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.
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