# Haec Fabula Docet explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

A rat that has eaten poison drinks from a stream and explodes, blaming the water for its fate.

## Themes in this chapter

### Deception and Self-Deception

The rat fails to recognize its own poisoning and blames the innocent water.

## Key lines

> A rat who’d gorged a box of bane And suffered an internal pain Came from his hole to die...

A rat that had eaten poison and felt sick came out of its hole to die.

_Opening lines describing the rat's predicament._

> Exploded with a rascal smell, Remarking, as his fragments fell Astonished in the brook: “I’m thinking This water’s damned unwholesome drinking!”

The rat exploded and, as pieces fell into the stream, blamed the water for being unhealthy.

_The rat's ironic final words blaming the water instead of the poison._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/haec-fabula-docet
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters