The fables of Aesop by William Caxton (Jacobs)/Vol. II/Liber Quintus/Fable 7
¶ The vij fable is of the wulf and of the asse
En ought not to byleue lyghtly the
counceylle of hym to whome men
purposen to lette / As ye maye
see by this fable / Of a wulf
whiche somtyme mette with an
Asse / to the whiche he sayd / My broder I am
l)ongry / wherfor I must nedes ete the / ¶ And
thenne the Asse ansuerd ryght benyngly / My
lord / with me thow mayst doo what someuer
thow wylt / For yf thow etest me / thow shalt
putte me oute of grete payne / But I preye the
yf thow wylt ete me / that thou vouchesauf to
ete me oute of the way / For wel thow knowest
that I brynge home the raysyns fro the vyne /
and fro the feldes home the corne / ¶ Also wel
thow knowest / that I bere home wood fro the
forest / And whanne my maister wel do buyld
somme edyffyce / I must go fetche the stones
from the montayne / And at the other parte I
bere the corne vnto the mylle / And after I bere
home the floure / And for alle short conclusions
I was borne in a cursyd houre / For to alle payne
and to alle grete labours I am submytted & get to hit / For the whiche I wylle not that
thow ete me here in the waye for the grete vergoyne
and shame that therof myght come to
me / But I pray the / and Instantly requyre the /
that thow wylt here my counceylle / whiche is /
that we two go in to the forest / and thow shalt
bynde me by thy breste / as thy seruant / And
I shalle bynd the by thy neck as my mayster
And thow shalt lede me before the in to the
wood where someuer thow wylt / to the ende
that more secretely thow ete me / to the whiche
counceylle the wulf acorded and sayd / I wylle
wel that it be donne so / ¶ And whanne they
were come in to the forest / they bounde eche
other in the maner as aboue is sayd / ¶ And
whanne they were wel bounden / the wulf sayd
to the Asse / goo we where thow wylt / and goo
before for to shewe the waye / And the asse
wente before and ledde the wulf in to the ryght
waye of his maysters hows / ¶ And whanne the
wulf beganne to knowe the way / he sayd to the
asse / we goo not the ryght way / to the whiche
the asse ansuerd / ¶ My lord saye not that /
For certaynly / this is the ryght wey / But for
alle that / the wulf wold haue gone backward /
But neuertheless the asse ledde hym vnto the
hows of his mayster / ¶ And as his mayster and
alle his meyny sawe how the Asse drewe the wulf after hym / and wold haue entred in to the
hows they came oute with staues and clubbes
and smote on the wulf / ¶ And as one of them
wold haue caste and smyten a grete stroke vpon
the wulfes heede / he brake the cord / wherwith
he was bounden / And so scaped and ranne awey
vpon the montayne sore hurted and beten / And
thenne the asse for the grete ioye he hadde of
that he was so scaped fro the wulf / beganne to
synge / And the wulf whiche was vpon the
montayne / He herd the voys of thasse beganne to
saye in hym self / thow mayst wel cry and calle /
For I shalle kepe the wel another tyme / that
thow shalt not bynd me as thow hast done / but
late gone / ¶ And therfore hit is grete folye to
byleue the counceylle of hym / to whome men
will lette / And to putte hym self in his subiection
/ And he that ones hath begyled / must
kepe hym fro another tyme that he be not deceyued
/ For he to whome men purposen to
doo somme euylle tourn / syth men holden
hym at auauntage / men muste putte him self at
the vpper syde of hym / And after men shall
purueye for their counceylle