A bat, a bramble and a cormorant1 entered into covenants2 with articles, to join stocks, and trade in partnership3 together. The bat's adventure was ready money that he took up at interest; the bramble's was in cloths; and the cormorant's in brass4. They put to sea, and it so fell out ,that ship and goods were both lost by stress of weather: but the three merchants by providence5 got safe to land. Since the time of this miscarriage6, the bat never stirs abroad till night, for fear of his creditors7. The bramble lays hold of all the deaths he can come at in hope to light upon his own again: and the cormorant is still sauntering by the sea-side, to see if he can find any of his brass cast up.

　　Any notable misfortune will stick by a man as long as lie live。

　　蝙蝠、荊棘和鸕鶿訂立了契約，決定合伙做生意。蝙蝠借了高利貸，荊棘購(gòu)買(mǎi)了衣服，而鸕鶿則購(gòu)買(mǎi)了銅。于是三人乘船出海，不幸的是，天公不作美，船和貨物都沉沒(méi)了；所幸三個(gè)商人還都安全地到了岸邊。從此以后，蝙蝠怕見(jiàn)到他的債主，只有晚上才敢出來(lái)活動(dòng)；荊棘纏住在他旁邊的每一具尸首，希望能從中發(fā)現(xiàn)他自己的衣服；而鸕鶿還在海邊徘徊，想看看他的銅能不能失而復(fù)得。

　　任何重大的不幸都會(huì)跟隨人的一輩子。