Aesop's Fables: Caxton (1484)
Avyan 4. Of the asse / and of the skynne of the Lyon
(Perry 358)
None ought not to gloryfye hym self of the goodes of other as recyteth
this fable of an asse whiche somtyme fond the skynne of a lyon / the whiche
he dyd & wered on hym / but he coude neuer hyde his eres therwith / &
when he was / as he supposed wel arayed with the sayd skynne / he ranne
in to the forest / And whanne the wyld beestes sawe hym come / they were
so ferdfull that they alle beganne to flee / For they wend / that it had
be the lyon / And the mayster of the asse serched and soughte his asse
in euery place al aboute And as he had soughte longe / he thought that
he wold go in to the forest for to see yf his asse were there / And as
soone as he was entryd in to the forest / he mette with his asse arayed
as before is sayd / but his mayster whiche had soughte hym longe sawe
his erys / wherfore he knewe hym wel / and anone toke hym / and sayd in
this manere / Ha a mayster asse / arte thow clothed with the skynne of
the lyon / thow makest the bestes to be aferd / but yf they knewe the
/ as wel as I do / they shold haue no fere of the / but I ensure the /
that wel I shalle bete the therfore / And thenne he toke fro hm the skynne
of the lyon / and sayd to hym Lyon shalt thow be no more / but an asse
shalt thow euer be / And his mayster tooke thenne a staf / and smote hym
/ soo that euer after he remembryd hym wel of hit /
and therfore he whiche auaunceth hym self of other mennes goodes is
a very foole / for as men sayn comynly / he is not wel arayed not wel
appoynted / whiche is clothed with others gowne / ne also it is not honeste
to make large thonges of other mennes leder
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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