Phaedrus, Fabulae 1.4
“Whoever seeks another’s goods has rightly lost his own.
A dog was swimming across a river carrying his meal
And saw his own reflection in the water’s shine:
Thinking he might claim different spoils from another
He tried to snatch it: but instead deceptive greed
Was gripping him as his mouth released his meat:
And so he also failed to touch what he tried to seek.”
Canis per fluvium carnem ferens.
Amittit merito proprium qui alienum adpetit.
Canis per flumen carnem cum ferret natans,
Lympharum in speculo vidit simulacrum suum,
Aliamque praedam ab altero ferri putans
Eripere voluit; verum decepta aviditas
Et quem tenebat ore dimisit cibum,
Nec quem petebat potuit adeo adtingere.
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