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Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)

347. THE LIZARD AND THE SNAKE
Perry 371 (Babrius 41)

They say that there was once a lizard who burst into pieces right down the middle when he was trying to equal the length of a snake.
You will hurt yourself and accomplish nothing if you try to imitate someone who is far better than you are.

Source: Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura Gibbs. Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002.
NOTE: New cover, with new ISBN, published in 2008; contents of book unchanged.