Fable 29 - The Foxes on the Bank of the Maeander River

One day, some foxes assembled on the banks of the Maeander with the intention of quenching their thirst. But as the flowing waters
roared past them they became fearful and got one another worked up about the dangers of the current, so that they did not dare approach it.
Then, one of the foxes thought he would show his superiority by mocking the others in a humiliating way about their cowardice.
He made out that he was the bravest of them all. In order to prove his point, he jumped boldly into the rushing waters. As the
current pulled him out towards the middle of the river, the others left on the bank called out to him:
‘Wait! Don’t abandon us! Come back and show us how we can find the place where we can drink from the river without danger!’
The fox who was being carried away by the current shouted back to them:
‘I have an urgent message for the oracle of Apollo at Miletus. I want to take it to him now! I’ll show you the place when I get back.’

This story applies to those who, by boasting, put themselves in danger.