One day the land crabs had a meeting and one of them said:  
“What shall we do with the waves? They sing so loudly all the time that we cannot possibly sleep.”
 
“Well,” answered one of the oldest of the crabs, “I think we should make war on them.”
 
The others agreed to this, and it was decided that the next day all the male crabs should get ready to fight the waves. They started for the sea, as agreed, when they met a shrimp.
 
“Where are you going, my friends?” asked the shrimp.
 
“We are going to fight the waves,” answered the crabs, “for they make so much noise at night that we cannot sleep.”
 
“I do not think you will succeed,” said the shrimp, “for the waves are very strong and your legs are so weak that even your bodies bend almost to the ground when you walk.” Wherewith he laughed loudly.
 
This made the crabs very angry, and they pinched the shrimp until he promised to help them win the battle.
 
Then they all went to the shore. But the crabs noticed that the eyes of the shrimp were set unlike their [216]own, so they thought his must be wrong and they laughed at him ............