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The Dog and the Bone

Dog trotted along the road. Clenched in her teeth she carried a fat bone with plenty of meat on it. Chef Henri of Henri's Cafe had tossed this juicy prize to her as she passed his kitchen door. "Happy chewing, Madame!" the kind man had called.

Dog planned to lie down in the cool grass with that delicious bone between her paws as soon as she got home. Then she would gnaw and chew and crunch to her heart's content. Dog turned a corner and started across a small footbridge over a deep, slow-moving river. Her toenails clicked gaily on the wooden planks.

BUT WHAT WAS THAT?!

In one blink, quicker than a flea can jump, Dog went from being happy to being very, very jealous! For as she gazed down into the clear water, she saw another dog. Although
she had never met this dog before, she hated him instantly! The other dog held clenched in his teeth a HUGE BONE! That bone was much longer, fatter, and meatier than the
poor skinny morsel in Dog's own jaws.

"Now that's the bone I want," said Dog to herself as she stared at the other dog's bone. It was, without a doubt, the bone of all bones. "I must have it!" she thought. A deep growl rumbled up from her throat.

"You'd better get ready to fight for that bone of yours!" barked Dog to the dog in the water. When she opened her mouth, her own bone dropped into the river with a loud PLOP!

Dog leaped into the river, snarling and barking, grabbing for the other dog's bone with fury. But when she hit the cold water, Dog was shocked to find that there was no one there to fight. Bewildered, she paddled around in circles until she realized the sad truth: she had lost both the real bone she had held in her mouth and the bone she had seen in the water. You see, the dog she had seen in the river was simply her own reflection. It was only her jealousy that had made the bone in the river seem so big and juicy.

Some time later, and a bit farther downstream, Dog pulled herself onto the riverbank. Wet, miserable, and hungrier than ever, she sadly continued her journey home. On the way, Dog made herself a promise: From now on, I will
hold on to what is real instead of chasing imaginary things.

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