The Fox and His Shadow

A fox, one morning, found his shadow falling over a great part of the meadow. So said he to himself, "I must really be much bigger than I seem to be: certainly bigger than the elephant!"

So, seeing an elephant pass by, he said, "You can't boast of your huge figure any more: behold, how big I am! there is my shadow to prove it!"

"If you were wise," said the elephant, "you would speak to my shadow."

The fox saw the shadow of the elephant stretching far beyond the meadow. He said, "Alas! as one grows, so one's shadow."