Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
1.3. Of the rat / and of the frogge
(Perry 384)
/ Now it be so / that as the rat wente in pylgremage / he came by a Ryuer
/ and demaunded helpe of a frogge for to passe / and go ouer the water
/ And thenne the frogge bound the rats foote to her foote / and thus swymed
vnto the myddes ouer the Ryuer / And as they were there the frogge stood
stylle / to thende that the rat shold be drowned / And in the meane whyle
came a kyte vpon them / and bothe bare them with hym / This fable made
Esope for a symylytude whiche is prouffitable to many folkes / For he
that thynketh euylle ageynst good / the euylle whiche he thynketh shall
ones falle vpon hym self /
This fable made Esope for a symylytude whiche is prouffitable to many
folkes / For he that thynketh euylle ageynst good / the euylle whiche
he thynketh shall ones falle vpon hym self
 Caxton
published his edition of Aesop's fables in 1484. There are modern reprints by
Joseph Jacobs (D. Nutt: London, 1889) and more recently by Robert Lenaghan (Harvard
University Press: Cambridge, 1967). Lenaghan's edition is available at amazon.com.
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