¶ The second Fable is of the egle and of the wesel

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Page  lxxxxviij NOne for what so euer myght that he haue / ought not to dispreyse the other / As hit appiereth by this present fa∣ble of an Egle / whiche chaced somtyme after an hare And by cause that the hare myght not resyste ne withstande a geynst the egle / he demaunded ayde and helpe of the wesel / the whiche tooke hym in her kepynge / And by cause that the egle sawe the wesel soo lytyl / he dispreysed her / and before her toke the hare / wherof the wesel was wrothe / And therfore the we∣sell wente / and beheld the Egles nest whiche was vpon a hy∣ghe tree / And whanne she sawe hit / the lytell wesell clymmed vpon a tree and took and cast doune to the ground the yong egles wherfore they deyde / And for this cause was the Egle moche wrothe and angry / and after wente to the god Iupiter And prayd hym that he wold fynde hym a sure place where as he myght leye his egges and his lytyl chykyns / And Iu∣piter graunted it / and gaf hym suche a gyfte / that whan the tyme of childynge shold come / that she shold make her yong Egles within his bosome / And thenne whanne the wesel kno we this / she gadred and assembled to gyder grete quantite of ordure or fylthe / and therof made an hyghe hylle for to lete her self falle fro the top of hit in to the bosome of Iupiter / And whanne Iupyter felte the stenche of the fylthe / he leganne to shake his bosome / and both the wesel and the egges of the egle felle doune to the erthe / And thus were alle the egges broken and bost / And whanne the Egel knewe hit / she made anowe / that she shold neuer make none egles / tyll of the wesel she we re assured / And therfore none how stronge and myghty that he be / ought not to dispreyse somme other / For there is none soo lytyl / but that somtyme he may lette and auenge hym self / wherfore doo thow no displaysyr to none / that displaysyre co∣me not to the