Page:The fables of Aesop, as first printed by William Caxton in 1484, with those of Avian, Alfonso and Poggio. Vol 2.djvu/133



Ayre doctryne taketh he in hym elf / that chatyeth hym by the perylle of other / As to vs reherceth this prefent fable / Of a lyon whiche omtyme faygned hym elf eke /   ¶ And whanne the beetles knewe that the lyon was eke / they wold goo alle to vyyte and ee hym as theyr kynge / ¶ And as the beetes entryd in to his hows for to ee and comforte hym / he deuoured and ete them /   ¶ And whan the foxes were come to the yate for to haue the lyon / they knewe wel the fallace and falhede of the lyon and hym at the entre of the yate / And entryd not within /   ¶ And whan the lyon awe that they wold not entre in to his hows / he of them / why they wold not come within / And one of the foxes ayd to hym / we knowe wel by thy traces / that alle the beetes whiche haue entryd in to thy hows came not oute ageyne / And alo yf we entryd within / nomore hold we come ageyne   ¶ And therfor he is wel happy that taketh enample by