Once a crab was wondering what occupation was the most suitable for him. After thinking for a long time, he decided to become a barber. It seemed a nice occupation for a crab. But soon he found that as a barber he was not busy because no guests came into his shop. So he went to the shore with his scissors. There he found an octopus taking a nap.
“Hello, Mr. Octopus,” he called to him.
The octopus woke up and said, “What?”
“I'm a barber, sir. Can I help you?”
“Look at me carefully. Can you see any hair on my head?”
The crab looked at his head carefully. His head had no hair on it; he was as bald as an egg.
Then he went into the mountains. In the mountains the crab saw a raccoon(浣熊) taking a nap.
The crab called to the raccoon.
“Hello, Mr. Raccoon.
The raccoon woke up and said, “What?”
“I'm a barber, sir. Can I help you?”
As the raccoon was mischievous, he thought of playing a trick on him.
“All right,” said the raccoon, “I'll let you cut my hair. But you must make a promise before cutting. You must promise to cut my father's hair after cutting mine.”
“Very well, sir.”
Then the crab began to cut the raccoon's hair. You know a crab isn't a big animal. A raccoon is many times as big as a crab. The raccoon's body is covered with hair. So the crab made slow progress. The crab worked very hard and finished his work at the end of the third day.
“Now, cut my father's hair as you promised.”
“By the way, how big is your father?”
“He is almost as big as that mountain.
The crab was surprised and thought the raccoon's father was too big for him to cut by himself.
So the crab made all his children barbers. Not only his children but also his grandchildren and great-grandchildren and all new-born crabs were made barbers.
And so, even a small crab which you see on the beach has his own scissors.
