The fables of Aesop by William Caxton (Jacobs)/Annotated/Vol. II/Liber Primus/Fable 13
¶ The xiij fable is of the Egle and of the foxe
Ow the puyssant & myghty must
doubte the feble Essope reherceth
to vs suche a fable / Ther was an
Egle whiche came ther as young
foxes were / and took awey one of
them / and gaf hit to his younge Egles to fede
them with The foxe wente after hym & praid
hym to restore and gyue hym ageyne his yong
foxe / and the Egle said that he wold not / For he
was ouer hym lord and maister/ ¶ And thenne
the foxe fulle of shrewdnes and malyce beganne
to put to gyder grete habondaunce of straws
round aboute the tree / where vpon the egle and
his yonge were in theyr nest/ and kyndeled it
with fyre / ¶ And whan the smoke and the
flambe began to ryse vpward / the Egle ferdfulle
and doubtyng the dethe of her lytylle egles
restored ageyne the younge foxe to his moder
¶ This fable sheweth vs / how the myghty men
oughte not to lette in ony thynge the small folke /
For the lytyle ryght ofte may lette and trouble
the grete.