It was there... although it didn’t know it.

When the fishermen used to cross, they would remark to themselves on how quiet it was.  It was not like other rivers that in some parts trickled like and in other parts raged- those ones would foam with the fury of ancient gods- with the repetition of divine eagles pecking at the liver of Prometheus they would foam and foam and foam again.  And it was those rapids that would claw away at the hulls of their humble watercrafts, toss them against the jagged edges of the riverbeds, and have them spar with the rocks.  But this river, they could put their faith in.
Some of the village folks who lived on the banks of the rough rivers would in the passion of boisterous youth challenge the liquid demons upon their rafts.  Though it was often the case that wood and sinew proved too tenuous a question for the bellowing response of watery might.  And when they failed, the foam would consume them like the last morsel of prey in the salivating mouth of a predator.  The gentle river, though, would not change its course- it kept flowing as it always had.
This river would transport the villagers away from their hamlets and deeper into the jungle where their livelihoods could be found.  They would laugh and joke as they rowed and sometimes the older villagers would retell legends that they had heard when they were young.  Their stories often followed the formula of a young man stumbling into the path of a panther and wrestling it down single-handedly for survival.  Every so often, tho, the eyes of an elder would gleam as a tale of the great chief sailing down the frothy currents in battle with one of the mighty rivers would come into memory.  And their river would calmly float them on their merry way as the youngsters listened in awe.  It did not interrupt their conversation- it only sought to soothe them with its gentle hum.  Its soft splooshing dampened the terrifying uncertainties of the jungle.
It was full of the fish that villagers ate and traded with neighboring settlements.  The river didn’t mind having the fish occupy its waters; it liked caring for them.  When schools of the scaly creatures would swim up and down, it would please the river.  The villagers would spear these fish, and the blood from the wounds would mix with the water.  But the river knew this was part of life, and her current would make sure the blood would quickly mix away.