The Dog Who Carried the Meat

叼着肉的狗

A dog was crossing a river holding a piece of meat in his mouth. Catching¹ sight of his reflection in the water, he believed that it was another dog who was holding a bigger piece of meat. So, dropping his own piece, he leaped into the water to take the piece from the other dog. But the result was that he ended up with neither piece-one didn't even exist

and the other was swept away by the current.

一只狗嘴里叼着一块肉，正在过河看。看到自已在水中的倒影，他以为是另一只狗叼着一大块肉。于是，他放下自己嘴里的肉，跳进水里，想从另一只狗嘴里抢过肉来。但结果是最后他一块肉也没有了：一块根本不存在，而另一块被激流卷走了。

This fable² applied³ to the covetous⁴.

这则寓言适用于贪婪之人。