhere, "Said the crocodile.

"Very true. Oh! What if you were dead, Cocky!" said the crab.

"Excuse me, Crabby. I thought you were my friend, "said the crocodile, getting angry.

"Come on, Cocky! I am not saying that you really die. You can pretend to be dead, "said the crab.

"Well, that is possible, "replied the crocodile.

"You can lie still as if you are dead and I will tell all the animals that you are dead, "Said the crab.

"They will still not come near me, "said the crocodile.

The crab ran out and told whoever he met that the crocodile had died and that they could safety drink water from the lake.

Then the crab met a jackal. He told the jackal about the crocodile being dead.

The jackal was thirty and wanted to drink water. So he went with the crab towards the lake.

Meanwhile, the crocodile was ready to play his part. He lay still pretending to be dead. He was early waiting for his crab friend to lure some animal into their well planned trap.

The jackal saw the crocodile lying still, but he was not sure that the crab was speaking the truth.

The jackal was very wise. He knew that the crab and the crocodile were friends.

He could not understand why the crab was not feeling bad about his friend's death.

The jackal decided to find out the truth behind the crocodile's death by playing a trick.

He said loudly, "Is the crocodile really dead, Mr. Crab?"

The crab replide, "Yes dear Mr. Jackal"

The jackal said, "But when a crocodile deis, its tail moves sometimes."

The crab said, "Yes, the crocodile's tail does move sometimes. Just watch."

The crocodile had been listening to their conversation. He could no longer wait to gobble up the jackal.  So when he heard about dead crocodiles moving their tails, he began to move his tail too, to convince the jackal.

The jackal said, "SO THIS IS JUST A plan to fool the other animals."

"NO, no, cried the crab.

"Of course, it is. You are telling a lie that the crocodile is dead," said the jackal.

But see, he moved his tail as a dead crocodile would," assured the crab.

"The crocodile is alive. A dead crocodile would never have been able to move his tail," said the jackal in a loud voice.

The crab muttered, "But you said just now that a dead crocodile moves its tail."
The jackal said, "That was just to test whether you were telling the truth. Now I will tell every animal in the forest that you both are not only cunning but liars too."

The crab and the crocodile felt very ashamed as the jackal ran away to tell others about the lie. After this, the two friends, the crab and the crocodile, had to be content eating only fish and nothing else.