Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
Avyan 7. Of the camel and of Iupiter
(Perry 117)
Every creature ought to be content of that / that god hath gyuen to hym
withoute to take thenherytaunce of other / As reherceth this fable Of
a camel whiche somtyme complayned hym to Iupiter of that the other beestes
mocqued hym / by cause that he was not of so grete beaute / as they were
of / wherfore to Iupiter Instantly he prayd in suche maner as foloweth
/ Fayr syre and god / I requyre and praye that thou wylt gyue to me hornes
/ to thende that I maye be nomore mocqued / Iupiter thenne beganne to
lawhe / and in stede of hornes / he took fro hym his erys / and sayd /
thow hast more good than hit behoueth to the to haue / And by cause that
thow demaundest that / whiche thow oughtest not to haue I haue take fro
the that whiche of ryght and kynd thou oughtest to haue /
For none ought not to desyre more than he ought to haue / to the ende
that he lese not that whiche he hath /
 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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