Bat, Bramble, and Cormorant made a trade pact. They set sail together but all was lost at sea. All three now search for their goods in different ways.
Any notable misfortune will stick by a man as long as he lives.
L’Estrange version
A bat, a bramble, and a cormorant enter’d into covenants with articles, to joyn stocks, and trade in partnership together. The bat’s adventure was ready mony that he took up at interest; the bramble’s was in cloaths; and the cormorant’s in brass. 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 providence got safe to land. Since the time of this miscarriage, the bat never stirrs abroad till night, for fear of his creditors. 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.
Moral
The impression of any notable misfortune will commonly stick by a man as long as he lives.