In the long-ago time, when the world was brand new, the Great Magician was busy getting everything ready.
First, he made the Earth. Then, he made the Sea. Finally, he called all the animals together and said, “It’s time to play!”
The animals asked, “Great Magician, what should we play?”
“I’ll show you,” he said. He took the Elephant and said, “Play at being an Elephant.” He took the Turtle and said, “Play at being a Turtle.” One by one, he gave every beast, bird, and fish a special job to do.
But as the sun began to set, a Man came by with his young daughter. The Man said, “Great Magician, what is this game you’re playing?”
“This is the Game of the Beginning,” the Magician answered. “But you are too smart for this game. You must make sure all the animals listen to you.”
While they were talking, a giant crab named Pau Amma decided he didn’t want to follow orders. He thought, “I’ll play my own game in the deep water, and I won’t listen to any Man.” He scurried sideways into the ocean when no one was looking, except for the little girl, who saw him go.
Later, the Magician met the Man by a river. The Man looked frustrated.
“Is everything okay?” the Magician asked.
“No,” the Man replied. “The Sea is acting crazy. Twice a day, it rushes up the river and floods my house. Then, twice a day, it rushes back out so fast that it leaves nothing but mud, and my boat gets stuck. This isn’t a good game at all!”
The Magician frowned. “That’s not how I told the Sea to play. Let’s find out who is messing with it.”
The Magician, the Man, and the little girl jumped into a canoe. They floated out to the middle of the ocean to a magical place called the Heart of the Sea. There, a giant tree grew underwater.
The Magician reached his arm deep into the warm water and felt something hard and smooth. It was the back of Pau Amma, the Giant Crab. He was so huge that when he moved, the water rose up like a wave in a bathtub.
“Pau Amma!” the Magician shouted. “What are you doing?”
From deep below, the crab grumbled, “Every day and every night, I leave my cave to find food. Every day and every night, I come back. Leave me alone.”
“Because of you,” the Magician said, “the fish are dying when the water leaves, and the Man’s house is flooding when you return. You are being selfish.”
The Crab laughed. “I didn’t know I was so important! From now on, I’ll go out seven times a day just to show off!”
The Magician decided to teach the crab a lesson. He waved his finger, and suddenly, pop!, the Crab’s hard, blue-green shell fell off. Pau Amma was left soft and squishy, like a marshmallow.
“Now you aren’t so tough,” the Magician said. “Without your shell, the sharks will eat you. You can’t even leave your hole to find food.”
Pau Amma started to cry. “I’m sorry! Please give me my shell back! I promise I’ll only go out once a day and once a night.”
The Magician made a deal. “I will give you back your shell for eleven months of the year. But on the twelfth month, your shell will turn soft again to remind you to stay humble. And since you want to be able to go anywhere, the Man will give you a gift.”
The Man said, “I’ll give you a magic spell so you can live in the water and on the land.”
The little girl, who was eating a magical nut, said, “And I’ll give you my golden scissors. Now you and your children will have strong claws to crack open coconuts and dig holes to hide in.”
The Magician used his magic, and Pau Amma started to shrink. He got smaller and smaller until he was just a little green crab.
“Can I have the scissors now?” the tiny crab asked.
The girl put him in the water, and he waved his new claws happily. He realised that being small and having a safe home under a rock was much better than being a giant who caused trouble.
To fix the Sea, the Magician called out to the Moon. “Since the Man is too tired to paddle his boat home, you must pull the Sea for him.”
And that is why, even today, the Moon pulls the tides in and out twice a day. And if you go to the beach, you can see Pau Amma’s great-great-grandchildren. They still have their “scissors” (claws), they still hide under rocks, and once a year, they still lose their hard shells, just to remind them of the time their ancestor played with the Sea.