The Dog and His Reflection

In a bustling town filled with busy people and delicious smells, there lived a Dog named Buster. Buster was a good dog, mostly, but he had one small problem: he was very, very greedy. He always wanted the biggest treat, the softest bed, and the best toy.

One sunny morning, Buster trotted to the market. He wagged his tail at the butcher, Mr. Cleaver. Mr. Cleaver, who liked Buster, tossed him a magnificent bone. It was huge, with plenty of juicy meat still left on it.

“Wow!” thought Buster, his eyes widening. “This is the best bone in the whole world! I must take this somewhere safe to enjoy it all by myself.”

He clamped his jaws firmly around the prize and set off for home, growling softly if any other dog dared to look his way. He scurried through the alleys and out of the town, heading towards the quiet woods across the river.

To get to the woods, Buster had to cross a small, wooden bridge over a clear, flowing stream. The wood planks creaked under his paws as he trotted across. Halfway over, he stopped to catch his breath. He looked over the edge of the bridge and gazed down into the water.

The water was calm and still, like a mirror. Staring back at him was the reflection of a dog. But Buster, being not very clever and very greedy, didn’t realize it was himself.

“Hey!” Buster thought. “There is another dog down there!”

He looked closer. The dog in the water was also holding a bone. But because of the way the water magnified things, the bone in the water looked HUGE! It looked twice as big as the one Buster had in his mouth.

Buster’s greed instantly took over. “That’s not fair!” he thought angrily. “Why does that dog get a bigger bone than me? I want that one!”

He glared at the dog in the water. The dog in the water glared back. Buster snarled. The dog in the water snarled back.

“I’ll show him!” thought Buster. “I’ll scare him into dropping his bone, and then I’ll have two!”

Without thinking for another second, Buster opened his mouth wide to let out a ferocious bark.

SPLASH!

The moment he opened his mouth, his own beautiful, juicy bone fell out. It tumbled down, down, down, and hit the water with a loud splash, sinking to the bottom of the deep stream.

Buster watched in horror as the ripples cleared. The dog in the water was still there, but now, he had no bone either.

Buster whimpered. He realized too late what he had done. There was no other dog. There was no bigger bone. He had been tricked by his own reflection and his own greed.

Soaked and sad, Buster walked home with an empty stomach. He had learned a very hard lesson that day.

Moral of the Story: Be content with what you have; greed often makes you lose everything.