The fables of Aesop by William Caxton (Jacobs)/Vol. II/Liber Quartus/Fable 20
¶ The xx fable maketh mencion of the tree and of the reed
One ought to be prowd ageynst his
lord / but oughte to humble hym
self toward hym / As this fable
reherceth to vs of a grete tre /
whiche wold neuer bowe hym
for none wynd / And a reed whiche was at his
foote bowed hym self as moche as the wynd
wold / And the tree sayd to hym / why dost
thow not abyde stylle as I doo / And the reed
ansuerd / I haue not the myght whiche thow
hast / And the tree sayd to the reed prowdly / than
haue I more strengthe / than thow / And anone
after came a grete wynde / whiche threwe doune
to the ground the sayd grete tree / and the reed
abode in his owne beynge / For the prowde
shall be allway humbled And the meke and
hūble shalle be enhaunced / For the roote of
alle vertue is obedynce and humylyte
¶ Here fynyssheth the fourthe book of the subtyle Fables of Esope / And how be it that mor of them ben not found in ony Regystre / Neuertheles many other fables composed by hym / have ben founden whiche here after folowen