The fables of Aesop by William Caxton (Jacobs)/Vol. II/Auian/Fable 25

by Avianus

¶ The xxv fable is of the ape and of his two children

 

E that somtyme men despreysen / may wel helpe somme other / as hit appereth by this Fable of an Ape / whiche had two children / of the whiche he hated the one / & loued the other / whiche he toke in his armes / and with hym fled before the dogges / And whanne the other sawe / that his moder lefte hym behynde / he ranne and lepte on her back / And by cause that the lytyl ape whiche the she ape held in her armes empeched her to flee / she lete hit falle to the erthe / And the other whiche the moder hated held fast and was saued / the whiche from thens forthon kyssed and embraced his moder / And^{[errata 1]} she thenne beganne to loue hym wherfore many tymes it happeth / that that thynge whiche is despreysed / is better than that thynge whiche is loued and preysed / For somtyme the children whiche ben preysed and loued / done lesse^{[errata 2]} good than they whiche ben despreysed and hated

1. Original: And And was amended to And: detail
2. Original: lasse was amended to lesse: detail