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 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY OF 
 REYNARD THE FOX.
 
 FoX, 
 
 THE 
 
 MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 REYNARD THE FOX, 
 
 AND OF HIS SON 
 
 REYNARDINE. 
 
 A REVISED VERSION OF AN OLD ROMANCE. 
 
 LONDON : 
 JOHN W. PARKER, WEST STRAND. 
 
 M.DCCC.XLIV.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 A HE History of Reynard the Fox is one of the most 
 remarkable books of the middle ages : Germany, France, 
 Belgium, and Holland, have contended for its authorship, 
 and the conflicting claims appear to be hardly yet decided. 
 Within these twenty years, libraries have been ransacked 
 for old copies, and very large sums have been expended in 
 the purchase of manuscripts discovered in private collec- 
 tions ; a considerable number of editions of ancient versions 
 have been printed, and all this research has been accom- 
 panied by much controversy and criticism, in which some of 
 the greatest writers in Germany and Holland have taken 
 part. We do not propose to enter into this discussion, but 
 only to state the uncertainty that exists, and to set down 
 our own opinions. 
 
 The balance of evidence upon the whole, inclines us to 
 think that the work, as we now have it, was written by a 
 Fleming or a Dutchman. It is not easy to distinguish be- 
 tween the Flemish and Dutch languages, even now ; they 
 differ to our ears little more than the dialects of Somerset 
 and Yorkshire, and the similarity appears to increase as 
 we recede in time. 
 
 The oldest manuscript of the romance of Reynard 
 known is in rhyme; it was written soon after the year 1300, 
 and is now in the public library of Stuttgard. It is in this 
 Flemish or Dutch language, and was printed at Delft, 
 in Holland, in the year 1485. Several editions of it have 
 since appeared, though it seems never to have had so much 
 popularity on the continent as the Low German version; 
 probably because the language was not so generally un- 
 derstood. Another copy of this early manuscript was 
 bought by an Englishman at Amsterdam in 1826, and a
 
 VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 few years afterwards sold by auction in London. This was 
 purchased about ten years ago for the King of Belgium, at 
 the recommendation of the learned Belgian Professor Wil- 
 lems, who says that an enormously high price was given 
 for its acquisition. It is now deposited in the Burgun- 
 dian Library at Brussels, and was made the basis of a new 
 edition in 1834. 
 
 Another version appeared in print still earlier, in prose, 
 and in the same language ; which has a greater interest 
 for an Englishman, if, as is alleged, it was the original from 
 which our Caxton translated the work published by him 
 in 1481. This editio princeps of Reynard was printed at 
 Gouda in Holland in the year 1479, and is of excessive 
 rarity ; we have never seen it, but it is said to follow the 
 metrical version very closely. We have no means of 
 judging to which of these two versions the palm of anti- 
 quity must be given. It must be understood, that at any 
 time within fifty years after the invention of printing, the 
 date of a printed book is no criterion whatever of origi- 
 nality of authorship ; as works were written and published 
 for many years hi manuscript only, while others, the 
 authors of which were perhaps better able to afford the 
 expense, were printed as soon as they were completed. 
 
 A poetical translation, but with very considerable addi- 
 tions, was made into the language of Northern Germany 
 called Plattdeutsch, and printed at Lubeck in 1498, of which 
 edition it is said that the copy in the Wolfenbuttel library 
 is the only one existing. Of this we give the first eight 
 lines, with an English literal version, both as a curiosity, 
 and to shew how readily the old Plattdeutsch runs into 
 English : 
 
 It geschah up enen Pinkste dach, 
 Dat men de wolde un velde sach 
 Grone stan mit I6f un gras, 
 Un mannich vogel vrolik was, 
 Mit sange. in hagen un up bomen ; 
 De krude sproten un de blomen, 
 De wol r6ken hier un dar : 
 De dach was schone, dat weder War.
 
 INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 TRANSLATION. 
 
 It happened on a Whitsun day, 
 
 When all the woods and fields were gay, 
 
 When all was green in leaf and grass, 
 
 And every bird rejoicing was, 
 
 With songs in trees and eke in bowers ; 
 
 The plants were sprouting, and the flowers 
 
 Were sweetly smelling here and there; 
 
 The day was fine, the weather clear. 
 
 The whole book might be readily translated in the same 
 way. 
 
