The Dog that Dropped the Substance for the Shado

Jean de La Fontaine presents the world as full of people who chase shadows and are easily deceived. He directs such people to Aesop’s dog, which crosses water on a log while carrying meat. Seeing the meat’s reflection below, the dog tries to seize the image and lets go of the real meat. It plunges into the water and reaches shore with neither the prize it hoped to gain nor the food it originally possessed.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Moral Tale · 122 words

First lines

This world is full of shadow-chasers, / Most easily deceived. / Should I enumerate these racers, / I should not be believed. / I send them all to Aesop's dog, / Which, crossing water on a log, / Espied the meat he bore, below; / To seize its image, let it go; / Plunged in; to reach the shore was glad, / With neither what he hoped, nor what he'd had.[1]

[1]: Aesop; also Phaedrus, I. 4.

• Open reader

Similar titles

• The Miser Who Had Lost His Treasure by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Woodman And Mercury by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Frog And The Rat by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Ass Loaded With Sponges And The Ass Loaded With Salt by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Raven And The Fox by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Eye Of The Master by Jean De La Fontaine

Genres

• Fable — A brief animal-centered narrative delivers a clear moral lesson: greedily pursuing an illusion causes the loss of what one already possesses.
• Didactic Literature — The poem explicitly instructs readers about the folly of chasing deceptive appearances and serves as a warning against misplaced desire.
• Moral Tale — Its plot culminates in a practical ethical consequence, condemning greed, envy, and the pursuit of unreal gains.
• Narrative Poetry — The work tells a complete story in verse, using rhyme, compressed action, and a concluding outcome.

Tags

fable · verse narrative · moral allegory · didactic poetry · Aesopic tradition · French seventeenth-century literature · animal protagonist · dog · meat · reflection · water · river crossing

What this Textopian page supports

The Dog that Dropped the Substance for the Shadow is listed on Textopian as a fable by Jean de La Fontaine, dated 1668 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

• Work type: Fable
• Author: Jean de La Fontaine
• Date: 1668 CE
• Language: English
• Genres: Fable, Didactic Literature, Moral Tale, Narrative Poetry, Allegory
• Length: 122 words
• Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs

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• Work identity for The Dog that Dropped the Substance for the Shadow by Jean de La Fontaine
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More by Jean de La Fontaine

• To Monseigneur the Dauphin (1668)
• The Grasshopper and the Ant (1668)
• The Raven and the Fox (1668)
• The Frog that Wished to be as Big as the Ox (1668)
• The Two Mules (1668)
• The Wolf and the Dog (1668)
• The Heifer, the Goat, and the Sheep, in Company with the Lion (1668)
• The Wallet (1668)
• All works by Jean de La Fontaine