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Red Yard Kippling. The Oceans Tides. Tonight, we'll read a story from just-so-stories, Rudyard Kipling. Published in 1902, titled The Crab that Played With The Sea. The book is a collection of origin stories. Kipling began working on the book by telling the first three chapters as bedtime stories to his daughter Josephine. These had to be told just so, exactly in the words she was used to, or she would complain. The stories illustrate how animals obtained their distinctive features, such as how the leopard got his spots.

This particular story explains the eb and flow of the tides,

as well as how the crab changed, a huge animal into the swamp.

Let's get cozy.

Close your eyes. Relax your body into the softness of your bed. Now, take a few deep breaths. Before the high and far off times, all my best beloved came the time of the very beginnings, and that was in the days when the eldest magician was getting things ready. First, he got the earth ready, then he got the sea ready, and then he told all the animals that they could come out and play. And the animal said, Oh eldest magician, what shall we play at? And he said, I will show you. He took the elephant, all the elephant there was, and said, play at being an elephant. And all the elephant there was, played. He took the beaver. All the beaver there was and said, play at being a beaver. And all the beaver there was, played. He took the cow. All the cow there was, and said, play at being a cow. And all the cow there was played. One by one, he took all the beasts and birds and fishes, and told them what to play at. But towards evening, when people and things grow restless and tired, with his own best beloved little daughter sitting upon his shoulder, and he said, What is this play, eldest magician? Andist Magician said, Oh, Son of Adam, this is the play of the very beginning, but you are too wise for this play. And the man saluted and said, Yes, I am too wise for this play, but see that you make all the animals obedient to me. Now, while the two were talking together, Pow Emma, the crab, who was next in the game, scuttled off sideways and stepped into the sea, saying to himself, I will play my play alone in the deep waters, and I will never be obedient to this son of Adam. Nobody saw him go away, except the man's daughter. And the play went on till there was no more animals left without orders. And the eldest magician wiped the fine dust off his hands, and walked about the world to see how the animals were playing. He went north, and he found all the elephant there was, digging with his tusks, and stamping with his feet in the nice new cune earth that had been made ready for him. Khan said all the elephant there was, meaning is this right? Paya Khan said the eldest magician, meaning that is quite right, and he breathed upon the great rocks and lumps of earth that all the elephant there was had thrown up, and they became the great Himalayan mountains, and you can look them out on the map. He went east, and he found all the cow there was, feeding in the field that had been made ready for her. And she licked her tongue around a hole forest at a time, and swallowed it, and sat down to chew her cut. Gun said all the cow there was. Buy a gun, said the eldest magician. he breathed upon the bear patch where she had eaten, and upon the place where she had sat down, and one became the great Indian desert, and the other became the desert of Sahara, and you can look them out on the map. He went west, and he found all the beaver there was, making a beaver dam across the mouths of broad rivers that had been gotten ready for him. Gunn said all the beaver there was, by a gun, said the eldest magician, and he breathed upon the fallen trees and the still water,

and they became the Everglades in Florida, and you may look them out on the map. Then he went south, and found all the turtle there was, scratching with his flippers in the sand that had been gotten ready for him, and the sand and the rocks were rolled through the air and fell far off into the sea. Gunn said all the turtle there was? Buy a gun, said the eldest magician, and he breathed upon the sand and the rocks where they had fallen in the sea, and they became the most beautiful islands of Borneo, Celebus, Sumatra, Java, and the rest of the Malay archipelago, and you can look them out on the map. By and by the eldest magician met the man on the banks of the parake river and said, all, son of Adam, are all the animals obedient to you. Yes, said the man, is all the earth obedient to you? Yes, said the man, is all the sea obedient to you. No, said the man, once a day, and once a night, the sea runs up the river and drives the sweet water back into the forest so that my house is made wet. Once a day, and once a night, it runs down the river and draws all the water after it, so that there is nothing left but mud, and my canoe is upset. Is that the play you told it to play?" No, said the eldest magician. That is a new and a bad play. Look, said the man, and as he spoke, the great sea came up the mouth of the river, driving the river backwards till it overflowed all the dark forests, for miles and miles, and flooded the man's house. This is wrong. Launch your canoe, and we will find out who was playing with the sea," said the eldest magician. They stepped into the canoe. His daughter came with them, and the man took his criss, a curving wavy dagger with a blade like flame, and they pushed out on the river. Then the sea began to run back and back, and the canoe was sucked out of the mouth of the river. Past Seligor, past Malaka, past Singapore, out and out to the island of Bingtang, as though it had been pulled by a string.

Then the eldest magician stood up and shouted, Oh, beasts, birds and fishes, that I took between my hands at the very beginning and taught the play that you should play, which one of you is playing with the sea. all the beasts, birds, and fishes set together.

