Page:The fables of Aesop, as first printed by William Caxton in 1484, with those of Avian, Alfonso and Poggio. Vol 2.djvu/292



Omtyme was a labourer vnnethe myght gouerne and lede his oxen by caue that they mote with theyr feet / wherfore the labourer ayd to them / I pray to god that the wulf may ete yow / the whiche wordes the wulf herd / wherfore he hyd hym elf nyghe them vnto the nyght / And thenne came for to ete them /   ¶ And whanne the nyght was come / the labourer vnbonde his oxen / and lete them goo to his hows /   ¶ And thenne whanne the wulf awe them comynge homeward / he ayd / O thow labourer many tymes on this day thow dydet gyue to me thyn oxen / and therfore hold thy promee to me /   ¶ And the labourer ayd to the wulf / I promyed to the nought at al / in the preence of whome I am oblyged or bound / I wore not neyther to paye the / and the wulf anuerd / I halle not leue the goo / withoute that thow hold to me that / that thow promyet and gauet to me /   ¶ And as they had oo grete tryf and decencion to gyder / they remytted the