A Wolf thought himself special because his shadow got longer as the sun set. As the Wolf watched his shadow a Lion pounced on him. Too self absorbed!
Overestimating yourself can lead to destruction.
Aesop For Children
A Wolf left his lair one evening in fine spirits and an excellent appetite. As he ran, the setting sun cast his shadow far out on the ground, and it looked as if the wolf were a hundred times bigger than he really was.
“Why,” exclaimed the Wolf proudly, “see how big I am! Fancy me running away from a puny Lion! I’ll show him who is fit to be king, he or I.”
Just then an immense shadow blotted him out entirely, and the next instant a Lion struck him down with a single blow.
Moral
Do not let your fancy make you forget realities.
Townsend version
Roaming by the mountainside at sundown, a Wolf saw his own shadow become greatly extended and magnified, and he said to himself, “Why should I, being of such an immense size and extending nearly an acre in length, be afraid of the Lion? Ought I not to be acknowledged as King of all the collected beasts?’ While he was indulging in these proud thoughts, a Lion fell upon him and killed him. He exclaimed with a too late repentance, “Wretched me! this overestimation of myself is the cause of my destruction.”
Lupus, Umbra Eius, et Leo
Lupus, in deserta loca pererrans, dum iam sol in occasum vergeret, cum sui umbram valde longam animadvertisset, “Leonem,” inquit, “ego timeo, cum tantus sim, ut iugerum aequem? Nonne prorsus in ceteras feras omnes imperium exercebo?” Dum haec lupus superbe secum cogitat, leo supervenit eumque, dicto citius, devoravit. Quapropter lupus, paenitentia, sed frustra, tactus, exclamabat, “O stulta opinio, quae meae necis causa es!”
Perry #260