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. —
一只狗嘴里叼着一块肉，他从桥上越过一条小溪，在水中看到自己的影子，误以为是另一只狗，嘴里叼着一块比他的大一倍的肉。 —

He immediately let go of his own, and fiercely attacked the other Dog to get his larger piece from him. —
他立刻放开自己的肉，猛烈地攻击另一只狗，想从他那里夺回更大的肉块。 —

He thus lost both: that which he grasped at in the water, because it was a shadow; —
结果他两样都失去了：水中的他追求的那个，因为那只是个影子； —

and his own, because the stream swept it away.
而他自己的肉也因为溪水冲走了。