Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
2.14. Of the wulf and of the dede mans hede
(Perry 27)
Many one ben whiche haue grete worship and glorye / but noo prudence
/ ne noo wysedom they haue in them wherof Esope reherceth suche a fable
/ Of a wulf which found a dede mans hede / the whiche he torned vp so
doune with his foote / And sayd / Ha a how fayr hast thow be and playsaunt
/ And now thow hast in the neyther wytte / ne beaute / & yet thow arte
withoute voys and withoute ony thought /
And therfore men ought not only to behold the beaulte and fayrenesse
of the body / but only the goodnes of the courage / For somtyme men gyuen
glorye and worship to some / whiche haue deseruyd to haue hit /
 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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