Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
3.14. Of the man and of the wood
(Perry 302)
He that gyueth ayde and help to his enemy is cause of his dethe / as
recyteth this fable of a man whiche made an axe / And after that he had
made his axe / he asked of the trees / and sayd / ye trees gyue yow to
me a handle / And the trees were content / And whanne he had maade fast
his handle to the axe / he began to cutte and throwe doune to the ground
alle the trees / wherfore the oke and the Asshe sayd / yf we be cutte
/ hit is wel ryght and reason / For of oure owne self we ben cut and thrawen
doune /
And thus hit is not good to put hym self in to the daunger and subiection
of his enemye / ne to helpe hym for to be adommaged / as thou maist see
by this presente fable / For men ought not to gyue the staf / by whiche
they may be beten with
 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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