A blind ass, which had undertaken a long journey, wandered from the road into a forest. As the night came on, our foolish fellow went so far into the thicket that it couldn't move either backward or forward; and even one who had eyes would have been unable to get out of that difficulty. But an owl, by good luck, happened to be in the neighborhood, and offered to act as a guide to the ass.
We all know how well owls see at night. Hills, hillocks, precipices — all these our owl distinguished as if it had been daylight. By daybreak, it had made its way with the ass to the level road. Now, how could any one part with such a guide? So the ass entreated the owl not to desert it, and determined to visit the whole world in the owl's company. Our owl seated itself like a lord on the back of the ass, and the two friends began to continue their journey.
But did it prosper? No. The sun had scarcely begun to glow in the morning sky, when a greater than nocturnal darkness hid everything from the owl's eyes. But our owl is obstinate ; it directs the ass at random.
“Take care!” it cries. “We shall tumble into a pool, if we go to the right.”
There was really no pool on the right; but on the left there was even worse.
“Keep more to the left — another pace to the left!”
And, the owl and the ass fell into the ravine together.
一头瞎眼驴子在路上走了很久，后来拐进了森林里。夜幕降临，这蠢东西在林子深处进退两难。那种情形之下，就算是看得见的驴子怕也走不出来。侥幸的是，一只猫头鹰恰好就在附近，它主动给驴子当起向导。
谁都知道猫头鹰在夜间视力有多好。斜坡啊，山丘啊，悬崖什么的——这些东西猫头鹰分辨得一清二楚，就像在白天似的。黎明时分，猫头鹰已经和驴子一起来到了平路上。这下，谁还离得开这么一位向导呢？于是驴子恳求猫头鹰别离开它，还决定让猫头鹰陪着自己一起周游世界。猫头鹰坐到了驴子的背上，像是上帝一般。两个伙伴继续上路了。
但是事情往好的方向发展了吗？没有。太阳刚在早晨的天空中露出光芒，猫头鹰便陷入了暗夜般的黑暗，什么也看不见。可是猫头鹰很固执，还是胡乱指挥着驴子。
“小心点儿！”它喊着，“往右走我们就跌进水塘了。”
其实，右边根本没有什么水塘，倒是左边比右边更不好走。
“再往左边靠——再往左迈一步！”
这下，猫头鹰和驴子一起摔进了深谷里。
-thicket [ˈθɪkɪt] n. 灌木丛
-nocturnal [nɒkˈtɜːnl] adj. (动物)夜间活动的
-obstinate [ˈɒbstɪnət] adj. 顽固的
-ravine [rəˈviːn] n. 深谷
虚荣心伪装的一腔自信，强撑不起现实的大伞。