BATTLE monkey and a crab once met when going round a mountain* The monkey had picked up a persimmon-seed, and the crab had a piece of toasted rice-cake. The monkey seeing this, and wishing to get something that could be turned to good account at once, said: <4Pray, exchange that rice- cake for this persimmon-seed," The crab, without a word, gave up his cake, and took the per- simmon-seed and planted it. At once it sprung up, and soon be. came a tree so high one had to look up at it. The tree was full of persimmons but the crab had no means of climbing the tree. So he asked the monkey to climb up and get the persimmons for him. The monkey got up on a limb of the tree and began to eat the persimmons. The unripe persim- mons he threw at the crab, but all the ripe and good ones he put in his pouch. The crab under the tree thus got his shell badly bruised and only by good luck escaped into his hole, where he lay distressed with pain and not able to get up. Now when the relatives and household of the crab heard how matters stood they were surprised and angry, and declared war and attacked the monkey, who leading forth a nu- merous following bid defiance to the other party. The crabs, find- ing themselves unable to meet and cope with this force, became still more ex- asperated and enraged, and retreated into their hole, and held a council of war. Then came a rice-mortar, a pounder, a bee, and an egg, and together they devised a deep-laid plot to be avenged First, they requested that peace be made with the crabs; and thus they induced the king of the mon- keys to enter their hole unattend* ed, and seated him on the hearth. The monkey not suspecting any took the htbashij or poker, to stir up the slumbering fire, when bang! went the egg, which was lying hidden in the ashes, and burned the monkey's arm. Sur- prised and alarmed he plunged his arm into the pickle-tub in the kitchen to relieve the pain of the burn. Then the bee which was hidden near the tub stung him sharply already in his face wet with tears. Without waiting to brush off the bee and howling bitterly, he rushed for the back door: but just then some sea-weed en- tangled his legs and made him slip. Then, down came the pound- er tumbling on him from a shelf, and the mortar too came rolling down on him from the roof of the porch, and broke his back and so weakened him that he was unable to rise up. Then came the crabs in a crowd and brandishing on high their pinchers they pinched the monkey to pieces. .-J by i^c Xobunstttt in Tokgo,