# The fables of Aesop by William Caxton (Jacobs)/Vol. II/Liber Quintus/Fable 17

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Numbered 707 in the Perry Index. Translated from French by William Caxton and first published in 1484. Click here to create an annotated version of this text.
¶ The xvi fable is of the knyght and of the seruaunt / the wiche fond the Foxe
Any ben that for theyr grete lesynges supposen to put vnder alle the world / but euer at last theyr lesynges ben knowen and manyfested / as hit appiereth by this fable of a knyght whiche somtyme wente with an archer of his thurgh the lande / And as they rode / they fonde a Fox And the knyght sayd to the archer in good soothe I see a grete Foxe / And the archer beganne to saye to his lord / My lord / merueylle ye therof / I haue ben in a Regyon where as the Foxes ben as grete as an oxe / And the knyght ansuerd In good soothe theyr skynnes were good for to make mantels with / yf skynners myght haue them / And as they were rydynge / they felle in many wordes and deuyses / And thenne by cause the knyght perceyued wel the lesynge of his Archer / he beganne to make preyers and orysons to the goddes / for to make his Archer aferd / And sayd in this manere / O Jupiter god almyghty / ¶ I preye the / that this daye thow wylt kepe vs fro all lesynges / so that we may ​sauf passe thys flood and this grete Ryuer whiche is here before vs / and that we may surely come to oure hows / And whanne the Archer herd the prayer and oryson of his lord / he was moche abasshed ¶ And thenne the Archer demaunded of hym / my lord wherfore prayest thow now soo deuoutely / And the knygt ansuerd wost thou not wel that hit is wel knowen and manyfested / that we soone must passe a ryght grete Ryuer / And that he who on al this daye shalle haue made ony lesynge / yf he entre in hit / he shalle neuer come oute of hit ageyne / Of the whiche wordes the Archer was moche doubtous and dredeful / And as they had ryden a lytyl waye / they fond a lytyl Ryuer / wherfore the Archer demaunded of his lord / Is this the flood whiche we must passe / Nay sayd the knyght / For hit is wel gretter / O my lord I saye bycause that the foxe whiche ye sawe may wel haue swymmed and passed ouer this lytyl water / And the lord sayd / I care not therfore / ¶ And after that they had ryden a lytyl ferther / the fond another lytyll Ryuer / And the Archer demaunded of hym / Is this the flood that ye spake of to me / Nay sayd he / For hit is gretter & more brode / And the Archer sayd ageyne to hym / My lord I say so / by cause that the foxe of the whiche I spake of to daye was not gretter than a calf / ¶ And thene the knyght herkyng ​the dyssymylacion of his archer / answerd not / And soo they rode forthe so longe that they fond yet another Ryuer And thenne the Archer demaunded of his lord / Is this the same hit / Nay sayd the knyght / but soone we shalle come therto / O my lord I saye so by cause that the Foxe wherof I spak to yow this daye / was not gretter than a sheep / ¶ And when they had ryden vnto euen tyme they fond a grete Ryuer and of a grete brede / ¶ And whan tharcher sawe hit / he began al to shake for fere / and demaunded of his lord / My lord is this the Ryuer / Ye sayd the knyght / O my lord I ensure you on my feythe / that the Foxe of the whiche I spake to daye / was not gretter than the Foxe / whiche we sawe to day / wherfore I knowlege and confesse to yow my synne / ¶ And thenne the knyght beganne to smyle / and sayd to his Archer in this manere / Also this Ryuer is no wors than the other whiche we sawe to fore and haue passed thurgh them / And thenne the archer had grete vergoyne and was shameful / by cause that he myght no more couere his lesynge / And therfore hit is fayre and good for to saye euer the trouthe / and to be trewe bothe in speche and in dede / For a lyer is euer begyled / and his lesynge is knowen and manyfested on hym to his grete shame & dommage