A lion, having come upon a sleeping hare, was about to devour it; but meanwhile he saw a stag go by: he left the hare and gave chase to the stag. Now the hare, woken by the noise, took flight; and the lion, having pursued the stag far off without being able to catch it, came back to the hare and found that it too had escaped. "It serves me right," he said, "since, letting go of the food I had in hand, I preferred the hope of a finer prey."
So sometimes people, instead of being content with moderate profits, pursue finer hopes, and rashly let go of what they hold in hand.
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