Perhaps I have found some reason, some justification for my thoughts on the moral of this fable:
Everything that loved water came to these few shallow places. The cats took their prey there, and strewed feathers and lapped water through their bloody teeth. The little pools were places of life because of the water, and places of killing because of the water, too. (p. 104)
How different really is the water from the wondrous pearl? Needed for survival, it is a blessed thing, yet draws by instinct those that would take advantage of the opportunity to steal the blessing and even the very life of those who use it. Because they seek survival as well and have not the morals or the intellect to hunt hard within the brush.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology