Panchatantra Heron Crab

tale:panchatantra_heron_crab

A crafty old heron, too weak to fish, tells the fish of a coming drought and offers to carry them one by one to a safe lake — eating each in turn behind a rock. When at last a crab asks to be carried, it sees the bones, grips the heron's neck in its claws, and chokes the deceiver. Moral: deceit devours others until it meets the one it cannot fool. — Panchatantra (attrib. Vishnu Sharma)