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Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)5.8. Of the serpent and of the labourer The Auctor of this booke reherceth suche another Fable and of suche
sentence / as the precydent / that is to wete / that men shold not
byleue hym / to whome men hath done euylle / And sayth that somtyme
in heruest tyme a labourer wente for to see his goodes in the feldes
/ the whiche mette on his way a serpent / And with a staf whiche
he bare in his hand smote the sayd serpent / and gaf hym suche a
stroke vpon the heed / that nyghe he slewe hym / And as the Serpent
felte hym self soo sore hurted / he wente fro the man / And entryd
in to his hole / And sayd to the labourer / O euylle Frende / thow
has bete me / But I warne the / that thow neuer byleue not hym /
to the whiche thow hast done ony euylle / Of the whiche wordes the
labourer made lytyl extyme and went forthe on his waye / It befelle
thenne in the same yere / that this labourer wente ageyne by that
waye / for to goo laboure and ere his ground / To whome the sayd
Serpent sayd / Ha my frend / whyther goost thow / And the labourer
answerd to hym / I goo ere and plowe my ground / And the Serpent
sayd to hym / sowe not to moche / For this yere shalle be raynfull
and grete habondaunce of waters shalle falle / But byleue not to
hym / to whome thow hast somtyme done ony euylle / And withoute ony
wordes the labourer wente forthe on his waye / and byleued not the
serpent / but made alle his ground to be cultyued and ered / and
sowed as moche corne as he myghte / In that same yere felle grete
haboundaunce of water / wherfore the sayd labourer had but lytyl
of his corne / For the mooste parte of the corne that he had sowen
perysshed that same yere by cause of the grete rayne that felle that
same yere / And the next yere after folowynge / as this labourer
passyd before the repayre or dwellynge place of the sayd Serpent
and went for to sowe his ground / the Serpente demaunded thenne of
hym / My Frend whyther gost thow / And the labourer answerd / I goo
for to sowe my ground wyth corn and with other graynes suche as I
hope that shalle ben necessary for me in tyme comynge / And thenne
the Serpent saide to hym / My frend sowe but lytyl corne / For the
Somer next comynge shalle be soo grete and soo hote / that by the
dryenes and hete / that alle the goodes sowen on the erthe shalle
perysshe But byleue not hym / to whome thow hast done ony euylle
/ And withoute sayenge ony word / the labourer wente / and thought
on the wordes of the Serpent / And wenynge / that the Serpent hadde
soo sayd for to deceyue hym / he sowed as moche corne and other graynes
/ as he myght / And it happed that the Somer next folowynge was suche
/ as aboue is sayd / Therfor the man was begyled / For he gadred
that same yere nothynge / And the next yere after folowynge / the
sayd season as the poure labourer wente ageyne for to ere and cultyue
his ground the serpet sawe hym come fro ferre / And as he came and
passed before his repayre he asked of the labourer in suche maner
/ My Frend whyther goost thow / And the labourer ansuerd / I goo
cultyue and ere my ground / And thenne the serpent seyd to hym /
My Frend sowe not to moche ne to lytyl of corne and of other graynes
/ but sowe bytwene bothe / Neuertheles byleue not hym / to the whiche
thow hast done euyl And I telle the that this yere shalle be the
most temperate and the moost fertyle of all maner of corne / that
euer thow sawest / And whanne the labourer hadde herd these wordes
/ he wente his waye / and dyd as the Serpent had sayd / And that
yere he gadred moche good / by cause of the good disposycion of the
season and tyme / And on a daye of the same yere / the serpent sawe
the sayd labourer comynge fro the heruest / to whome he came ageynste
/ and sayd / Now saye me my good Frend / Hast thow not fond now grete
plente of goodes / as I had told to the byfore And the labourer ansuerd
and sayd ye certaynly / wherof I thanke the / And thenne the Serpent
demaunded of hym Remuneracion or reward / And the labourer thenne
demaunded what he wold haue of hym / And the Serpent sayd I ne demaunde
of the nothynge / but only that to morowe on the mornyng thow wylt
sende me a dyssh ful of mylk by som of thy children / And thenne
the serpent shewed to the labourer the hole of his dwellyng / & sayd
to hym / telle thy sone that he brynge the mylke hyther / but take
good heede to that that other whyle I told to the / that thow byleuest
not hym / to whome thow hast done euylle / And anone after whanne
these thynges were sayd / the labourer wente homeward / And in the
mornynge next folowynge / he betoke to his sone a dysshe full of
mylke whiche he brought to the serpent / and sette the dysshe before
the hool / And anone the serpent came oute and slewe the child thurgh
his venym / And when the labourer cam fro the feld / and that he
came before the repayre or dwellynge of the serpent / he fond his
sonne whiche laye doune deed on the erthe / Thenne beganne the sayd
labourer to crye with a hyghe voys / as he that was ful of sorowe
and of heuynesse sayenge such wordes / Ha cursyd & euylle serpent
/ vermyn and fals traytour / thow hast deceyued me / Ha wycked and
deceytfull beest / ful of all contagyous euyll thow hast sorowfully
slayne my sone And thenne the serpente sayd to hym / I wylle well
/ that thow knowe / that I haue not slayne hym sorowfully / ne with
oute cause / but for to auenge me of that / that thow hurtest me
on that other daye withoute cause / and hast not amended hit / Hast
thow now memorye / how ofte I sayd to the / that thow sholdest not
byleue hym / to whome thow hast done euyll / haue now thenne in thy
memorye / that I am auengyd of the /
 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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