The fables of Aesop by William Caxton (Jacobs)/Vol. II/Alfonce/Fable 2
¶ The second fable is of the commyssion of pecuny or money
Spaynard arryued somtyme in to
the lande of egipte and by cause
that he doubted to be robbed
within the desertys of Arabe / he
purposed and bethought in hym
self that it were wysely done to take his money
to somme trewe man for to kepe hit vnto his retorne
ageyne / And by cause that he herd somme
saye / that within the Cyte was a trewe man / he
anone wente to hym / and toke to hym his syluer /
for to kepe hit / And whan he had done his
vyage he came ageyne to hym / and demaunded
of hym his syluer / whiche ansuerd to hym in this
manere / My frend / I ne wote who thow arte /
for I sawe the neuer that I wote of / And yf
thou sayest or spekest ony more wordes / I shalle
make the to be wel bete / Thenne was the
spaynard sorowful and wroth / and therof he
wold haue made a playnte to his neyghbours /
as he dyde / & the neyghbours sayd to hym /
Certaynly / we be wel abasshed of that / that
ye telle to vs / for he is emonge vs alle reputed and holden for a good man and trewe / And
therfore retorne ageyne to hym / and by swete
wordes telle hym that he wyl rendre to the thy
good ageyne / the whiche thynge he dyd / and
the old man ansuerd to hym more sharpely and
wonderly than he had done before / wherof the
spaynard was wonderly wrothe / And as he departed
oute of the old mans hows / he mette with
an old woman / the whiche demaunded of hym /
wherfore he was soo troubled and heuy / And
after that he had told to her the cause why /
thold woman sayd to hym / make good chere /
For yf hit is so as thow sayst / I shalle counceylle
the how thou shalt recouere thy syluer / And
thenne he demauded of her / how hit myght be
done / And she sayd to hym bryng hyther to me
a man of thy country whome thow trustest / and
doo to be made four fayre chestes / and fylle
them alle with stones / and by thy felawes thow
shalt make them to be borne / in to his hows /
and to hym they shalle say / that the marchaūts
of spayne send them to hym for to kepe surely /
And whan the chestes shalle be within his hows /
thow shalt go and demāde of hym thy syluer /
whiche thynge he dyd / And as the sayd chestes
were borne within his hows / the spaynard
wente with them / that bare them / the whiche
straungers sayd to the old mā My lord / these four chestes ben al ful of gold / of syluer and of
precious stones / whiche we brynge to yow / as to
the trewest man and feythful that we knowe for
to kepe them surely by cause that we fere and
doubte the theues / whiche ben within the desert /
After the whiche wordes sayd / came he / whiche
the old woman had counceylled / and demaunded
of hym his syluer And by that cause the old man
doubted / that the spanynard wold haue despreysed
hym / he sayd thus to hym / Thow arte
Welcome / I merueylled how thow taryest soo
longe for to come / And Incontynent he restored
to hym his syluer / And thus by the counceylle
of the woman whiche he gretely thanked / he
had his good ageyn / and retourned ageyne in to
his countrey /