The Dog and the Shadow

"The Dog and the Shadow" is a fable by Jean de La Fontaine about a dog who carries a piece of meat in his mouth. Upon crossing a stream, he sees his reflection in the water and mistakes it for another dog with a larger piece of meat. Blinded by greed, he drops his meat to snatch the other's, only to realize too late that he has lost his own piece in the stream. The story teaches the moral lesson about the dangers of greed and discontentment, emphasizing the importance of being grateful for what one has.

• Fable

								
We all deceive ourselves, and so we fall;
We all run after shadows, in our way:
So many madmen, one can't count them all;
Send them to Æsop's Dog,--I beg and pray.
The Dog, who saw the shadow of the meat
He carried, dark upon the liquid tide,
Dropping his prey, snapped at the counterfeit:
The river rose, and washed him from the side.
True, with much danger, he regained the shore,
But neither meat nor shadow saw he more.
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