Eldest M, we play the place that you taught us to play. We and our children's children, but not one of us plays with the sea. Then the moon rose big and full over the water, and the Eldest magician set to the hunchbacked old man man who sits in the moon rose big and full over the water, and the eldest magician set to the hunchbacked

old man, who sits in the moon, spinning a fishing line with which he hopes one day to catch the world. Oh, Fisher of the moon, are you playing with the sea?" No, said the fisherman.

I am spinning a line with which I shall someday catch the world.

But I do not play with the sea, and he went on spinning his line. Now there is also a rat up in the moon, who always bites the old fisherman's line as fast as it has made, and the eldest magician said to him, Oh, rat of the moon! Are you playing with the sea?" And the rat said, I am too busy biting through the line that this old Fisherman is spinning. I do not play with the sea, and he went on biting the line. Then the daughter put up her little soft-brown arms with the beautiful white shell bracelets and said, Oh, eldest magician, when my father here talked to you at the very beginning, and I leaned upon his shoulder while the beasts were being taught their plays, one beast went away not only into the sea before you had taught him his play. And the eldest magician said, How wise are little children who see. What was the beast like? And the daughter said, He was round and he was flat and his eyes grew upon stocks, and he walked sideways like this, and he was covered with strong armor upon his back. And the eldest magician said, how wise are little children who speak truth. Now I know where Pow Emma went. Give me the paddle. So he took the paddle, but there was no need to paddle. For the water flowed steadily past all the islands until they came to the place called Pusit Tasek, the heart of the sea, where the great hollow is that leads down to the heart of the world. In that hollow grows the wonderful tree that bears the magic twin nuts. Then that eldest magician slid his arm up to the shoulder through the deep warm water.

And under the roots of the wonderful tree, he touched the broad back of Powama, the crap. And Powama settled down at the touch, and all the sea rose up as water rises in a basin when you put your hand into it. the eldest magician. Now I know who has been playing with the sea. And he called out, What are you doing, Pow Emma? And Pow Emma, Deep down below, answered, Once a day and once a night, I go out to look for my food. Once a day and once a night, I return. Leave me alone." Then the eldest magician said, Listen, Pao Eba. When you go out from your cave, the waters of the sea pour down into Puset Teysak, and all the beaches of all the islands are left bare, and the little fish die. And Raja Moyang Keban, the king of the elephants, his legs are made muddy. When you come back and sit and Puset Teysak, the waters of the sea rise, and half the little islands are drowned, and the man's house is flooded. And Raja Abdullah, the king of the crocodiles, his mouth is filled with saltwater. Then Pow Emma deep down below, laughed, and said, I did not know I was so important. Hence forward I will go out seven times a day, and the waters shall never be still." And the eldest magician said, "...I cannot make you play the play you were meant to play, Powema, because you escaped me at the very beginning. But if you are not afraid, come up, and we will talk about it. I am not afraid," said Powemma, and he rose to the top of the sea in the moonlight. There was nobody in the world so big as Powemma, for he was the king crab of all crabs. Not a common crab, but a king crab. One side of his great shell touched the beak at Sarwalk. The other touched the beach at Pying, and he was taller than the smoke of three volcanoes. As he rose up through the branches of the wonderful tree, he tore off one of the great twin fruits, the magic double-curned nuts that make people young. And the daughter sought bobbing alongside the canoe and pulled it in and began to pick out the soft eyes of it with her little golden scissors. Now, said the magician, make a magic, pow-emma, to show that you really are important. Pow-emma rolled his eyes and waved his legs, but he could only stir up the sea, because though he was king crab, he was nothing more than arab, and the eldest magician laughed. You are not so important after all, Powemma, he said. Now let me try. And he made a magic with his left hand, with just the little finger of his left, and low and behold, Powemma's His heart-green-black shell fell off him as a husk falls off a coconut, and Pow-Em was left all soft, soft as the little crabs that you sometimes find on the beach. Indeed, you are very important,' said the eldest magician.

"'Shall I ask the man here to cut you with Chris?' "'Shall I send for Raja Kaban, the king of the elephants to pierce you with his tusks? Or shall I call Raja Abdullah, the king of the crocodile to bite you?' And Pow Emma said, I am ashamed.

Give me back my hard shell and let me go back to Puset Teysak. I will only stir out once a day and once a night to get my food. And the eldest magician said, No Powam, I will not give you back your shell, for you will grow bigger and prouder and stronger, and perhaps you will forget your promise, and you will play with the sea once more." Then Pow Emma said, "...What shall I do? I am so big that I can only hide and pooset Tasek, and if I go anywhere else, all soft as I am now, the sharks and the dogfish will eat me. And if I go to Puset Tasek, all soft as I am now, though I may be safe, I can never stir out to get my food." Then he waved his legs and lamented. Listen, Powama, said the eldest magician. I cannot make you play the play you were meant to play, because you escaped me at the very beginning. But if you choose, I can make every stone, and every hole, and every bunch of weed in all the seas a safe Pusat takesack for you, and your children for always. Then Powamma said, that is good, but I do not choose yet.

