Page:The fables of Aesop, as first printed by William Caxton in 1484, with those of Avian, Alfonso and Poggio. Vol 2.djvu/20

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LIBER


¶ The first fable is of the cock and of the precious ſtone /

As a Cok ones ſought his paſture in the donghylle / he fond a precious ſtone / to whome the Cok ſayd / Ha a fayre ſtone and precious thow arte here in the fylth And yf he that deſyreth the had found the / as I haue he wold haue take the vp / and ſette the ageyne in thy fyrſt eſtate / but in vayne I haue found the / For no thynge I haue to do with the / ne no good I may doo to the ne thou to me / And thys fable ſayde Eſope to them that rede this book / For by the cok is to vnderſtond the fool which retcheth not of ſapyence ne of wyſedome / as the cok retcheth and ſetteth not by the precious ſtone / And by the ſtone is to vnderſtond this fayre and playſaunt book