At this juncture, there existed neither daylight, nor sun, moon, or stars. Raven journeyed to a village and enquired of the inhabitants whether they possessed the faculty of sight. They responded in the negative, adding, 'However, a certain individual doth possess daylight, which he doth keep within a box in his abode. When he doth remove the lid, a resplendent light doth illuminate his house'. The populace found themselves greatly impeded in their endeavours, owing to the perpetual state of nocturnality. Raven, having ascertained the domicile of this Daylight-Man, proceeded thither. This man, furthermore, held dominion over the sun, moon, and stars. Raven entered the dwelling and subsequently emerged. He then formulated a strategy to procure daylight for himself and the populace.
Daylight-Man possessed a multitude of bondservants, and a daughter who had attained the estate of womanhood three years prior. Notwithstanding, she yet underwent the customary rites appertaining to young women at the advent of puberty. She dwelt sequestered in a chamber of her own, situated in the corner of the house, and was subject to diligent supervision. Each day, she imbibed from a white pail, and invariably scrutinized the water ere she drank, lest any foreign substance be present.
It was the office of the bondservants to convey water unto her. Upon one such occasion, Raven metamorphosed himself into a cedar leaf, lodging within the bucket as a slave was bearing it. The damsel, perceiving the leaf prior to drinking, cast the water forth. Raven thereupon reassumed his natural guise. On the morrow, he transformed himself into a cedar leaf of diminutive size and concealed himself within the water. The damsel, glancing into the water and discerning naught, drank the entirety thereof, thereby ingesting Raven.
In the month ensuing, she experienced no menses. After a lapse of three months, she commenced to swell. Her mother, observing this alteration, enquired whether she yet experienced her menses. She replied that she had not menstruated for three months past. Whereupon her mother declared, 'Thou art enceinte; thou hast been with a man'. Her parents subjected her to interrogation, but she averred that no man had consorted with her. They were perplexed as to how she might have conceived, given the assiduousness of their watch.
After a duration of nine months, she brought forth a son.
The parents affirmed that they would rear the boy and acknowledge him as their grandson, notwithstanding his want of a father. They declared that, should she reveal the identity of the child's father, they would consent to a marriage betwixt him and their daughter. They would treat their son-in-law with favour, and all would be well. Yet she persisted in asserting that she had beheld no man.
The lad, waxing apace, did forthwith attain the capacity to ambulate and discourse. His grandsire held him in exceeding affection. Upon a certain day, he evinced great lamentation, beseeching permission to sport with the lunar orb. His grandsire, moved by the boy's entreaty, commanded that the moon be seized and delivered unto him. The lad, much gladdened, diverted himself with the moon until fatigue overtook him. Thereupon, it was suspended once more in its accustomed place. After a season, the moon's allure having waned, he again gave vent to his distress, professing a yearning for the solar orb. This, too, was granted him, and he disported himself with it until weary; subsequently, he relinquished it, and the populace reinstated it in its celestial domain. After a further interval, the sun's novelty having abated, he summoned the Great Bear. They permitted him to amuse himself with these celestial entities at his whim. In the fullness of time, when his strength had burgeoned, he clamoured for the daylight itself.
His grandsire, in trepidation, demurred to grant his request, forasmuch as it emanated a prodigious luminance. Furthermore, whenever it was elevated, the sun, moon, and stars, and all else, moved in concert with it, it being their principal. At length, however, the lad was permitted to play with daylight. Yet his grandsire remained ill at ease whilst he did so. When the lad elevated the daylight, a profusion of light ensued, and the higher he held it, the more resplendent the daylight became. Upon occasions when the lad held the daylight aloft, the old man would utter, 'Eh, eh!' as if afflicted or in a state of extreme anxiety. The lad balanced daylight upon his hands to accustom himself to its carriage.
At long last, he deemed himself sufficiently robust for the exploit he purposed to undertake. He clasped two of the playthings in each hand, meticulously balancing them. He perceived that he could convey them with facility. Then, at an opportune juncture when the populace was unobservant, he ascended from the smoke-hole with utmost alacrity. He relinquished the dominion over daylight, proclaiming thus: 'Henceforth, there shall be daylight, and mankind shall possess the faculty to perceive, labour, and traverse. Subsequent to the aurora, the sun shall ascend, and upon its declination, night shall ensue. Mankind shall then repose and slumber, for labour and traversing shall be arduous. Thereupon, the Dipper and the moon shall emerge and bestow illumination. These entities shall nevermore be the proprietary possession of a solitary individual, nor shall they be confined within a single locality. They shall be accessible to all mankind'.
He disseminated daylight towards the boreal region, the sun towards the orient, the moon towards the occident, and the Dipper towards the austral region. Ever since that momentous occasion, humanity and quarry alike awaken with the advent of daylight and retire into slumber with the onset of nightfall.