 The next version, in point of time, and still earlier in 
 print, is the English one made by Caxton, and printed by 
 himself in 1481. Of this there is a fine copy in the British 
 Museum, as clear after a lapse of three centuries and a half 
 ;is though it had just issued from the press, and equally 
 legible to one acquainted with the old language and cha- 
 racter; for the obsolete words and monkish type render 
 it somewhat difficult to others. This version is said by 
 Grimm to have been translated from the Gouda copy ; he 
 perhaps judges from the date of the book, but there is 
 reason to suppose that Caxton translated from a manuscript, 
 as he would hardly have been able at that epoch to procure 
 a book printed in Holland in 1479, translate it into English, 
 and publish it in London in June 1481, which is the date of 
 his book. True it is that Caxton professes to translate from 
 the Dutch, but it is well known that old English writers 
 used this word for the languages both of Germany and Hol- 
 land, often without distinction, and sometimes with the 
 addition of the words, high and low. The concluding words 
 of Caxton are, " For I have not added ne mynusshed, but 
 have folowed as nyghe as I can my copye whiche was in 
 Dutche : and by me, Willm Caxton translated in to this 
 rude and symple English in thabbey of Westmestre. 
 Fynysshed the vi daye of Juyn the yere of our Lord 
 MCCCC.lxxxj, and the xxi yere of the regne of Kynge 
 Edward the iiijth."
 
 Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 According to Grimm, the English version was reprinted 
 in 1639, 1667, 1681, 1708, and 1756. These we have not 
 seen, and we are inclined to think they are not reprints of 
 Caxton's translation, which would have become obsolete at 
 the earliest of these dates. Of the first two we know nothing ; 
 of the next, 1681, we have a copy, which is not our Rey- 
 nard, but a continuation only, carrying on the history to the 
 treason and death of the Fox, while all the genuine histories 
 leave him prime minister to the Lion. The one of 1708 is 
 probably the metrical version of that date. The copy on 
 which our present publication is founded, was printed in 
 1701, a date not given at all in the above enumeration. 
 
 All the English copies are professed translations, but the 
 French ones claim to be originals, and they are of undoubted 
 antiquity. There is every probability that one at least 
 existed in French, before the earliest printed edition in 
 Dutch; but considerations into which we cannot here enter, 
 induce us to give the priority to the Dutch versions. 
 
 The authorship of the work is nearly as uncertain as all 
 the rest. The Plattdeutsch is said in the introduction to be 
 written by Henrek fan Alkmer, a schoolmaster of Lorraine ; 
 and Alkmer has long had the credit of being the original 
 author. But the very existence of this schoolmaster is put 
 in doubt by a subsequent story, which related that the poem 
 was written by Nicholas Baumann, a secretary to the Duke 
 of Julich, as a satire upon courts, in consequence of having 
 been driven from his office by a base intrigue contrived by 
 one of the courtiers. The Dutch copy professes to be 
 written by Willem die Metoc, of whom we know nothing 
 more ; but he is now taking his place in opinion as the real 
 author. 
 
 Much of this uncertainty may be ascribed to the unfixed 
 nature of the work itself. It is an incorporation of different 
 stories, all called by the same name, and all having a family 
 likeness ; all illustrating the stupidity of the Bear, the 
 ferocity of the Wolf, the cunning of the Fox, and such like 
 qualities. The Fables of JEsop, and others of an oriental
 
 INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 complexion, were more or less blended with the narration, 
 and the whole was probably wandering about Europe, and 
 perhaps Asia, in the popular tales of every village and house- 
 hold long before any one writer took the disjointed members 
 and made of them a continuous tale. Evidence is not want- 
 ing to shew that the present form of the stoiy existed in the 
 twelfth century; at least so far as to contain the citation of 
 the Fox to appear before the Lion and answer certain accu- 
 sations made against him ; his excuses to avoid appearing ; 
 his cunning to disprove the alleged crime ; or rather his 
 flattery of the judge, and the bribes by which he gains a 
 pardon ; his subsequent relapse into stealing rabbits and 
 poultry, and his full acquittal by the old test of vanquish- 
 ing his accuser in single combat, which was so long con- 
 sidered a decisive proof of innocence, through the influence 
 of a prejudice which is by no means gone from us to this 
 day. These are the passages of the old story, but differing 
 in the working up of .each writer, and these are found in 
 all the versions that remain to us. 
 
