For a long time the man had been chasing his shadow in vain: it was always just out of reach.
Every day the sun rose and found him chasing after her, unable to catch up with his dark companion at any pace.
Until one day fate intervened.
As the man ran through the forest as usual, his shadow led him to a clearing.
There, tied to the shade of a tree, he found a rope, and his own shadow tied where he could finally grab it.
At last, the man caught his shadow, tied there by some strange trick of light and nature that had stopped his flight just when the chase seemed futile.
It seemed that his long pursuit had come to an end.