¶ The fyrſt fable is of the Egle and of the rauen
One ought to take on hym ſelf to
doo a thynge / whiche is peryllous
withoute he fele hym ſelf ſtrong
ynouȝ to doo hit / As reherceth
this Fable / Of an Egle / whiche
fleynge took a lambe / wherof the Rauen hadde
grete enuye wherfor vpon another tyme as / the
ſayd rauen ſawe a grete herd of ſheep / by his
grete enuy & pryde & by his grete oultrage deſcended
on them / And by ſuche fachon and
manere ſmote a wether that his clowes abode to
the flyes of hit / In ſoo moche that he coude
not flee awey / The ſheep herd thenne came and
brake and toke his wynges from hym / And after
bare hym to his children to playe them with /
And demaunded of hym / what byrd he was /
And the Rauen anſuerd to hym / I ſuppoſed to
haue ben an Egle / And by my ouerwenynge I
wende to haue take a lambe / as the egle dyd /
but now I knowe wel that I am a Rauen / wherfore
the feble ought not in no wyſe to compare