 It is not unlikely that translations exist of originals long 
 since destroyed ; and the edition of 1701, which forms the 
 basis of our publication, may have been such a one. Of this 
 edition, we shall only say that it contains less of the coarse- 
 ness of the old time than preceding versions ; but that it 
 retained enough of them to render the work inadmissible 
 to the general reader. This has undoubtedly operated to 
 check the popularity of the work in modern times, when a 
 more careful selection of matter is demanded than our an- 
 cestors thought necessary. The present publication boasts 
 of being the first that may be read without offence by the 
 most scrupulous, and we trust that in the castigation which 
 it has undergone under our care, none of the real excellence 
 of the tale has evaporated. 
 
 We have appended to our history an abridgement of 
 The Second Part of the History of Reynard, published 
 in 1G81, which carries on the history to the death of the
 
 X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 "} 
 
 Fox, and long after. This part, which is wholly English, 
 and found in no other version, is of very inferior merit to 
 the original work, and runs out to a tedious length. In our 
 publication it is considerably condensed, and we venture to 
 say itjias gained much by its curtailment. 
 
 We have added an abridgement of the Shifts of Reji- 
 nardine, the Son of Reynard, which was published in Lon- 
 don in 1684, and intended as a supplement to Reynard. 
 
 It has sometimes been objected to the history of Rey- 
 nard, that the beasts have too much the nature of beasts for 
 a genuine satire on men and their affairs ; that the Lion 
 is fierce, the Wolf cruel, the Bear stupid, the Fox sly, and 
 so on of all the other animals. 
 
 The fact may be admitted, but we deny the inference ; 
 and we contend that in this admixture of animal instinct 
 with human reason, much of the interest lies. Were the 
 beasts portrayed with human passions only, the nature of 
 the apologue would be destroyed ; the names of Fox, Wolf, 
 and Lion, would be no more than John, Thomas, and James, 
 and the whole would become a grave piece of history. But 
 the addition of the animal propensities, the seduction of the 
 Cat from his duty, as messenger of the king, by the promise 
 of a feed of mice ; the prying of the inquisitive Rook into 
 the Fox's mouth, by which the silly bird lost its head ; and 
 the temptation of the cunning Fox himself by the fat 
 Pullet ; all this tends to the production of that quiet hu- 
 mour so well understood by La Fontaine, and which con- 
 stitutes so much of his superiority to our own Gay, whose 
 animals are disguised men. In truth, the beasts are all 
 beasts, if we except the Fox, who is generally an embodi- 
 ment of cunning, utterly unredeemed by any scruples, never 
 abashed by shame, or stung by remorse. 
 
 The work in its present form may have been intended as 
 a satire on courts and governments in general, unless the 
 story be admitted which attributes its particular applica- 
 tion to the court of Julich; and we cannot deny that there
 
 INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 is or was too much truth in it, although exaggerated. But 
 the main and most useful object of this, as of other fables 
 of the ^Esopian nature, is to teach by irony, to caution the 
 reader against the tricks of the artful, and the more delusive 
 self-deceits which induce a man to imagine himself brave, 
 generous, or forgiving, when he is only ambitious, calcu- 
 lating, or grasping. The teaching by irony may not be at 
 first so plain to a young reader as that by precept, but it is 
 often not less effective ; and such a work as the present, 
 where the irony is so obvious, may serve as an introducer 
 to others, in which it is more hidden. When a reader first 
 finds a deceiver always successful, and the honest suffering 
 for their confidence in him, he may feel somewhat shocked ; 
 but he soon finds that the whole is a caricature ; that no 
 creature could be so gulled as represented in the fable ; he 
 no more feels his sense of justice hurt by the success of this 
 cunning, than he does by witnessing the exhibition of 
 Punch, who beats his wife, throws his child out of the 
 window, kills the doctor, cheats the hangman, and at last 
 triumphs over every body. On a further examination, he 
 finds the Lion deceived by his own avarice, the Wolf by his 
 own greediness, and the others by their own follies or vices, 
 much more than by the cunning of the Fox; although they 
 all endeavour to pass off these vices and follies as virtues, or 
 at least amiable weaknesses. We may perhaps justly apply 
 here the words of our venerable Caxton, who says in his 
 introduction, " This booke is maad for nede and prouffyte 
 of alle god folke, as fer as they in redynge or heeryng of it 
 shall mowe [be able to] understande and fele the forsayd 
 subtyl deceytes that dayly ben vsed in the worlde ; not to 
 thentente [the intent] that men shold vse them, but that 
 euerye man shold eschewe and kepe hym from the subtyl 
 false shrewis [evil ways], that they be not deceyuyd." 
 
