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The Dog and the Bone
By Aesop as told by FabulousFables.com
A mangy dog swaggered past a butcher’s shop one day. He saw a pile of tasty-looking bones still covered with meat on the counter. He was a fast dog, and he knew he could easily outrun even the swiftest of people. So he ran into the shop, jumped on the counter and greedily snatched the most attractive bone. He ran out of the shop.
The furious butcher grabbed his knife and chased the mutt, who was not to be denied his ill-gotten bone. The butcher was slow; he soon got tired, and the dog escaped, snickering as he lengthened the distance from his pursuer. He really was fast.
As the dog headed home, he walked across a bridge over a deep river. Halfway across he noticed a dog in the water staring up at him.
The thieving dog thought ‘That’s one ugly old mutt,’ but he couldn’t help notice the juicy bone in the dog’s mouth.
The swift dog sized him up. ‘He doesn’t look so tough. I’m fast. I can grab that bone and run just like I did at the butcher shop.’
In order to muster an intimidating snarl, he opened his jaws wide and bared his fangs. That would frighten the poor homely mutt, he reasoned. The bone fell out of his mouth. It hit the water, shattering his reflection. The bone disappeared into the deep.
Moral:
Be content with what you have.
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