Aesop's Fables: Caxton
(1484)
6.4. Of the catte and of the chyken
(Perry 16)
He whiche is fals of kynde / & hath begonne to deceyue some other
/ euer he wyl vse his craft / As it appiereth by this present Fable
of a kat whiche somtyme tok a chyken / the whiche he biganne strongly
to blame / for to haue fonde somme cause that he myght ete hit /
and sayd to hym in this manere / Come hyther thou chyken / thow dost
none other good but crye alle the nyght / thow letest not the men
slepe / And thenne the chyken ansuerd to hym / I doo hit for theyre
grete prouffite / And ouer ageyne the catte sayd to hym / Yet is
there wel wors / For thow arte an inceste & lechour For thow knowest
naturelly both thy moder and thy doughter And thenne the chyken sayd
to the cat / I doo hit by cause that my mayster maye haue egges for
his etynge / And that hys mayster for his prouffyte gaf to hym bothe
the moder and the doughter for to multyplye the egges / And thenne
the Catte sayd to hym / by me feythe godsep thow hast of excusacions
ynough / but neuertheles thow shalt passe thurgh my throte / for
I suppose not to faste this day for alle thy wordes /
And thus is it of hym whiche is custommed to lyue by rauyn
/ For he can not kepe ne absteyne hym self fro hit / For alle
thexcusacions that be leyd on hym
 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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