Raven's1 Potlatch2渡鸦的夸富宴

Once upon a time， a long time ago， inthe Pacific Northwest， there lived amagical bird named Raven. Raven was ashape shifter3. He could turn himself intoa man and then back again into a birdsimply by pulling his beak4 over his head，like a mask.

Raven practiced and practiced untilhe could turn himself into any animal.Raven could fool other animals intothinking he was， well， just anybody.

Raven was very smart. He was also athief and a liar. Raven used his charm tomake his lies sound like truth. Animalswho trusted Raven often found themselvesin big trouble. But Raven did not care.Raven was as selfish5 as he was clever.

One day， Raven looked up at the sky.“Winter is coming，”he said， in a surprisedsort of way. “The snows will fall soon. I bet6Squirrel has stored up lots of food by now.”

But when he flew by Squirrel’s house，Squirrel shouted at him， “Go away， Raven.You are not stealing food from me. Not onesingle nut7.”

Raven spread his wings and soared8away.“Bear will have food，”he thought. Butwhen Raven arrived at Bear’s cave9， Bearwas sound asleep for the winter. All Bear’sfood was stored in Bear’s belly10.

Raven soared off to the top of a tree tothink things over. An idea took shape in hismind. Raven soared off in search of Crow11.Crow was Raven’s cousin.

“Crow！ ” Raven called out when hefound him. “Everyone’s talking about yourbeautiful voice！ They can’t wait to hear yousing. You should have a potlatch！ ”

Crow knew Raven was selfish. Crowknew that Raven was a thief. He knew thatRaven often lied. Just the same， it was hardto resist12 Raven’s compliment13. Crow didhave a beautiful voice， as Raven well knew.

“A potlatch is a huge party！ ”saidCrow.“It would take all my winter storage14of food to feed my guests. And what aboutall the cooking and cleaning？”

“I’ll help you get ready！”Raven smiledwarmly at his cousin. “Oh， Crow. I’m soproud to be related to you. Everyone wantsto hear you sing！ ”

That very night， Crow and Raven begancooking. The next day， while Crow cookedand cleaned and practiced his singing，Raven flew all over the forest， invitingeveryone to“his”potlatch.

“I’m having a potlatch，”Raven told allthe animals in the forest.“At Crow’s house.Come to the back door. That way， you won’thave to wait with the crowd to get in.”

Crow worked and worked， cooking andcleaning， while Raven flew all over theforest， inviting everyone he saw.

Finally， the big day arrived. Everyonecame to Raven’s potlatch except the animalsthat had flown south for the winter and theanimals that were snoozing15 away in theircaves. Everyone that is except Squirrel.Raven had not invited Squirrel.

“There’s Elk，” Raven called out.Raven soared off， supposedly to see whoelse was approaching16. Instead， Ravencircled around and landed behind Crow’shouse. Raven used his magical powers toturn himself into Elk. He hurried to Crow’sfront door.

“Welcome to my potlatch， Elk！ ”

Crow welcomed Raven who pretended tobe the Elk excitedly.

“Thank you for inviting me， Crow，”

replied Raven， who was pretending to be Elk.“I can’t wait to hear your beautiful voice！ ”

Raven the Elk lowered his head and enteredCrow’s house.

Raven flew out the back door， andchanged himself into Rabbit. He hopped17around to the front of Crow’s house.

“Welcome， Rabbit！ ”cried Crow excitedly.

“Thank you for inviting me！ ” saidRaven， who was pretending to be Rabbit.“Ican’t wait to hear you sing！ ”

And so it went. Crow stood by his frontdoor， welcoming what he thought were all theanimals in the forest. But really， each andevery animal was only Raven in disguise18.

As for Raven， when he wasn’t busytricking Crow， Raven stood at the back door，welcoming all the gueststo“his”potlatch. Ravenwas a bit winded19 fromall his running about，but he found the wholeprocess enjoyable！

When all the realguests had entered through Crow’s backdoor， Raven dragged20 Crow away fromCrow’s front door， and pushed him into themiddle of the room.

“Crow is going to sing for us！ ”Ravenshouted over the noise of the party. Crow’ssinging received huge cheers. “One moresong， Crow，”called Raven， over and over.Crow was very happy. He sang and sang untilhis voice was hoarse21.

It was a wonderful party. Everyonelaughed and ate and cheered Crow’s songs.At the end of the party， each guest received apackage of food to take home.

“Thank you for inviting me to yourpotlatch，”each guest thanked Raven.

Crow felt puzzled22. He tried to tell hisguests that this was his potlatch. But Crow’svoice was gone.

That winter， as he knew he would，Raven received invitations to manypotlatches. Raven had a wonderful time，laughing and eating. At each potlatch， hereceived a package of food to take home.But no one invited Crow. After all， Crowhad never invited them to a party. Whyshould they invite him？

Poor Crow. To eat that winter， he hadto beg scraps23 of food from the People.Crow could not even tell anyone whatRaven had done. Crow had lost hisbeautiful voice forever. The only sound hecould make was a “caw24”. And that didnot help him at all.