從前有一隻老虎，晚上跑到山下來找人吃，忽然聽到有間屋子裡的老婆婆對老公公說：「老虎很凶猛，夜晚時我們要把門窗關緊才好。」老公公不以為然，說：「哪裡，我不怕老虎，只怕『鱟』。」老虎聽了，才知道自己雖然是百獸之王，卻還有一種叫「鱟」的動物，比牠更厲害。
由於老公公家的門窗關得很緊，老虎只好繞到房屋後面去吃豬。這時，剛好有一位穿著簑衣、戴斗笠的小偷要來偷豬，因為天色太黑了，小偷以為老虎是豬，就緊抓住老虎的後腳，老虎嚇得回頭一看，以為小偷是鱟，就怕得想要逃跑，不過，小偷也緊緊抓住老虎的腳，並跟在老虎後面跑，跑著跑著，月亮出來了，小偷發現自己抓的不是豬竟然是一隻老虎，嚇出一身冷汗，這時來到一棵大樹下，小偷便趕緊爬到樹上。
老虎發現腳被放開後，跑得更快，不久遇到牠的朋友，老虎問朋友：「你看過比我們還厲害的『鱟』嗎？」朋友回答：「沒有，你看過嗎？」老虎回答：「我帶你去看。」
兩隻老虎就走到樹下，樹上的小偷一看到兩隻老虎來，嚇得站不穩從樹上掉下來，兩隻老虎以為鱟要來吃牠們，馬上轉身逃跑。
There was once a tiger who lived in the mountains. He would go down the mountain at night in search of people to eat. One day, he heard an old lady speaking to an old man in a house, “This tiger is very fierce, so we should shutter our doors and windows tightly to stop it from coming inside at night.” The old man calmly replied, “No, I’m not afraid of the tiger, I’m only afraid of the horseshoe crab.” When the tiger heard this, he thought to himself, “I am the king of all animals. Could there be another animal more fearsome than I?”
As the old man’s house was shuttered tightly, the tiger could not find a way in. So, he decided to eat the pigs in the backyard instead. It so happened that there was also a thief in the backyard. He was wearing a straw cape and hat, and was here to steal a pig. As it was very dark at night, the thief mistook the tiger for a pig, and grabbed one of the tiger’s legs. The tiger was frightened because he thought that he was being attacked by the horseshoe crab. So, he turned and tried to run away. However, the thief did not let go of the tiger, and ran after it. As they ran toward the mountain, the moon came out from behind the clouds. When the thief realized that he had actually caught a tiger instead of a pig, he became very frightened. So, when the thief saw a nearby tree, he quickly let go and climbed up the tree.
When the tiger found its leg had been released, he ran away even faster. After a while, he met his friend and asked,“Have you seen the ‘horseshoe crab’ that is more fearsome than us?” His friend replied, “No, have you?”The tiger said, “Follow me. I will take you to see it.”
The two tigers went to the bottom of the tree. When the thief saw not one but two tigers, he became so frightened that he fell down. The tigers thought that the horseshoe crab was coming down to eat them, and ran away as fast as they could.
