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Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)

Avyan 18. Of the theef / and of the child whiche wepte
(Perry 581)

He is a fole that putteth his good in Ieopardy to lese it for to gete & haue som others good / as it appereth by this fable of a theef whiche fond a child wepynge besyde a welle / of whom the theef dyde aske why he wepte / & the child answerd to hym I wepe / by cause that I haue lete falle within this welle of a boket of gold / & thenne the theef toke of his clothes / & sette them on the ground and wente doune in to the welle / And as he was doune the child toke his gowne & lefte hym within the welle / And thus for couetyse to wynne / he lost his gowne /
For suche supposen to wynne somtyme whiche lesen / And therfore none ought to wysshe that / that he hath not / to thende that he leseth not that / that he hath / For of the thynge wrongfully and euylle goten / the thyrd heyre shalle neuer be possessour of hit


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.