 We have abstained from alluding to any modern trans- 
 lation, with the exception of those into our own language ; 
 but we cannot conclude without mention of that made into
 
 Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 German by the celebrated Gothe, as being the one which 
 hitherto has given the truest idea of the spirit of the 
 original work. 
 
 We hope we may conclude our introduction to this new 
 version with the words of our first printer in reference to 
 his own, that " for them that understandeth it, it shall be 
 ryght joyous, playsant, and prouffitable."
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PACK 
 
 How the Lion proclaimed a great feast at his court, and how 
 Isgrim the Wolf and his wife, Curtise the Hound, and 
 Chanticleer the Cock, made their complaints of Reynard 
 the Fox, and the King's reply 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 How Bruin the Bear sped with Reynard the Fox 5 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 How the King sent Tibert the Cat for Reynard the Fox 10 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 How Grimbard the Brock was sent to summon the Fox to 
 Court. How the Fox came into the Court, and how he was 
 condemned to death 12 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 How Reynard spoke to the King of his great Treasure 18 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 How Reynard the Fox was honoured of all beasts by the 
 King's command, and how he pulled off the Wolf's shoes 23 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 How Kayward the Hare was killed by Reynard the Fox, and 
 how the Ram carried the head to the King 26
 
 XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 How Bellin the Ram and his lineage were given to the Bear 
 and the Wolf, and how new complaints were made against 
 the Fox 29 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 How Grimbard the Brock communed with Reynard the Fox ... 32 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 How Reynard the Fox excused himself before the King, and 
 of the King's answer ,.. 35 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 How dame Rukenaw answered for the Fox to the King, and of 
 the apologue she told him 38 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 How Reynard excused himself of Kayward's death, and all 
 other imputations. How he got the King's favour, and 
 made relation of certain Jewels 42 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 How Isgrim again complained of the Fox, and how they pre- 
 pared to fight 50 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Of the fight between the Fox and the Wolf, and of the victory 
 of the Fox, and his advancement to the highest dignities ... 58
 
 CONTENTS. XV 
 
 PART THE SECOND. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 How Isgrim the Wolf was made Earl of Pitwood, and appointed 
 to succeed Bellin the Ram ; and how Reynard, and Bruin, 
 and Tibert were advanced to great dignities 63 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 How Reynard behaved in his new offices, and of his treason 
 and defeat 70 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Of the Capture, Confession, and Execution of the traitor 
 Reynard 74 
 
 THE HISTORY OF REYNARDINE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 How Reynardine left Malepardus, lost all his patrimony, and 
 became Doctor of Physic 85 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 How Reynardine poisoned the Leopard, and became servant 
 to the Panther 90 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 How Reynardine contrived the Panther's death '. 94 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Capture, Condemnation, and Execution of Reynardine... 98
 
 THE 
 
 MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 REYNARD THE FOX. 
 
 CHAPTER I. How the Lion proclaimed a great feast at 
 his court, and how Isgrim the Wolf and his wife, Cur- 
 tise the Hound, and Chanticleer the Cock, made their 
 complaints of Reynard the Fox, and the King's reply. 
 
 A.BOUT the Feast of Whitsuntide, when the woods were 
 gay and gladsome, and every tree was clothed with the 
 green and white livery of glorious leaves and sweet-smelling 
 blossoms; when the earth was covered with her fairest 
 mantle of flowers, and the joyous birds poured out with 
 delight their harmonious songs ; even at this time, at the 
 entrance of the lusty spring, the Lion, the royal king of beasts, 
 resolved to keep open court at his great palace of Sanden, to 
 celebrate the Festival. That end, by public proclamation, 
 he made known over all his kingdom, that upon pain of 
 being held in contempt every one should resort to that great 
 celebration. So within a few days, all beasts, both great 
 and small, came in infinite multitudes to the court, except 
 only Reynard the Fox, who knew himself guilty of so many 
 wrongs against so many beasts, that his coming thither 
 must needs have put his life in great hazard and danger. 
 
 Now when the king had assembled all his court there 
 were few beasts found but made complaint against the Fox, 
 especially Isgrim the Wolf, who being the principal com- 
 plainant, came with all his kindred, and standing before the 
 king, spoke in this manner : ' My dread sovereign, I hum- 
 bly beseech you, that from your power and mercy, you 
 will take pity on the wrongs and injuries which that wretch 
 Reynard the Fox hath done to me, my wife, and our whole 
 family. Know, if it please your majesty, that he came into 
 my house by violence, where, finding my children laid in 
 my quiet couch, he so offensively treated them, that they 
 became blind with his ill usage. 
 
