Page:The fables of Aesop, as first printed by William Caxton in 1484, with those of Avian, Alfonso and Poggio. Vol 2.djvu/260



He lordes ought to loue theyr ubgettis / For he whiche is hated of his tenaunts and ubgets / is not lord of his land / as hit appereth by this Fable / Of an oxe / whiche omtyme was within a table / and as the oxe on a tyme wold haue lepte fayne / a rat came / whiche bote the oxe by the thyes / And as the oxe wold haue myten hym / he ran awaye into his hole / And thenne the oxe beganne to menace the rat / And the ratte ayd to hym / I am not aferd of the   And yf thow arte grete / thy parentes ben caue therof and not thy elf / And therfore the tronge ought not to depeye 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 mut loue his ubgettys / yf of them he wylle be loued