The Crab and the Monkey by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. Short summary

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A crab killed a monkey for cheating him. He was tried and sentenced to death. His life and his family were ruined because of a common green unripe persimmon.

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The story is a description of the aftermath of the famous Japanese tale «Revenge of the Crab,» in which a mollusk killed a monkey for dishonestly exchanging a rice ball for an unripe persimmon.

No one from his entourage or bystanders supported the crab’s actions, considering them unworthy revenge. He was arrested and tried and sentenced to death. His accomplices, the mortar, the egg, and the wasp, were sent to hard labor for life.

Crab’s wife became a prostitute. His eldest son became a regular manager, the middle one a writer. And the youngest also once fell for the tricks of the cunning monkey.

Everyone decided that the death of the crab was fair. Everyone involved in the trial — the lawyers, the prosecutor, the judge, the executioner — all slept the sleep of two days and dreamed of the gates of heaven. But it’s worth thinking about, we are all regular crabs — and when fighting the temple monkey, we are bound to be defeated and killed «in the name of justice and the motherland».