Perry 133: The Dog and his Shadow

Boothby: The Dog and his Shadow
Who others' property invade,
With loss of theirs are justly paid.
A Spaniel swimming with his food,
Believ'd his shadow in the flood
A real dog; and while he tries,
Him of his dinner to surprise,
From his loos'd jaws down dropt his own;
And shade and substance both were flown.

Pratt: The Dog and his Shadow.
A dog had stolen a piece of meat for hix dinner. "Now for a feast," said the dog. And away he trotted with the meat in his mouth. On his way home there was a brook to cross. The water was very clear and very still. The dog saw his own shadow in the water. "There is another dog with another piece of meat," thought he. "R-r-r-r" growled he, looking down into the water. "R-r-r-r," growled the dog in the water looking up at him. "I'll have that piece of meat," thought the greedy dog on the bridge. So he growled again and showed his teeth. The dog in the water showed his teeth too. That made the dog on the bridge angry. Snap! snap! and down went the meat into the water, and the greedy dog had nothing but his own thoughts to dine upon. I wonder if they were pleasant?

Herford: The Dog and His Shadow
A Dog, with a choice bit of meat
That he was carrying home to eat,
Crossing a bridge, saw in the brook
His own reflection, which he tok
To be another Dog. "The Pig!
His piece of meat is twice as big
As mine! Well, I'll soon let him see
Which is the better Dog!" cried he;
And dropping his, without ado,
To grab the other's meat he flew.
Meanwhile his own sank out of sight;
Thus he lost both, which served him right!"

L'Estrange: A Dog and a Shadow
As a dog was crossing a River with a Morsel of good Flesh in his Mouth, he saw (as he thought) another Dog under the Water upon the very same Adventure. He never consider’d that the one was only the Image of the other, but out of a Greediness to get both, he chops at the Shadow, and loses the Substance.
All covet, all lose; which may serve for a Reproof to those that govern their Lives by Fancy and Appetite, without consulting the Honour and Justice of the Case.

Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
1.5. Of the dogge and of the pyece of flessh
He that desyreth to haue other mens goodes oft he loseth his owne good / wherof Esope reherceth to vs suche a fable / In tyme passed was a dogge that wente ouer a brydge / and held in his mouthe a pyece of flesshe / and as he passed ouer a brydge / he perceyued and sawe the shadowe of hym / and of his pyece of flesshe within the water / And he wenynge that it had be another pyece of flesshe / forthwith he thought  to haue take it / And as he opend his mouthe / the pyece of flesshe fylle in to the water / And thus he lost hit / Ryghte soo is of many / for whanne they thynke to robbe other / they lese theyr owne and propre good / wherfor for the loue of a vayn thynge men ought not to leue that whiche is certeyn
Ryghte soo is of many / for whanne they thynke to robbe other / they lese theyr owne and propre good / wherfor for the loue of a vayn thynge men ought not to leue that whiche is certeyn

Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)
15. The Dog and the Shadow
A DOG, crossing a bridge over a stream with a piece of flesh in his mouth, saw his own shadow in the water and took it for that of another Dog, with a piece of meat double his own in size. He immediately let go of his own, and fiercely attacked the other Dog to get his larger piece from him. He thus lost both: that which he grasped at in the water, because it was a shadow; and his own, because the stream swept it away.

STICKNEY THE DOG AND HIS SHADOW
A DOG once had a nice piece of meat for his dinner. Some say that it was stolen, but others, that it had been given him by a butcher, which we hope was the case.
Dogs like best to eat at home, and he went trotting along with the meat in his mouth, as happy as a king.
On the dog's way there was a stream with a plank across it. As the water was still and clear, he stopped [7] to take a look at it. What should he see, as he gazed into its bright depths, but a dog as big as himself, looking up at him, and lo! The dog had meat in his mouth.
I'll try to get that," said he; "then with both mine and his what a feast I shall have!" As quick as thought he snapped at the meat, but I doing so he had to open his mouth, and his own piece fell to the bottom of the stream.
Then he saw that the other dog had lost his piece, too. He went sadly home. In trying to grasp a shadow he lost his substance.