Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
Avyan 22. Of the viator or palmer and of the Satyre
(Perry 35)
Men ought to beware & kepe hym self from hym whiche bereth both fyre
& water / as rehercerth to vs this Fable Of a pylgrym / whiche somtyme
walked in the wynter / and wente thurgh a grete forest / And by cause
that the snowe had couerd al the wayes / he wist ne knewe not whyther
he wente / ageynste the whiche came a wodewose named Satyre by cause he
sawe hym a cold / whiche approched to the pylgrym and brought hym in to
his pytte / And whan the pylgrym sawe hym / he hadde grete drede by cause
that a wodewose is a monstre lyke to the man / as hit appiereth by his
fygure / And as the wodewose or Satyre ledde the pylgrym in to his pytte
/ the pylgrym dyd blowe within his handes for to chauffe them / For he
was sore acold / And thenne the wodewose gaf to hym hote water to drynke
/ And whan the pylgrym wold haue dronken hit / he beganne to blowe in
hit / And the wodewose demaunded of hym / why he dyd blowe hit / And the
pylgrym sayd to hym / I blowe in hit for to haue it somwhat more cold
than hit is / The wodewose thenne sayd to hym / Thy felauship is not good
to me / by cause that thow berest bothe the fyre and the water in thy
mouthe / therfore go hens fro my pyt and neuer retorne ageyne /
For the felauship of the man whiche hath two tongues is nought / And
the man whiche is wyse ought to flee the felauship of flaterers / For
by flateryng & adulacion many haue ben begyled and deceyued
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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