第15章 The Dog and the Shadow 狗与影子

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 that of another Dog, with a piece of meat double his own in size. He immediately let go of his own, and fiercely attacked the other Dog to get his larger 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.

一条狗叼着肉走在一座桥上。这时，它低头看见自己在水中的影子，就一厢情愿地以为是另一条狗叼着一块更大的肉。它立刻丢下自己那块，扑到水里去抢夺那块更大的肉。结果，它两手空空，什么也没得到：水中那块原来就不存在，自己的那块又被河水冲走了。