Isang aso ang nakahukay ng buto sa lupa. Tuwang-tuwa siya at dali-daling hinawakan ang buto sa pamamagitan ng kanyang bibig.
Dinala niya ang buto upang iuwi sa kanyang tirahan, ngunit nang siya ay malapit na, napadaan siya sa isang ilog. Pinagmasdan niya ang ilog at doo’y nakita niya ang sariling anino. Sa pag-aakalang ibang aso iyon na may hawak-hawak ring buto sa bibig, tinahulan niya iyon nang tinahulan upang maangkin din ang butong pag-aari nito.
Dahil dito, humulagpos mula sa kanyang bibig ang butong hawak-hawak at nahulog sa ilog. Tinangay ng agos ang buto at hindi na uli nakuha pa ng sakim na aso.
The Dog and the Shadow
by Aesop
A DOG, crossing a bridge over a stream with a piece of flesh in his mouth, saw his own shadow in the water, and took it for another Dog, with a piece of meat double his own in size. He therefore let go his own, and fiercely attacked the other Dog, to get his largest piece from him. He thus lost both - that which he grasped at in the water, because it was a shadow; and his own, because the stream swept it away.
Moral:
It is not wise to be too greedy.
Source:
Aesop's Fables
Copyright 1881
Translator: unknown
WM. L. Allison, New York
Illustrator: Harrison Weir, John Tenniel, Ernest Griset, et.al.
Aesop : 620 B.C. to 560 B.C.
