Why the Bat Flies at Night

A long time ago, the bat and the bush rat were great friends. They lived near each other and ate together every evening. The bush rat was a simple, hardworking creature who admired the bat. The bat was clever and proud and a little vain.

The bush rat noticed that whenever they ate together, the soup the bat brought tasted wonderful. He had tried to make soup like it himself, but he could never get the flavor right. One day, after they had finished eating, he asked the bat: "Brother bat, your soup is sweeter than any I have made. What is the secret?"

The bat smiled to himself. He liked being asked. He said, "It is because I always boil myself in the water before I make the soup. My own flesh, you see, is so sweet that it gives the soup its taste."

The bush rat was amazed. He went home and thought about it. The next day he said to his wife: "I am going to do as the bat does. Boil a pot of water until it is hot. When it is ready, I will jump in. Take me out quickly afterwards, and the soup we cook in that water will be the sweetest soup we have ever had."

His wife was alarmed and tried to argue, but the bush rat was set on it. She built up a fire and put the largest pot they had on it, full of water. When the water was boiling and steam was rising in clouds, she said, "Husband, are you sure?" "Yes," he said, "the bat does it every day. It will be all right."

He jumped into the pot. The water was boiling. He died at once. His wife, weeping, pulled the body out, but he could not be revived.

The bush rat's wife went to the chief of the country and accused the bat of murder. She said the bat had told her husband to boil himself, knowing it would kill him. The chief sent his messengers to bring the bat for trial.

But the bat had been watching the smoke from the bush rat's house, and he had guessed what was happening. When he heard the chief's messengers coming, he flew up into the rafters of his hut, and from there into the trees, and from there away into the deepest part of the forest, and he hid.

The messengers searched all the daylight hours and could not find him. The chief gave the order: "Wherever the bat is found, in the day, he shall be killed."

That is why the bat does not come out by day anymore. From that time until now, he stays hidden in caves and in the dark crevices of the forest, and he comes out only at night, when no one can see him, when those who would punish him are asleep.

If you watch closely on a dark evening you will see him slipping out, swift and silent, looking for his food in the air. And in the morning, before the sun is fully up, you will see him hurry back into hiding. He has not stopped hiding since the day his friend, the bush rat, was boiled.