Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
2.5. Of the Montayn whiche shoke
(Perry 520)
Ryght so it happeth / that he that menaceth hath drede and is ferdfull
/ wherof Esope reherceth to vs suche a fable Of a hylle whiche beganne
to tremble and shake by cause of the molle whiche delued hit / And whanne
the folke sawe that the erthe beganne thus to shake / they were sore aferd
and dredeful / and durst not wel come ne approche the hylle / But after
whanne they were come nyghe to the Montayne / & knewe how the molle caused
this hylle shakynge / theyr doubte and drede were conuerted vnto Ioye
/ and beganne alle to lawhe /
And therfore men ought not to doubte al folk whiche ben of grete wordes
and menaces / For somme menacen that haue grete doubte
 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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