When you come back and sit in Pusat Tasek , the waters of the Sea rise , and half the little islands are drowned , and the Man 's house is flooded , and Raja Abdullah , the King of the Crocodiles , his mouth is filled with the salt water . Then Pau Amma , deep down below , laughed and said , ' I did not know I was so important . Henceforward I will go out seven times a day , and the waters shall never be still . ' And the Eldest Magician said , ' I can not make you play the play you were meant to play , Pau Amma , because you escaped me at the Very Beginning ; but if you are not afraid , come up and we will talk about it . ' ' I am not afraid , ' said Pau Amma , and he rose to the top of the sea in the moonlight . There was nobody in the world so big as Pau Amma -- for he was the King Crab of all Crabs . Not a common Crab , but a King Crab . One side of his great shell touched the beach at Sarawak ; the other touched the beach at Pahang ; and he was taller than the smoke of three volcanoes ! As he rose up through the branches of the Wonderful Tree he tore off one of the great twin fruits -- the magic double kernelled nuts that make people young , -- and the little girl-daughter saw it bobbing alongside the canoe , and pulled it in and began to pick out the soft eyes of it with her little golden scissors . ` Now , ' said the Magician , ` make a Magic , Pau Amma , to show that you are really important . ' Pau Amma rolled his eyes and waved his legs , but he could only stir up the Sea , because , though he was a King Crab , he was nothing more than a Crab , and the Eldest Magician laughed . ` You are not so important after all , Pau Amma , ' he said . ` Now , let me try , ' and he made a Magic with his left hand -- with just the little finger of his left hand -- and -- lo and behold , Best Beloved , Pau Amma 's hard , blue-green-black shell fell off him as a husk falls off a cocoa-nut , and Pau Amma was left all soft -- soft as the little crabs that you sometimes find on the beach , Best Beloved . ` Indeed , you are very important , ' said the Eldest Magician . ` Shall I ask the Man here to cut you with kris ? Shall I send for Raja Moyang Kaban , the King of the Elephants , to pierce you with his tusks , or shall I call Raja Abdullah , the King of the Crocodiles , to bite you ? ' And Pau Amma said , ' I am ashamed ! Give me back my hard shell and let me go back to Pusat Tasek , and I will only stir out once a day and once a night to get my food . ' And the Eldest Magician said , ` No , Pau Amma , I will not give you back your shell , for you will grow bigger and prouder and stronger , and perhaps you will forget your promise , and you will play with the Sea once more . Then Pau Amma said , ` What shall I do ?
I am so big that I can only hide in Pusat XXXXX , and if I go anywhere else , all soft as I am now , the sharks and the dogfish will eat me .
Amma Crab Crocodiles Henceforward King Sarawak Tasek girl-daughter kris volcanoes