Short Story set in developing country- protagonist is white Western male

June 16, 2014 11:27 AM

[ShortStoryFilter]: Sort of canonical (I'm sure I read it in junior high school in a collection) - unnamed Western tourist is in some village in unnamed developing country. Gets thirsty and asks for water from nearest hut- is given bucketfuls, and asks for more to douse himself. [SPOILER]: Later finds out that the only water supply in entire area comes from one faucet that drips tiny amounts and entire village waits in line for hours to fill one bucket. Ring any bells?
posted by war wrath of wraith to Writing & Language (2 answers total)

kind of a shot in the dark, but it sounds like something Paul Theroux could have written. (although I don't think he started publishing until the '80s, so he might be too recent depending on your age).
posted by bearette at 1:19 PM on June 16, 2014

Agree with bearette but also Paul Bowles. My books are boxed or I'd go through the complete short stories and figure it out.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 1:56 PM on June 16, 2014