– 138 –

Vanity

PAPAKA (The Hermit Crab) : “Oh! How wondrously beautiful you are. What divine form, and, ah, such a bewitching eye!”

PUPU (The Periwinkle): “Yes, I am ashamed to say the gods have been more than kind to me. I am beautiful. There is none to compare with me, I know. Now what is in my friend’s mind; what does he propose?”

PAPAKA: “Ah! Dearest friend of mine. Ah! Exquisite loveliness! Why cover up all this glorious beauty with such an ugly shell? Come out! Take your proper place and delight the world with your charms.”

PUPU: “Ah, dear me, what a kind friend, so wise and noble.”

And so saying she came out of her shell.

PAPAKA: “I will look after this disreputable shell of yours, while you parade up and down and turn the heads of the young world giddy.”

So saying, Papaka jumped into the shell; and just in time, for passing fish, attracted by the brilliancy of Pupu’s eye, gobbled her up.

– 139 –

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