A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

A very large crab crawls into the sea and crowds the water over the whole land. Forewarned by a wise man, people build a three-layer raft tied by rattan to a fixed pole. Its human and animal occupants survive, and the tether keeps them near their old home when the flood recedes. The crab is not named and has no specified number of claws or later punishment. Cole compares other crab-and-tide accounts and proposes outside influence on the flood narrative, but neither comparison establishes the tale’s complete transmission history.

Enormous crab that displaces the seaPublic traditional narrative
01

Origins & earliest records

Philippines; Bukidnon accounts as grouped by Cole

02

Records & interpretation

Complete relevant story, collection preface, regional introduction and attached notes directly read.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Philippine Folk Tales

    Mabel Cook Cole, compiler and annotator · 1916

    Bukidnon, The Flood Story, pp. 125–126 and notes3–4

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

Mabel Cook Cole, Philippine Folk Tales (Chicago: A. C. McClurg, 1916)

Bukidnon section. Bukidnon, The Flood Story, pp. 125–126 and notes3–4

Complete relevant account(s), notes and section introduction read. Source-specific actions and variant sequences preserved; modern anatomy, identity equations and transmission histories not inferred. Original paraphrase.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical collected narrative and editorial notesCole, Philippine Folk Tales (1916), Bukidnon, The Flood Story, pp. 125–126 and notes3–4Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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