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

431. THE PIGEON AND THE PAINTING
Perry 201 (Syntipas 8)

A pigeon had grown very thirsty, so she flew from place to place looking for some water to drink. She saw a water jar painted on a wall and thought that it was actually full of water, so she flew right into the wall in order to take a drink. As the pigeon collided with the wall, she brought her life abruptly to an end. As she drew her last breath, the pigeon said to herself, 'What a wretched and unlucky creature I am! I didn't even suspect that looking for something to drink could bring about my own demise.'
The fable shows that caution is far superior to reckless haste and hurry.

Note: L'Estrange uses an English proverb as his epimythium: 'Rash Men do many Things in Haste that they repent of at Leisure.'

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.