A DOG used to run up quietly to the heels of everyone he met, and to bite them without notice. His master suspended a bell about his neck so that the Dog might give notice of his presence wherever he went. Thinking it a mark of distinction, the Dog grew proud of his bell and went tinkling it all over the marketplace. One day an old hound said to him: Why do you make such an exhibition of yourself? That bell that you carry is not, believe me, any order of merit, but on the contrary a mark of disgrace, a public notice to all men to avoid you as an ill mannered dog."
Notoriety is often mistaken for fame.
有個人被狗咬傷,四處求醫(yī)治傷,仍無顯著療效。有人向他建議,用面包擦干傷口上的血,再扔給咬他的狗吃。他回答說:“我想如果這樣做,那么全城所有的狗一定都會來咬我。”這是說,惡性若受到鼓勵,就會更加為非作歹,為所欲為。