An old crab grew restless. Finding himself stiff all over, he knew it was time for him to moult his shell.
He dashed here and there in search of a cave to hide. He was going to block up the mouth of the cave so that he could moult in secret. He knew it would be very dangerous to shed his shell in the open because, with his new shell still being soft, he might be eaten up by other crabs. This fear was not groundless for he himself had really seen it happen to other moulting crabs.
The old crab kept moving about in a hurry.
A nearby crab asked, "Hey, brother, what's the rush?"
"I'm going to moult," answered the old crab.
"Wouldn't it be all right to moult right here? I could help you out with it."
"How horrible that would be!"
"You mean while you're not scared of other things in the cave you're scared of your own kind?"
"No, I'm not scared of my own kind."
"Then what are you scared of?"
"Nothing but being eaten up by you."
moult (BrE)(US molt) v. （鸟或兽）换羽；蜕毛
finding himself stiff all over：觉得全身太硬了，all over为全身或浑身，作状语短语用，比whole body，更灵动。
to moult his shell：蜕壳。to moult为专用语，等同于to cast off。
(to moult) in the open：外面蜕壳，外面即在露天，以代替to moult outside the cave.
with his new shell still being soft：身子还软，意即，蜕去旧壳后新壳还软。with his body still being soft直译，但body未指向壳。
a nearby crab：旁边的螃蟹，比a crab beside him灵活。
nothing but being eaten up by you：就怕你要吃掉我，是I'm scared of nothing but being eaten up by you的省略。
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