4
The Merry Tales of the
still kept riding upon his horse, till he arrived at the end of his journey. Now I will leave you to judge, which was the wisest, his horse or himself.
TALE III.
On a time the men of Gotham fain would have pinn'd in the cuckow, that she might sing all the year; and in the midst of the Town, they had a hedge made round in compass, and got a cuckow and put her into it, and said, Sing here, and you shall lack neither meat nor drink all the year. The cuckow, when she perceived herself encompassed within the hedge, flew away. A vengeance on her, said these wise men, we did not make our hedge high enough.
TALE IV.
There was a man of Gotham who went to Nottingham market to sell cheese; and going down the hill to Nottingham bridge, one of his cheeses fell out of his wallet, and ran down the hill. Whoreson, said the fellow, what, can you run to the market alone? I'll now send one after another. Then laying his wallet down, taking out the .cheeses, he tumbled them down the hill, one after another. Some ran into one
