The fables of Aesop by William Caxton (Jacobs)/Vol. II/Auian/Fable 23
¶ The xxiij fable is of the oxe and of the rat
He lordes ought to loue theyr subgettis
/ For he whiche is hated of
his tenaunts and subgets / is not
lord of his land / as hit appereth
by this Fable / Of an oxe / whiche
somtyme was within a stable / and as the oxe
on a tyme wold haue slepte fayne / a rat came /
whiche bote the oxe by the thyes / And as the
oxe wold haue smyten hym / he ran awaye into
his hole / And thenne the oxe beganne to menace
the rat / And the ratte sayd to hym / I am
not aferd of the And yf thow arte grete / thy
parentes ben cause therof and not thy self / And
therfore the stronge ought not to despeyse the
feble / but ought to loue hym as the chyef or
hede ought to loue his lymmes / For he that
loueth not / oughte not to be loued / And therfore
the lord must loue his subgettys / yf of them
he wylle be loued