# Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable XXXIX to XLI

Fab. XXXIX.
A Bat and a Weazle.
A Weazle had seizd upon a Bat, and the Bat begg'd for Life. No, No, says the Weazle, I give No Quarter to Birds. Ay (says the Bat) but I'm a Mouse you fee; look on my Body else: and so she got off for That Bout. The same Bat had the Fortune to be Taken a While after by Another Weazle; and there the Poor Bat was forc'd to beg for Mercy once again. No, says the Weazle, No Mercy to a Mouse. Well (fays 'Tother,) but you may see by my Wings that I'm a Bird; and so the Bat scap'd in Both Capacities, by Playing the Trimmer.
Fab. XL.
A Bat, Birds, and Beasts.
UPon a Desperate and a Doubtful Battel betwixt the Birds and the Beasts, the Bat stood Neuter, 'till she found that the Beasts had the Better on't, and then went over to the Stronger side. But it came to pass afterward (as the Chance of War is Various) that the Birds Rally'd their Broken Troups, and carry'd the Day; and away she went Then to 'Tother Party, where she was Try'd by a Councel of War as a Deserter; Stript, Banish'd, and finally Condemn'd never to see Daylight again.
Fab. XLI.
An Estriche, Birds, and Beasts.
THe Estriche is a Creature that passes in Common Reputation, for Half-Bird, Half-Beast. This Amphibious Wretch happen'd to be Taken Twice the same Day, in a Battel betwixt the Birds and the Beasts, and as an Enemy to Both Parties. The Birds would have him to be a Beast, and the Beasts Concluded him to be a Bird; but upon shewing his Feet to Prove that he was No Bird, and upon shewing his Wings, and his Beak, to prove that he ​was No Beast, they were Satisfy'd upon the Whole Matter, that though he seem'd to be Both, he was yet in Truth neither the One, nor the Other.
The Moral of the Three Fables above.
REFLEXION.
We are here taught in some Cases to Yield to Times and Occasions; but with a Saving still, to Honour, and to Conscience. A Wise and an Honest Man will always Mean the same Thing; but he's a Fool that always says the same Thing. Æsop however Condemns the Double Practices of Trimmers, and All False, Shuffling, and Ambidextrous Dealings. He gives also to Understand, that Those that pretend at the same time to serve Two Masters, are True to Neither.
The Three Fables next above have a Great Affinity One with Another, and yet not without some Remarkable Diversities neither. From the Emblem of the Bat and Weazle, we are to Gather, that there are Certain Ways, Cases, and Occasions, wherein, Disguises, and Artificial Evasions are in some Measure Allowable, provided only that there be No Scandalous, or Malicious Departure from the Truth. This Shuffling of the Bat in the Paw of the Weazle, was but making the Best of what he had to say, and to shew for Himself, toward the saving of his Life. There was No Breach of Faith, or of Trust in't; No Abandoning of a Duty, No Thought of Treachery; Nor in Effect, any thing more in't, than a Fair Christian Way of putting out False Colours.
The Bat that stood Neuter, may serve for the Character of a Time-serving Trimmer: He Betrays his Party, first, in withdrawing his Assistance. Secondly, In going over to the Stronger Side, and Declaring Himself an Open Enemy when his Fellows had the Word on't. His Judgment, in fine, was Just, and if All Double Dealers and Deserters were serv'd as This Bat was, it would be an Example of Terrour to Renegades and of Encouragement to Honest Men.
The Estriches Case seems to be Different from the Other Two. He Fought, (though 'tis not said on which side) and he was Taken in the Battel. He had the Shape, but not the Heart of a Trimmer, and it was rather Nature then Fraud, that brought him off. Now there are Many things in an Affair of This Quality that may be Warrantable, even upon the Nicest Scruples of Honour, in him that suffers the Violence, which perchance would not be so in the Aggressor.