A TRAVELER hired an Ass to convey him to a distant place. The day being
intensely hot, and the sun shining in its strength, the Traveler
stopped to rest, and sought shelter from the heat under the Shadow of
the Ass. As this afforded only protection for one, and as the Traveler
and the owner of the Ass both claimed it, a violent dispute arose
between them as to which of them had the right to the Shadow. The owner
maintained that he had let the Ass only, and not his Shadow. The
Traveler asserted that he had, with the hire of the Ass, hired his
Shadow also. The quarrel proceeded from words to blows, and while the
men fought, the Ass galloped off.
In quarreling about the shadow we often lose the substance.