Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
2.2. Of the Columbes or douues of the kyte and of the sperehawke /
(Perry 486)
Who that putte and submytteth hym self vnder the saue gard or protection
of the euylle / thou oughtest to wete & knowe / that whan he asketh &
demaunded ayde & helpe / he geteth none / Wherof Esope reherceth to vs
suche a fable / Of the douues whiche demaunded a sperehawke for to be
theyr kynge / for to kepe them fro the kyte or mylan / And whanne the
sperehawke was maade kynge ouer them / he beganne to deuoure them / the
whiche columbes or douues sayd amonge them / that better it were to them
to suffre of the kyte than to be vnder the subiection of the sperehawke
/ & to be martred as we be / but therof we be wel worthy / For we oure
self been cause of this meschyef /
And therfore whanne men done ony thyng / men ought well to loke and
consydere thende of hit / For he dothe prudently and wysely whiche taketh
good hede to the ende
 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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