The fables of Aesop by William Caxton (Jacobs)/Vol. II/Liber Quartus/Fable 3
¶ The thirde fable is of the wulf and of the sheepherd and of the hunter
Any folke shewe themself good by
theyr wordes whiche are ful of
grete fantasyes / As reherceth to
vs thys fable of a wulf whiche
fledde byfore the hunter/ and as
he fledde he mette with a sheepherd / to whome
he said my frende I praye the that thow telle
not to hym that foloweth[errata 1] me whiche wey I am
gone / & the sheep herd said to hym haue no
drede ne fere nothynge / For I shalle not accuse
the / For I shalle shewe to hym another way /
And as the hunter came / he demaunded of the
sheepherd yf he had sene the wulf passe / And
the hunter both with the heed and of the eyen
shewed to the hunter the place where the wulf
was / & with the hand and the tongue shewed
alle the contrarye / And incontynent the hunter
vnderstood hym wel / But the wulf whiche perceyued
wel all the fayned maners of the sheepherd
fled awey / ¶ And within a lytyl whylle
after the sheepherd encountred and mette with
the wulf / to whome he sayd / paye me of that I haue kepte the secrete / ¶ And thenne the
wulf ansuered to hym in this maner / I thanke
thyn handes and thy tongue / and not thyn hede
ne thyn eyen / For by them I shold haue ben
betrayed / yf I had not fledde aweye / ¶ And
therfore men must not truste in hym that hath
two faces and two tongues / for suche folk is
lyke and semblable to the scorpion / the whiche
enoynteth with his tongue / and prycketh sore
with his taylle