Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
1.8. Of the wulf and of the crane
(Perry 156)
Who so euer doth ony good to the euyll man he synneth as esope saith
/ for of ony good which is don to the euils cometh no prouffit / whereof
Esope reherceth to vs suche a fable / A wulf ete & deuoured a sheep of
whos bones he had one in his throte which he coude not haue out & sore
it greued hym Thenne went the wulf & praid the crane that she wold draw
oute of his throte the bone / & the crane put her nek in to his throte
& drewe out the bone wherby the wulf was hole / And the crane demauned
of hym to be payd of her salary / And the wulf answerd to her / Thow arte
well vnconnyng & no good connyng / remembryng the good that I haue done
to the / for whan thou haddest thy neck within my throte / yf I had wold
/ I myght haue ete the / And thus it appiereth by the fable how no prouffite
cometh of ony good which is done to the euyls
And thus it appiereth by the fable how no prouffite cometh of ony good
which is done to the euyls
 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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