The fables of Aesop by William Caxton (Jacobs)/Vol. II/Liber Quintus/Fable 13
¶ The xiij fable maketh mencyon of the fader and of his thre children
E is not wyse / whiche for to haue
vanyte and his plesyr taketh debate
or stryf / As hit appiereth by this
fable / Of a man whiche hadde
thre children / and at the houre
of his dethe he byquethed / and gaf to them his
herytage or lyuehode / that is to wete a grete
pere tree / a gote & a mylle / ¶ And whanne
the fader was deed / the bretheren assembled
them thre to gyder / and wente before the Juge
for to parte their lyuehode / and sayd to the
Juge / My lord the Juge / Oure fader is dede
whiche hath byquethed to vs thre bretheren al
his herytage and as moche of hit shold haue
the one as the other And thenne the Juge
demaunded / what was theyr lyuehode / And
they ansuerd a pere tree / a gote and a mylle /
And thenne the Juge sayd to them / that they
shold sette and make partyes egal of your lyuelede / And the one to haue as moche of hit as
the other / hit is a thynge moche dyffycyle to
doo / but to your aduys how shold ye parte it / And thenne the eldest of the three bretheren
spake and sayd / I shalle take fro the pere tree
alle that is croked and vpright / And the second
sayd / I shalle take fro the pere tree alle that is
grene and drye / And the thyrd sayd I shalle
haue alle the rote / the pulle or maste and alle
the branches of the pere tree / ¶ And thenne
the Juge sayd to them / He that thenne shalle
haue the most parte of the tree / lete hym be
Juge / For I no none other may know ne
vnderstande who shalle haue the more or lesse
parte / And therfore he that can or shalle proue
more openly / that he hath the most parte shal
be lord of the tree / ¶ And after the Juge demaunded
of them / how that theyr fader had
deuysed to them the gote / And they sayd to
hym / he that shalle make the fayrest prayer and
request must haue the gote / And thene the
fyrste broder made his request / and sayd in this
manere / wold god that the goot were now soo
grete that she myght drynke alle the water
whiche is vnder the cope of heuen / And that
whanne she hadde dronken it / she shold yet be
sore thursty ¶ The fecond sayd / I suppose that
the gote shalle be myn / For a fayrer demaunde
or request than thyn is I shalle now make / ¶ I
wold / that alle the hempe / and alle the Flaxe
and alle the wulle of the worlde were made in one threed alone / And that the Gote were so
grete / that with that same threde men myght
not bynde one of his legges / ¶ Thenne sayd
thirdde / yet shalle be myn the gote / ¶ For I
wolde/ that he were soo grete / that yf an Egle
were at the vppermoft of the heuen / he myght
occupye and haue thenne as moche place as the
Egle myght loke and see in hyght / in lengthe and
in breed / ¶ And thenne the Juge sayde to them
thre / who is he of yow thre / that hath maade the
fayrest prayer / Certaynly I nor none other canne
not saye ne gyue the Jugement / And therfore
the goote shalle be bylongynge to hym that of
hit shalle say the trouthe ¶ And the Mylle how
was hit deuysed by your Fader for to be parted
amonge yow thre / ¶ And they ansuerde and
sayde to the Juge / He that shalle be moost lyer /
mooste euylle and most slowe ought to haue hit /
¶ Thenne say the eldest sone / I am moost slowfull
/ For many yeres I haue dwellyd in a grete
hous / and laye vnder the conduytes of the same /
oute of the whiche felle vpon me alle the fowle
waters / as pysse / dysshe water / and alle other
fylthe that wonderly stanke / In so moche that
al my flesshe was roten therof / and myn eyen
al blynd / and the durt vnder my back was a foot
hyghe / And yet by my grete slouthe I hadde
leuer to abyde there / than to tourne me / and
haue lyfte me vp ¶ The second sayd I suppose wel / that the
mylle shalle be myn / For yf I had fasted twenty
yere / And yf I hadde come to a table couerd of
al maner of precious and delyate metes / therof
I myght wel ete yf I wold take of the best / I
am so slothfull that I maye not ete Withoute
one shold putte the mete in to my mouthe /
¶ And the thyrde sayd / the mylle shalle be myn / For I am yet a gretter lyar and more slouthfull / than ony of yow bothe / For yf I hadde ben athurst vnto the dethe / And yf I found thenne my self within a fayre water into the neck / I wold rather deye / than to meue ones my heed for to drynke therof only one drop / ¶ Thenne sayd the Juge to them / Ye wote not what ye saye / For I nor none other maye not wel vnderstande yow / But the cause I remytte and put amonge yow thre / And thus they wente withoute ony sentence / For to folysshe demaunde behoueth a folysshe ansuere.
¶ And therfore they ben fooles that wylle plete suche vanyte one ageynste other/ And many one ben fallen therfore in grete pouerte / For for a lytyl thynge ought to be made a lytyl plee