The fables of Aesop by William Caxton (Jacobs)/Vol. II/Liber Tertius/Fable 6
¶ The vj[errata 1] fable is of the foxe and of the wulf
Ortune helpeth bothe the good and
euylle folke / and to alle them /
whiche she helpeth not she sendeth
euylle to them / And they that
setten alle theyr malyce ageynste
fortune ben subuertysed and ouerthrawen by
her / wherof Esope reherceth suche a fable / Of
a wulf whiche had assembled to gyder a grete
proye / or moche mete for to haue lyued more
delyciously / wherof the foxe had grete anuye /
and for to haue robbed somme of this good / he
came vnto the cauerne or hole where as this
proye or mete was in / and sayd to the wulf /
My godsep the wulf / by cause hit is longe syth I
godsepawe the / I am in grete heuynesse and sorowe /
and also by cause we haue not been in longtyme
gone chaced and gone to gyder / ¶ And whan
the wulf knewe the malyce of the foxe / he sayd
to hym thow arte not come hyder for to see me /
ne how I fare / but thou arte come for to robbe
and rauysshe my good / For the whiche wordes
the foxe was moche angry / and wente toward a sheepherd / to whome he sayd / yf thow wvlt be
auenged of the wulf whiche is enemy of thy heerd
or parke / on this day I shalle put hym under
thy handes / And the shepherd ausuerede to the
foxe in this manere / yf thow doo as thow sayst /
I shall paye the wel / And thenne the foxe
shewed to hym the hool / wherin the wulf was /
And the shepherd Incontynent wente toward
the hole / and with a spere he kyld the wulf /
And by this manere the foxe was wel fylled and
refresshyed of the good of the other / but as he
returned home ward / he was tuke and deuoured
by somme dogges / wherfore he sayd to hym self /
by cause that ryght euylle I haue done / euylle
cometh thow to me / For synne retorneth euer
vpon his mayster / And he that lyueth but of
rauyn and robberye shal at the last be knowen
and robbed /