Some will tell you that curiosity is a dangerous quality. But it was curiosity that brought all the creatures of the world into being.
Long ago, water covered all the world. But in time, the waters began to recede. Raven walked along the beach, delighted at what washed up; fish, hundreds of fish. Raven ate, and ate, and ate, until he could eat nothing more. Then he sat, and looked about. Plants had begun to grow, but there was no fun in talking to plants. In fact, there was little fun to be had at all, for though the land was lovely, it was bare and empty. And Raven was bored.
He strutted along the beach. Nothing, nothing, nothing but stones. But then his quick bright eye caught sight of something new; a great clam shell, washed up on the tide. "Ga!" said Raven, "What luck!" He hopped up on the shell. Bending close, cocking his head, he heard muffled squeaks from within.
"What is this?" said Raven. And he stuck his beak in the cleft between the shells, and levered it open.
Raven peered inside with one bright eye. And there, at the very back of the shell, cowering together, were small creatures shaking in fear.
"What fun!" Raven cried. But the little creatures flinched at the sound of his voice and cowered away. That would never do.
Using a sweet, quiet voice low as water over the stones, Raven coaxed the creatures. Slowly, they emerged. And very odd they were; featherless and beakless, small and thin. Raven was amused, and so he took their features on for himself and became a man. And Raven laughed as he watched the first people exploring their world.
"They are so clumsy!" Raven said. "Silly boys!" And they were boys, young and skinny, and not a girl among them.
Soon, Raven invented games for the boys to play; wrestling and racing, singing and fishing. Some of them he even instructed in shapechanging; these took on the forms of animals and became the First People, the Manitou from whom all animals would one day come. But in time Raven grew restless.
"It is't right that you are alone. I'll find companions for you."
In his heart, Raven knew that there must be a female for every male. So Raven began searching for the girls. He scoured the beach until he came to a place where the great, tall rocks were left dry by the tide. Clinging to the rock was a great Chiton limpet. Raven pried it from the rock, and the girls were huddled inside.
"Ga! Here you are!"
Lifting the chiton, Raven carried the girls back to the First Boys.
"Look," said Raven as he placed the limpet on the beach, "I've brought you companions!"
To his surprise, the male creatures shied away, and the girls drew together shyly.
"Well go on!" said Raven, pushing the girls forward with his wings. But the boys were shy as well. They looked at each other and shoved each other, quiet and embarrassed. Then one boy, eyes on the ground, shuffled forward. And one trembling girl went out to meet him. Soon the boys and girls were walking among each other. Some began to take hands, and wander off behind the stones with their eyes on each other.
Raven was pleased. But, for the first time, he felt worry. They were so weak, these new creatures, so small and afraid. No fur to warm them, no feathers to keep the rainwater off.
"I shall have to watch you." Raven said quietly. That day Raven made a vow. And since that day, Raven has never been bored.
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