A dog had been sitting there for a long time. He was very hungry. He looked at the window in a butcher’s shop hoping for something to be thrown to him. But none of the passersby had thrown any food to him.
He looked longingly at the shop. The butcher had been watching him for a while. He realised that the poor fellow must be hungry. Finally, he threw a large piece of meat to the dog. The dog jumped up and grabbed it.
Wagging his tail happily, he trotted off to eat it in peace. He had a special place outside the village where he would not be disturbed. It was on the outskirts of the forest, and he had to cross a thin wooden bridge to reach there.
The bridge was old and worn. Some parts of the plank had fallen off, but it was strong enough for a dog to cross over the stream. The dog slowed down and, holding the meat firmly in his mouth, he began to cross the bridge.
At a certain moment, he happened to look down into the water and saw himself reflected in the quiet water as if in a mirror. There, staring back at him, was his reflection. But the greedy dog thought he saw a real dog carrying a bone much bigger than his own. The dog was not a very sensible fellow. ‘Who is that?’ he wondered, ‘He’s got some meat too!’ He growled at his reflection. It growled back!
‘This is terrible!’ he thought, ‘How can he have so much meat? I think that piece is as big as mine! Or maybe it’s bigger.’ ‘How wonderful it would be if I could get that piece too! I’ll have a feast!’ he thought.
The dog decided to get the piece of meat he saw in the water too. Forgetting that he was carrying a large chunk in his mouth, he barked at his reflection. The meat fell into the stream with a splash! He never considered that the one was only the image of the other; but out of greediness to get both, he barked at the shadow, and lost the meat.
The dog looked with dismay at the meat he had dropped. It was soon carried off and lost to his sight! He stood sadly thinking about the good bone he had lost; he realized what a stupid dog he had been.
