It happened that a Dog had got a piece of meat and was carrying it home in his mouth to eat it in peace. Now, on his way home he had to cross a plank lying across a running brook. As he crossed, he looked down and saw his own shadow reflected in the water beneath. Thinking it was another dog with another piece of meat, he made up his mind to have that also. So he made a snap at the shadow in the water, but as he opened his mouth the piece of meat fell out, dropped into the water and was never seen more.

一只狗嘴里銜著一塊肉，走過一條河上面的橋，看見他自己在水里的影子，以為是另一只狗，那時狗銜著的肉，比他自己的還要大一倍。因此他仍掉自己的那一塊，狠狠地撲向那只狗，想奪到那一塊較大的肉。結果兩頭都落了空，因為他想要抓取在水中的那一塊，只不過是一個影子，而原來的那一塊，也被水沖走了。

Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.

謹記，切莫因追逐幻影而丟失已有的東西。