Native Raven Fresh Water

tale:native_raven_fresh_water

All the world's fresh water is kept by one selfish being who will share none. Raven visits as a guest, drinks his fill in secret until he can hold no more, and flies off; as he escapes through the smoke-hole he spills the water across the land, and wherever the drops fall the rivers, lakes, and springs begin. Moral: what one would keep for himself, the trickster scatters into the world's abundance. — Native American (Pacific Northwest)