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.
