The fables of Aesop by William Caxton (Jacobs)/Vol. II/Liber Tertius/Fable 14
¶ xiiij fable is of the man and of the wood
e that gyueth ayde and help to his
enemy is cause of his dethe / as
recyteth this fable of a man
whiche made an axe / And after
that he had made his axe / he
asked of the trees / and sayd / ye trees gyue yow
to me a handle / and the trees were content /
¶ And whanne he had maade fast his handle to
the axe / he began to cutte and throwe doune to
the ground alle the trees / wherfore the oke and
the asshe sayd / yf we be cutte / hit is wel ryght
and reason / For to oure owne self we ben cut
and thrawen doune / ¶ And thus hit is not
good to put hym self in to the daunger and subiection
of his enemye / ne to helpe hym for to
be adōmaged / as thou maist see by this presente
fable / For men ought not to gyue the staf by
whiche they may be beten with