Page:The fables of Aesop, as first printed by William Caxton in 1484, with those of Avian, Alfonso and Poggio. Vol 2.djvu/203



Any that for theyr grete uppoen to put vnder alle the world / but euer at lat theyr lesynges ben knowen and manyfeted / as hit appiereth by this fable of a knyght whiche omtyme wente with an archer of his thurgh the lande / And as they rode / they fonde a Fox   And the knyght ayd to the archer in good I ee a grete Foxe / And the archer beganne to aye to his lord / My lord / merueylle ye therof / I haue ben in a Regyon where as the Foxes ben as grete as an oxe / And the knyght anuerd In good oothe theyr kynnes were good for to make mantels with / yf kynners myght haue them / And as they were rydynge / they felle in many wordes and deuyes / And thenne by caue the knyght perceyued wel the leynge of his Archer / he beganne to make preyers and to the goddes / for to make his Archer aferd / And ayd in this manere / O Jupiter god almyghty /   ¶ I preye the / that this daye thow wylt kepe vs fro all leynges / o that we may