The Japanese folktale Daiku to Oniroku, where carpenter Hikone faces a river demon to build a bridge for his village.

As Hikone was thinking of a way to build the bridge, something suddenly rose from the water. "Ah! A demon!" he cried, and tried to run away.

The Carpenter and the Demon — page 5

"Hey, don’t run! What were you muttering while you stared at the river?" Still frightened, Hikone answered, "I was trying to work out how to build a bridge, but I couldn’t think of anything." The demon replied, "A bridge? Impossible. Only I can build one, but I don’t do favors for humans."