trust nat to every man. The secunde is, that shalbe thyn alwey thow shalt have. The thrid is, ne sorowe thow nat of thynges lost.' This saide, the litel brid ascendid vpon the tree and with a sweete voice bigan to synge: 'Blessid be god that hath shit and closed the sight of thyn eyen and taken awey thi wisdam, forwhi if thow haddest sought in the plites of myn entrailes thow shuldest have founde a jacinct the weight of an vnce.' He heryng this bigan to wepe and to sorowe and to smyte his brest with his fist for he yave feith to the litel brid. And than the brid saide vnto hym: 'Thow art soone foryetful of [the] wit of whiche I saide vnto the. Whether I saide nat to the that thow shuldist nat beleeve everyman of that he saith to the? And how belevistow that in me shuld be a jacynt the weight of an vnce, whan I and al my body is nat of somoche weight? And now I say to the that that thyn is alwey thow shalt have. And how maistow have a stone in me a fleeyng foul? Now I saie to the: ne sorowe thow never of thynges lost. And why sorowest thow of the jacynct whiche in me is?' Suche thynges saide to grete scorn to the Cherl the brid fligh awey to the woode."[1]
The philosopher chastised his son saying: "Read everything that falls in your way but do not believe everything you read." To this the disciple: "I believe this to be a fact: not everything that is in books is true. For I have already read something like this in the books and proverbs of philosophers: 'There are many trees but not all of them bear fruit; there are many fruits but they are not all edible'."
Arabs chasticed his sone saieng: "Sone ne leva thow nat thynges present for thynges to come, forwhi haply thow shalt leese both as it happened to the wolf of two promyses made to hym of the Cherl.
XVIII.[2] The Plowman with His Oxen and the Wolf and the Fox
"It is saide forwhi of a plowghman that for his oxen wold nat drawe rightly, he saide the wolf shuld ete hem. The wulf heryng that rested. Whan the day declyned to the nyght and the cherl loosid his oxen out of the plowgh, the wulf cam vnto hym saieng: 'Yeve me thyn oxen whiche thow promisest (f. 130b). To this the ploughman: 'If I saide so I affermed it nat with an oth.' And the Wulf ageyn to hym: 'I ought to have that thow promysedest.' Ther thei affermeden that it shuld come to iugement. That while they maden thei metten with the Fox. To whom the wily fox saide
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