12. THE CLEVER BAT OR THE CUNNING BAT
Storytelling is as old as man. It has been one of the greatest sources of preaching moral values because every story is written with some moral purpose. All the prophets, the saints, religious scholars and teachers have been adopting it as a source of preaching any kind of morality. If one follows the lesson preached in the story, one can avoid many perils and problems. The story “A Cunning Bat” also gives us a sublime moral lesson.
Once, the animals and the birds gathered to cull their king. Both the animals and the birds wanted to elect their king from their own party. After some time, they started to fight. There was a clever bat. She was on the side of the animals when they were powerful in the fight. But on another occasion, she was on the side of the birds when they were stronger in the fight. In the end, the animals won the fight. They elected the lion as the king of the jungle.
Now both the animals and birds were against the bat because of her double standard. They decided to turn her out of the jungle. Afterward, the bat began to live away from them and died in her unhappy lonely condition. It is true to say: “A rolling stone gathers no moss.”
Moral:
1. A rolling stone gathers no moss.
2. Anyone who changes sides or places is often in trouble.
IMPORTANT POINTS TO BE KEPT IN MIND:
- Never use the moral lesson as the title of the story. The title must be pure title. It should be “A Clever Bat”, “A Cunning Bat”, “The Clever Bat”, or “The Cunning Bat.” Whatever the title you have read, follow that specific title.
- Most of the moral stories have more than one moral lesson. Sometimes, the students try to write more than one moral lesson. In doing so, they make mistakes. I would advise them to write the specific moral lesson in which they have been asked to write a story.