Week 7: A Deceiving Lake

After hunting all day to find a meal for his family, Drew had no luck capturing any meat to return home with. He stumbled upon a clear, tempting lake at the bottom of the hill he was on and could not help himself from starting down towards it. A black, glistening raven swooped down and 'cawed' right in is ear when he was about halfway down from his starting point.

"Hey! Leave me be or I will shoot you down!" shouted Drew. He took off his backpack to make sure he had his canteen. After searching through the traveling bag for a few minutes, he finally found what he was looking for. He starts his journey again but does not make it very far before the raven swoops down again, this time wrapping it's claws around the canteen and making off with it.

"What have you done! Now how shall I drink from the beautiful lake?!" questioned Drew. He became upset because he would not be able to bring food home for his children and now he had to worry about dehydration.

Suddenly, an idea struck Drew. He thought if he could spare some fish from the lake, he would have a meal for his wife and kids! The hunter emptied his backpack's contents out on the ground in front of him and was surprised to see a bowl. His wife must have placed that in  his backpack without Drew realizing. He picked up a knife to spare a fish and the bowl to drink some water. He held both items tightly close to him while hurrying towards the moving water, so the bird would not be able to take anything this time.

As Drew approached the edge of the lake, the raven zoomed down and flapped her wings around Drew's face and shoulders. He tried to swat the bird away, but forgot that he was holding a knife. A handful of feathers fell to the ground and a cry of pain followed. The raven tried to fly off but her wing was too damaged.   

Drew felt horrible because he did not mean to hurt the bird. He ran to the water and filled his bowl. As he returned to the raven he tried to give her some, but she cried out even louder than when she was cut.

"Why won't you take the water? It is so cold and it will make you feel better!" exclaimed Drew. The raven had a sad look in her eyes and Drew knew something was not right. "I'm going to spare some fish and I will give you the first one I kill!"

He rolled up his pants and walked in the stream ready to strike at the first sign of movement. He finally saw something red under a rock. As he lifted up the stone, he saw five small fish already dead. He thought this was so strange because they were small and looked healthy. He investigated more areas of the lake. He found many remains of fish and other animals. "The bird was trying to save me" Drew came to realize.

Drew returned to the raven once again and apologized. "I will take you home to my family and my wife will heal you." said the Hunter. On their trip home, Drew spotted some deer and began his hunt. He was able to feed his family after all and gained a lifelong companionship from the raven.

Author's Notes: In How the Raven Saved the Hunter, a man sees a stream and makes a cup leaf so he can drink from it. A raven comes down and knocks the leaf out of his hand to stop him from drinking. He gets upset with the raven and eventually shoots it and kills it. He feels guilty at the end because he makes the realization that the raven was just trying to save him. I did not like the heroic bird dying, so I had the raven survive in my version and the hunter still did not drink from the deadly lake. My plot was very similar to the original story, but I added some details of my own to this short tale.

Image Information: A Raven Flying Down with it's Claws Out, Web Source: Max Pixel
Bibliography: How the Raven Saved the Hunter from the Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton, Web Source: Tibetan Folktales