The fables of Aesop by William Caxton (Jacobs)/Vol. II/Liber Primus/Fable 1
Appearance
¶ The first fable is of the cock and of the precious stone /
s a Cok ones sought his pasture in
the donghylle / he fond a precious
stone / to whome the Cok sayd /
Ha a fayre stone and precious
thow arte here in the fylth And
yf he that desyreth the had found the / as I
haue he wold haue take the vp / and sette the
ageyne in thy fyrst estate / but in vayne I haue
found the / For no thynge I haue to do with
the / ne no good I may doo to the ne thou
to me / And thys fable sayde Esope to them
that rede this book / For by the cok is to
vnderstond the fool which retcheth not of
sapyence ne of wysedome / as the cok retcheth
and setteth not by the precious stone / And by
the stone is to vnderstond this fayre and playsaunt
book