Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
2.11. Of the herte / of the sheep & of the wulf
(Perry 477)
The thyng which is promysed by force & for drede is not to be hold /
wherof esope reherceth suche a fable of a hert which in the presence of
a wulf demaunded of a sheep that she shold paye a busshel of corn / And
the wulf commaunded to the sheep to paye hit / And whanne the day of payment
was come / the herte came and demaunded of the sheep his corn And the
sheep sayd to hym / the couenaunces and pactyons made by drede and force
oughte not to be holden / For it was force to me beynge to fore the wulf
to promytte & graunte to gyue to the that whiche thow neuer lenest to
me / And ther for thow shalt haue ryght nought of me /
Wherfore somtyme it is good to make promesse of some thynge for to
eschewe gretter dommage of losse / For the thynges whiche are done by
force haue none fydelyte
 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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