The fox, the crab and the tortoise once decided to cultivate a field together. They looked for a good piece of land at the foot of a large rock and wanted to divide the work between them. "I'll plow," said the crab. "And I'll do the sowing of the grain," said the tortoise. The fox looked around, saw that the field was in the hot sun and that there was only some shade near the rock and said: "I'll stand against the rock so that it doesn't fall onto our field." The others agreed and so the crab plowed the ground, the tortoise sowed and the fox rested in the shade. A few weeks later, they came back to the field and saw that there was a lot to do. "I'll weed," said the crab. "And I'll water," said the tortoise. But the fox retreated back into the shade to support the rock while the other two worked. It was the same when they had to bring in the harvest. In the end, the three of them wanted to divide the harvest between them. "I have a suggestion," said the fox. "All three of us race to the end of the field. Whoever arrives first gets the grain, whoever arrives second gets the stalks and the last one gets nothing."

Of course, the crab and the tortoise knew that they were slower than the fox, but what could they do? They arranged to meet the next day.

That evening, the tortoise told her wife the whole story. They discussed it together and finally the tortoise said: "It's best if you come with us tomorrow and hide at the end of the field. When the fox comes, he'll see you and think I've won."

As agreed, all three met at the edge of the field. The fox shouted: "Go!" and at that moment the crab held on to the fox's tail and let the fox carry him along. The tortoise, however, took it easy, because his wife was already waiting at the other edge of the field. When the fox arrived there, completely out of breath, he saw the tortoise and said: "What? You're already here?" At that moment, however, the crab dropped to the ground and shouted: "I've already been here too!" The fox realized that he had lost. However, the crab and the tortoise divided the harvest equally between them.

Fassung Djamila Jaenike, nach: O. Spies, Türkische Märchen, Düsseldorf 1967, englische Fassung L.ysander Jaenike © Mutabor Märchenstiftung