The fables of Aesop by William Caxton (Jacobs)/Vol. II/Liber Quartus/Fable 12
¶ The xij fable is of the foxe / and of the lyon
Ayre doctryne taketh he in hym
self / that chastyseth hym by the
perylle of other / As to vs reherceth
this prefent fable / Of a
lyon whiche somtyme faygned
hym self seke / ¶ And whanne the beetles
knewe that the lyon was seke / they wold goo
alle to vysyte and see hym as theyr kynge /
¶ And Incontynent as the beestes entryd in to
his hows for to see and comforte hym / he deuoured
and ete them / ¶ And whan the foxes
were come to the yate for to haue vysyted[errata 1] the
lyon / they knewe wel the fallace and falshede
of the lyon and salewed hym at the entre of the
yate / And entryd not within / ¶ And whan
the lyon sawe that they wold not entre in to his
hows / he demanded of them / why they wold
not come within / And one of the foxes sayd to
hym / we knowe wel by thy traces / that alle
the beestes whiche haue entryd in to thy hows
came not oute ageyne / And also yf we entryd
within / nomore shold we come ageyne ¶ And
therfor he is wel happy that taketh ensample by the dommage of other / ¶ For to entre
in to the hows of a grete lord / it is wel facyle /
but for to come oute of hit ageyne it is moche
dyffycyle /