As told by Kun Soma Khatun, 62 years old,
Kutupalong Refugee Camp, Bangladesh
***
Once upon a time, there was a village with a wood apple tree. The birds that lived near the village would often rest on the tree’s branches. One day, a raven saw that one of the wood apples had become very ripe on the branch. At once, she flew straight to the wood apple and told the small fruit that she wanted to eat it so much that she became crazed just thinking about its taste.
The wood apple responded to her, “Alright, you may eat me. But you also eat many dead and dirty things. Would you mind at least cleaning your big beak before eating me?”
Behind the village, there was a big lake. The raven quickly flew to the lake and sat on a stump. She was just about to wash her beak when the lake said to her, “Hey! Raven, please listen to me; you eat many dead and dirty things. Won’t you go to a potter and take a pot so that you can bring water from me and wash by yourself?”
So the raven went to the village potter and said that she wanted a pot to take water from the lake in order to wash her beak. The potter agreed, but said, “Now, I don’t have enough clay to make pots, so you must bring some clay if you want one.”
So the raven flew to the riverbed where there was clay and she asked for some clay to give to the potter to make a pot. The riverbed said to the raven, “I am very strong and it is impossible for you to extract clay from me with only your beak. If you need clay, please bring a buffalo’s horn so that you can extract it with ease.”
So the raven traveled to another village where there were water buffaloes. She went to an elderly buffalo and sat on its back and explained how much she wanted its horn to extract clay. The buffalo replied, “How can you take a horn from me? If you need it so badly, you should call a tiger, and he will kill me and then you will be able to take a horn from me.”
So the raven found a tiger and sat on its back and requested him to come and kill the buffalo so that she would be able to take its horn. But the tiger said to her, “I have lost my energy during an attack on a herd of elephants last week, so I can’t do it now. If you need my help, you must bring some cow milk for me.”
So the raven went to a cow and sat on its back and explained to her all of the details and said, “My dear cow, please give me some milk to feed the tiger.” The cow said, “I am too weak for now, as I gave birth last week. But if you bring some grass for me, I will eat it and give you the milk.”
So the raven flew to the field and explained to the grass that she needed some of it to feed the cow. The grass agreed, but said to her, “Raven, you may need to use a sickle to cut me. Please go to the blacksmith and bring a sickle from him.”
So the raven found the blacksmith from the village and explained that she desperately needed a sickle. But the blacksmith said, “Dear raven, I need coal to make it.”
And so, the raven went to a housewife and explained that she wanted some coal so badly, as she was crazy with the desire to eat a wood apple. The housewife gave her some coal that was already red-hot.
Eager to bring the coal back to the blacksmith, the raven tucked it under her wing. But the coal was too hot, and it badly burned the raven’s wing. Although she was injured, the raven tried picking up the coal with her beak – but again, the coal was too hot, and it scorched the raven’s beak until it was black.
Unable to continue, the raven laid down on the ground and died. She had lost her life, unable to complete her aim of eating the ripened wood apple.