The fables of Aesop by William Caxton (Jacobs)/Annotated/Vol. II/Liber Primus/Fable 5
¶ The fyfthe fable is of the dogge and of the pyece of flessh
e that desyreth to haue other mens
goodes oft he loseth his owne
good / whereof 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
perceywed 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 opened his mouthe / the pyece
of flesshe fylle in to the water / and thus he lost
it / 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.