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Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)

2.15. Of the Iaye and of the pecok
(Perry 472)

None ought to were and putte on hym the gowne of other / wherof Esope reherceth to vs suche a fable Of a Iaye full of vayne glory / whiche took and putte on hym the fethers of a pecok / and with them he aourned / and arayed hym self well / And whanne he was wel dressyd and arayed / by his oultrecuydaunce or ouerwenynge wold haue gone and conuersed amonge the pecoks / and dispraysed alle his felawes / And whanne the pecoks knewe that he was not of theyr kynd / they anone plucked of alle his fethers / And smote and bete hym by suche maner / that no fethers abode vpon hym / And he fledde away al naked and bare / And thenne whanne his felawes sawe hym / they sayd to hym / What gallaunt come hyther / where ben thy fayre fethers / whiche thow haddest but late a gone / Hast thow no shame ne vergoyne to come in oure companye / And thenne alle the byrdes came vpon hym / and smote & bete hym / sayenge thus to hym / yf thow haddest be content of thyn owne vestymentes / thow haddest not come to this vylony /
Therfor hit appereth that hit is not good to were another mans gowne / For suche weren fayre gownes and fayr gyrdels of gold that haue theyr teeth cold at home


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.