Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
3.2. Of the lyon and of the hors
(Perry 187)
Eche one ought to eschewe dyssymylyng / for none ought to were on hym
the skyn of the wulf / but that he wyll be lyke to hym / For none ought
to fayne hym self other than suche as he is / As to vs reherceth this
fable / Of a lyon whiche sawe a hors / whiche ete grasse in a medowe /
And for to fynde somme subtylyte and manere for to ete and deuoure hym
/ approched to hym / and sayd / god kepe the my broder / I am a leche
/ and with al a good phisycyen / And by cause that I see that thow hast
a sore foote / I am come hyther for to hele the of hit / And the hors
knewe wel all his euyl thought And sayd to the lyon / My broder I thanke
the gretely / and thow arte welcome to me / I praye the that thow wylt
make my foote hole / And thenne the lyon sayd to the hors / late see thy
foote / And as the lyon loked on hit / the hors smote hym on the forhede
/ In suche wyse that he brake his hede and fyll oute of his mynde / &
the lyon felle to the ground / And soo wonderly he was hurte / that almost
he myght not ryse vp ageyne / And thenne sayd the lyon in hym self / I
am wel worthy to haue had this / For he that sercheth euylle / euyll cometh
to hym / And by cause that I dyssymyled and fayned my self to be a medycyn
/ where as I shold haue shewed my self a grete enemye / I therfore haue
receyued good reward /
And therfore euery body oughte to shewe hym self suche as he is /
 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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