Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
6.14. Of the yonge theef and of his moder
(Perry 200)
He whiche is not chastysed at the begynnynge is euyll and peruers at
the ende / As hit appiereth by this fable of a yonge child whiche of
his yongthe beganne to stele / and to be a theef / And the theftys whiche
he maad / he broughte to his moder / and the moder toke them gladly / & in
no wyse she chastysed hym / And after that he had done many theftys /
he was taken / and condempned to be hanged / And as men ledde hym to
the Iustyce / his moder folowed hym and wepte sore / And thenne the child
prayd to the Iustyce / that he myght saye one word to his moder / And
as he approuched to her / made semblaunt to telle her somme wordes at
her ere / & with his teeth he bote of her nose / wherof the Iustyce blamed
hym / And he ansuerd in this manere / My lordes ye haue no cause to blame
me therfore / For my moder is cause of my deth For yf she had wel chastysed
me / I had not come to this shame and vergoyne / For who loueth wel /
wel he chastyseth /
And therfore chastyse wel youre wel youre children / to thende
/ that ye falle not in to suche a caas
 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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