There once was a village...

... where everyone lived happily. Until one day when a monster came to the village at night a snatched up a villager and carried him away on shadowy wings. The villagers became panicked. They had never known an enemy before. The chieftain shouted across the panicking people and said, "To the library! There we can learn about our foe, and knowledge will give us power!"

At the library the villagers learn that the monster is called the meta-crane and that he can be trapped in a deep hole. So the villagers spend the next day digging a whole as deep as they can. As night falls, the meta-crane approaches. The monster sees the hole and steps around it. The villagers are powerless to stop him from stealing another of their number.

As day comes the chieftain says, "Clearly we need to hide the hole!" So the villagers set about gathering branches and leaves to disguise the hole. But at night the meta-crane again avoids their trap and carries off another villager.

Now the chieftain is distraught. "What do we do?!" he laments. Suddenly a villager comes running out of the library. "I know how to stop it!" he shouts, "The meta-crane has a sweet tooth!" So the villagers search frantically, but can only find a single cane of sugar. They spend that day processing it and pour what meager sugar they could make into the bottom of the hole.

At night the meta-crane returns, but is enticed by the sugar at the bottom of the hole. He jumps down into the hole and devours the sugar. As he looks up he howls in frustration. "He's been trapped!" the chieftain shouts. The villagers are overjoyed at this. They begin dancing and singing: *A spoonful of sugar helps the meta-crane go down...*