Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
1.4. Of the dogge and of the sheep
(Perry 478)
Of the men chalengynge whiche euer be sekynge occasion to doo some harme
and dommage to the good / saith Esope suche a fable / Somtyme was a dogge
/ whiche demaunded of a sheep a loof of brede that she had borowed of
hym / And the sheep ansuerd that neuer she had none of hym / The dogge
made her to come before the Iuge / And by cause the sheep denyed the dette
/ the dogge prouysed and broughte with hym fals wytnes / that is to wete
the wulf / the mylan & the sparhawk / And whanne these wytnes shold be
examyned and herd / the wulf sayd to the Iuge / I am certayne & me remembreth
wel / that the dogge lend to her a loof of brede And the Myllan went and
sayd / she receyued hit presente my persone / And the sperowhawk sayd
to the sheep / Come hyder why denyest thow that whiche thow hast take
and receyued / And thus was the poure sheep vanquysshed / And thenne the
Iuge commaunded to her that she shold paye the dogge / wherfore she sold
awey before the wynter her flees and wulle for to paye that / that she
neuer had / And thus was the poure sheep despoylled / In suche maner done
the euylle hongry peple whiche by theyr grete vntrouthe and malyce robben
and despoyllen the poure folk
 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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