Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
Avyan 11. Of the ape and of his sone
(Perry 364)
No fowler a thyng is to the man / than with his mouth to preyse hym self
/ As this fable reherceth to vs / Of Iupiter kynge of alle the world /
whiche maade alle the beestes and alle the byrdes to be assembled to gyder
for to knowe theyr bounte / and also theyr kynd / Emonge alle the whiche
came the Ape / whiche presented his sone to Iupiter / sayenge thus / Fayre
syre and myghty god / loke and see here the fairest beest that euer thow
createst in this world / And Iupiter thenne beganne to lawhe / and after
sayd to hym / thow arte wel a fowle beest to preyse soo thy self /
For none oughte to preyse hym self / but oughte to doo good and vertuous
werkes / wherof other may preyse hym / for it is a shameful thyng to preyse
hym self
 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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