The fables of Aesop by William Caxton (Jacobs)/Vol. II/Poge/Fable 6
¶ The syxthe fable is of the passone / of his dogge / And of the Bisshop
Yluer dothe and causeth alle thynge
to be done vnto the halowynge
ageyne of a place whiche is prophane
or Interdicte / As ye shalle
mowe here by thys presente Fable /
¶ Of a preest dwellynge in the countrey whiche
somtyme had a dogge / whiche he loued moche /
the whiche preest was moche ryche / The sayd
dogge by processe of tyme deyde / & whan he was
dede / he entered and buryed hit in the chirche
yerd for cause of the grete loue whiche he loued
hym / it happed thenne on a day his bisshop
knewe hit by thaduertysement of somme other /
wherfore he sente for the sayd preest / and suposed
to haue of hym a grete somme of gold /
or els he shold make hym to be straytly punysshed/
And thenne he wrote a lettre vnto the sayd preest
of whiche the tenour conteyned only that he
shold come and speke with hym / And whan the
prest had redde the lettres / he vnderstood
alle the caas / and presupposed or bethought in
his courage / that he wold haue of hym somme syluer / For he knewe wel ynough the condycions of his bisshop
/ & forth with he toke his
breuyarye / & an C crownes with hym / the prelate
beganne to remembre and to shewe to hym
the enormyte of his mysdede / And to hym
answerd the preest whiche was ryght wyse sayenge
in this manere / O my ryght reuerende
fader / yf ye knewe the souerayne prudence of
whiche the sayd dogge was fylled / ye shold not
be merueylled yf he hath wel desernyd for to be
buryed honestly and worshipfully amonge the men /
he was al fylled with humayn wytte as wel in his
lyf / as in thartycle of the dethe / And thenne the
bisshop sayd / how may that be / reherce to me
thenne al his lyf / Certaynly ryght reuerende fader
ye ought wel to knowe that whanne he was atte
thartycle and at the poynt of dethe / he wold
make his testament / And the dogge knowyng
your grete nede and Indygence / he bequethed
to yow an C crownes of gold / the whiche I
brynge now vnto yow / And thenne the Bisshop
for loue of the money he assoylled the prest And
also graunted the sayd sepulture / And therfore
syluer causeth alle thynge to be graunted or
done.