It was the strangest wedding ceremony you could possibly imagine. Picture me, a princess, making my vows to a Crab who sat on a golden cushion wearing a golden robe!

On our wedding night, he told me that he is a Man by night, a Crab by day, and an Eagle whenever he wishes. Then he shook off his shell and immediately became a man. A very handsome man, I might add, though by morning he had crept back into his shell.

I kept his secret, of course. Nobody understood my attachment to the Crab. “Don’t you want another kind of husband?” my father asked. I said, “No. I am married to the Crab, and he is the only one I will have.” My father resolved to bring me every other man in the world, but his efforts were futile because I would only ever choose the Crab!

The Crab Princess in The Golden Crab, Yellow Fairy Book. Drawing by Albin Mesnel.