The Lion and the Wolf

by Aesop

A WOLF, roaming by the mountain's side, saw his own shadow, as the sun was setting, 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 over-estimation of myself is the cause of my destruction.

Moral:
It is not wise to hold too exalted an opinion of one's self.