Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
4.10. Of the asse and of the lyon
(Perry 151)
The grete callers by theyr hyghe and lowd crye supposen to make folke
aferd / as recyteth this fable / Of an asse whiche somtyme mette with
a lyon / to the whiche the asse sayd / lete vs clymme vpon the montayne
/ and I shalle shewe to the / how the beestes ben aferd of me / and the
lyon beganne to smyle / and he ansuerd to the asse / Goo we my broder
/ And whan they were vpon the top of the hylle / the asse byganne to crye
/ And the foxe and hares beganne to flee / And whanne thasse sawe them
flee sayd to the lyon / Seest thou not how these beestes dreden and doubten
me / and the lyon sayde / I had ben also ferdfull of thy voys / yf I had
not knowen veryly that thow arte but an asse /
And therfore men nede not doubte ne drede hym that auaunceth hym self
for to do that that he can not doo / For god kepe the mone fro the wulues
/ Ne also men nede not doubte a foole for his menaces / ne for his hyghe
crye
 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.
|
