7. The Canny Bat Changes Her Name
A clever bat got caught one day
By a cat, and begged:
Friend! EAT NOT ME!
Alas,
said cat,
but birds like you,
A cat like me cannot set free.
No bird am I!
cried bat,
Just look,
I am a mouse from head to toe!
Cat looked again, the words
were true,
Okay,
said cat,
I'll let you go.
Next day poor bat got caught again,
Another cat! An awful fate!
NO! NO!
said bat
YES! YES!
said cat,
All mice I must exterminate.
No mouse am I!
that bat cried out,
See, I can fly, I'm like a bird!
Okay,
said cat,
I see your point,
And let him go without a word.
So that smart bat gave double thanks
That changing names had pulled her through,
And learned how vital names can be
To cause quick judgments, false or true.
MORAL: A name can make a world of difference
from the book Praying Your Story and the forthcoming book Aesop's Best: 80 Fables in Verse by William Cleary
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