Look. That takes back for you and your children for always. Then Pow Emma said, that is good, but I do not choose yet. Look, there is that man who talked to you at the very beginning. If he had not taken up your attention, I should not have grown tired of waiting and run away. And all this would never have happened. What will he do for me?" And the man said, If you choose, I will make a magic, So that both the deep water and the dry ground Will be a home for you and your children, So that you shall be able to hide both on the land and in the sea. And Powham said, I do not choose yet. Look, there is that girl who saw me running away at the very beginning. If she had spoken then, the oldest magician would have called me back, and all this would have never happened. What will she do for me? And the daughter said, this is a good nut that I am eating. If you choose, I will make a magic, and I will give you this pair of scissors. Very sharp and strong, so that you and your children can eat coconuts like this all day long when you come up from the sea to the land, or you can dig a pusset-tasak for yourself with the scissors that belong to you when there is no stone or a hole nearby, and when the earth is too hard by the help of these same scissors, you can run up a tree." And Powem said, "'I do not choose yet, for all soft as I am these gifts would not help me. Give me back my shell, oh eldest magician, and then I will play your play." And the eldest magician said, "...I will give it back, Pawema, for eleven months of the year. But on the twelfth month of every year, it shall grow soft again. To remind you and all your children that I can make magics, and to keep you humble, Pow Emma. For I see that if you can run both under

the water. remind you and all your children that I can make magics, and to keep you humbled, Pow

Emma. For I see that if you can run both under the water and on land, you will grow too bold, and if you can climb trees and crack nuts and dig holes with your scissors, you will grow too greedy, Pow Emma. One pound I'm a thought a a little and said, I have made my choice, I will take all the gifts. Then the eldest magician made a magic with the right hand and with all five fingers of his right hand and low and behold. How I am a goose smaller, and smaller, and smaller. Till at last there was only a little green crab swimming in the water alongside the canoe, crying in a very small voice. Give me my scissors, and the daughter picked him up on the palm of her hand and sat him in the bottom of the canoe and gave him our scissors. And he waved them in his little arms and opened them and shut them and snapped them and said, I can eat nuts, I can crack shells, I can dig holes, I can climb trees, I can breathe in the dry air, and I can find a safe Pusat Tysak under every stone. I did not know I was so important. Is that right? a gun, said the eldest magician, and he laughed, and gave him his blessing. And little Pow Emma scuttled over the side of the canoe into the water, and he was so tiny that he could have hidden under the shadow of a dry leaf on land, or of a shell at the bottom of the sea. Was that well done?" said the eldest magician. Yes, said the man. But now we must go back to the river, and that is a difficult way to battle. If we had waited till Powema had gone out of Pusa Tasek and come home, the water would have carried us there by itself. You are lazy, send the eldest magician, so your children shall be lazy. They shall be the laziest people in the world. They shall be called the Malaisy, the lazy people, and he held up his finger to the moon and said, Oh, fisherman, here's the man too lazy to row home. Pull his canoe home with your line fisherman. No, said the man, if I am to be lazy all my days, let the sea work for me twice a day forever, that will save paddling. And the eldest magician laughed and said, buy a gun. And the rat of the moon stopped biting the line. and the fisherman let his line down to touch the sea, and he pulled the whole deep sea along past the island of Bintang, past Singapore, past Malaka, till the canoe world into the mouth of the river again. Kahn said the fishermen of the moon, by a Kahn, said the eldest magician, seen now that you pulled the sea twice a day, and twice a night, forever, so that the Malaysian fishermen may be saved paddling, but be careful not to do it hard, where I shall make a magic on you as I did to pow Emma. Then they all went up the river and went to bed. Now, listen and attend. From that day to this, the moon has always pulled the sea up and down and made what we call the tides. Sometimes the Fisher of the sea pulls a little too hard, and then we get spring tides,

and sometimes he pulls a little too softly, and then we get what are called neep tides. But nearly always he is careful because of the eldest magician. and power your mind, you can see when you go to the beach, how all Pow Emma's babies make little pucytesacs for themselves under every stone and bunch of weed on the sands. You can see them waving their little scissors. And in some parts of the world, they truly live on the dry land and run up the palm trees. and eat coconuts. Exactly as the daughter had promised. But once a year, all pow-emas mishake off their hard armor and be soft to remind them of what the eldest magician. you you you you you you