The fishes asked - O crane, what is the means of our safety now? The crane replied - There is a remedy for your protection, viz., going to another pond. I shall carry you one by one there. The fishes said - Let it be so done. Then the crane carried the fishes one by one and devoured them. After that the crab said - O crane, take me there also. Thereupon, the crane too, longing for the flesh of the crab which he had never tasted before, carried him there and placed him on the ground. The crab also, seeing the place strewn with the bones of the fishes, said to himself - Alas! I am undone, an unlucky creature. Well, I will act now as the time requires. For, one should dread a danger so long as it has not come, but seeing that the danger has arrived, one should strike a blow like a hero (lit., like one not daunted, or boldly).