Monkey and Crab Japanese Folklore Mythology Fable Tale | Keisai Eisen Edo Period Vintage Woodblock Fine Art Print Buddha gift while devotees and attendants watch

while devotees and attendants watch in exultation

Vajrapani is often depicted with a fierce expression

The actors are shown with exaggerated facial expressions and exaggerated body movements

She is often depicted as a beautiful and fierce female figure

Ernst Haeckel was a prominent figure in the field of biology during the late 19th and early 20th centuries

Monkey and Crab Japanese Folklore Mythology Fable Tale | Keisai Eisen Edo Period Vintage Woodblock Fine Art Print Buddha gift while devotees and attendants watchThis surimono print references a well known Japanese folktale in which a monkey takes advantage of a crab, claiming that persimmon seeds will grow into a fruit prodicing tree. The persimmons eventually ripen, and the monkey offers to pick them for the crab, only to eat them himself. In a fit of aggression, the monkey throws an unripe persimmon at the crab, fatally injuring her. Before the crab dies, she gives birth to offspring, who eventually grow up