Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
Avyan 21. Of the vylayne and of the yonge bole /
(Perry 582)
He whiche is of euylle and shrewd kynde / with grete payne he may chastyse
hym self / as it appereth by this fable / Of a vylayne / whiche had a
yonge bole / the whiche he myght not bynd / by cause that euer he smote
with his hornes / wherfor the vylayne cutte of his hornes / But yet whan
he wold haue bound hym / the bole casted his feete fro hym / in suche
wyse that he suffred noman to come nyghe hym / And whan the vylayne perceyued
the mayce of the bole / he sayd to hym / I shalle chastyse the wel / For
I shalle take the in to the bouchers handes / And thenne was the bole
wel chastysed /
And thus ought men to doo of the euylle / cursyd & rebelles / whiche
doo no thynge but playe with dees and cardes and to ruffule / Suche folke
ought men to put in to the handes of the boucher for to lede them to the
galhows / For better may no man chastyse them / For with grete payne may
he be chastysed / which fleeth alle good werkes ond alle good felauship
 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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