Pip was a young hermit crab, and his shell was too small. His legs stuck out, and he could not pull in his claws. A gull walked along the rocks, and Pip was slow and afraid.
On the sand he found a big empty shell. It was too big for him, and he could not carry it. He waited next to it. Then a large old crab came. She tried the shell and liked it, and she stepped out of her old one.
The crabs came out from under the stones and made a line, from the biggest to the smallest. Each crab moved into the shell the next crab left. At last Pip found a shell that fitted him exactly. He climbed in. Eight crabs had a new home from one empty shell.
