Japan Saru Kani

tale:japan_saru_kani

A sly monkey cheats a crab, swapping a quick-eaten rice ball for a persimmon seed; the crab patiently raises the seed into a fruited tree, but the monkey steals the ripe fruit and pelts the crab to death with hard ones. The crab's children, with a chestnut, a wasp, a mortar, and cow-dung, ambush the monkey in turn and avenge their parent. Moral: the small and weak, banded together, bring the bully to account. — Japanese folktale