The Bat and the Weasel

This story is called The Bat and the Weasel by Aesop. This is a LibraryCall recording. One day, a young bat, who was an inexperienced flyer, fell to the ground and was captured by a hungry weasel. The weasel licked his lips, opened his jaw, and prepared to eat the poor creature. Seeing that he was about to be eaten, the bat begged for the weasel to spare his life. “Please don’t eat me, Mr. Weasel!” "But I couldn’t possibly let you go", said the weasel. "Birds like you have been my enemies since the day I was born." “But I’m not a bird!”, said the bat. “I’m... a mouse! Don’t you see my small mouse ears? Don’t you see my fur? What kind of a bird has fur?” "Oh!" said the weasel. "No, I won’t eat a mouse. I don’t like the texture.” And he set the clever bat free. The bat sighed with relief and flew into the sky to find his family. A week later, the bat was practicing some new tricks. He miscalculated a particularly challenging loop-de-loop and again fell to the ground. Before the bat could shake himself off and return to the sky, another hungry weasel grabbed him up and prepared to take a bite. “Please don’t eat me!” begged the bat. "But I’m hungry and I love to eat delicious mice like you,” responded the weasel. "It’s just that… I’m not a mouse! Isn’t it obvious that I’m a bird?" said the bat. “"Hmmm, let me look at you. I hadn’t noticed your wings before. Yes, clearly you are a bird,” said the weasel, with disappointment in her voice. “I’m not really in the mood for a bird lunch.” “If you’re hungry for mice, you’ll be happy to know that I just saw a mouse scurry under that wood pile over there," the bat lied. “Thanks for the tip!” said the weasel. And she ran off to look for the mouse. And for the second time, the clever little bat managed to outsmart a hungry weasel. Moral: Adaptability is the simple secret of survival.