The Ass And Its Shadow

by Aesop

　　A Traveler had hired an Ass to carry him to a distant part of thecountry. The owner of the Ass went with the Traveler, walkingbeside him to drive the Ass and point out the way.

　　The road led across a treeless plain where the Sun beat downfiercely. So intense did the heat become, that the Traveler atlast decided to stop for a rest, and as there was no other shadeto be found, the Traveler sat down in the shadow of the Ass.

　　Now the heat had affected the Driver as much as it had theTraveler, and even more, for he had been walking. Wishing also torest in the shade cast by the Ass, he began to quarrel with theTraveler, saying he had hired the Ass and not the shadow it cast.

　　The two soon came to blows, and while they were fighting, the Asstook to its heels.

　　In quarreling about the shadow we often lose the substance.