 So a day was appointed, whereon Reynard should come 
 to prove himself guiltless of that offence. But as soon as he 
 
 REYNARD. B
 
 2 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 was put to the proof, he, heing well aware of his guilt, ran 
 instantly into his hole, in contempt both of your majesty 
 and your laws: this, my dread lord, is well known to the 
 noblest beasts in your court. Nor hath his malice stopped 
 here ; but in many other things he hath wronged me, which 
 to relate, neither the time nor your highness' patience would 
 allow. I cannot forego my just revenge ; but 1 expect from 
 him amends, and from your majesty mercy/ 
 
 When the Wolf had spoken these words, a little Hound, 
 whose name was Curtise, likewise made grievous complaint 
 unto the king against the Fox ; saying, that in the extreme 
 cold winter, when the frost was most violent, he being half 
 starved and detained from all manner of prey, had no more 
 left him to sustain life, than one poor pudding, which pud- 
 ding Reynard had most unjustly taken from him. 
 
 But the Hound had hardly said the words, when with 
 a fiery countenance, in sprang Tibert the Cat, who falling 
 down before the king, said ' My lord the king, I must con- 
 fess the Fox is here grievously accused ; yet were the deeds 
 of all other beasts scrutinized, each would have enough to 
 do for its own clearing. Touching the complaint of Curtise 
 the Hound, it was an offence committed many years ago, 
 and though I myself complain not, yet was the pudding 
 mine, and not his ; for I got it by night out of a mill, when 
 the miller lay asleep/ 
 
 When the Panther heard these words of the Cat, he 
 stood forth, and said, ' Do you imagine, Tibert, that it were 
 just that Reynard should not be accused ? why, the whole 
 world knows he is a murderer and a thief, and that indeed 
 he loveth not truly any creature ; no, not his majesty him- 
 self ; but would suffer his highness to lose both honour and 
 renown, so that he might thereby get only so much as the 
 leg of a fat hen. 1 shall tell you what I saw him do 
 yesterday to Kayward the Hare, who now standeth in the 
 king's presence. He promised Kayward that he would 
 teach him to sing Credo; so he made him come and sit 
 between his legs, and cry aloud, Credo, credo. My way lay 
 thereby, and I heard the song ; then coming nearer, I found 
 that Mr Reynard had left his first note, and begun to play 
 his old tricks: for he had caught Kayward by the throat, 
 and had I not at that time come, he had taken his life. O 
 good king, if you suffer this to go unpunished, and let him 
 be free, and if you do not right according to your laws, 
 your princely children, many years hereafter, shall bear the 
 slander of his misdeeds/ 
 
 'Certainly, Panther, 1 said Isgrim, 'you say true; it is fit 
 that they should receive justice who desire to live in peace/
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 3 
 
 Then spoke Grimbard the Brock (that was Reynard's 
 sister's son), being much moved with anger: 'Isgrim, you 
 are malicious, and it is a common proverb, " Malice never 
 spake well :" what can you say against my kinsman Rey- 
 nard ? I wish ye would agree, that which of you had most 
 injured one another might be hanged as a felon. I tell you, 
 were Reynard here in the court, and as much in the king's 
 favour as you are, it would be your turn to ask mercy. You 
 have many times bitten and torn him with your venomous 
 teeth, and much oftener than I can reckon; yet some in- 
 stances I will call to my remembrance. 
 
 ' Have you forgot how you cheated him with the plaice 
 wliich he threw down from the cart, when you followed 
 aloof for fear ? you devoured the good fish, and gave him no 
 more than the bones, which you could not eat. The like 
 you did with the fat flitch of bacon ; yourself alone did eat 
 it up, and when my uncle asked for his part, you answered 
 him with scorn, " Fair young man, thou shalt have thy 
 share;" but he got nothing, albeit he won the bacon with 
 great hazard ; for the owner came and caught my kinsman 
 in a sack, from whence he hardly escaped with life. Many 
 such injuries hath Isgrim done to Reynard, and I beseech 
 your lordships to judge if they be sufFerable. 
 
 'Now comes Kay ward the Hare with his complaint, 
 which to me seems a trifle ; for if he will learn to read, and 
 read not his lesson right, who will blame the schoolmaster 
 Reynard, if he give him due correction ? If scholars be not 
 chastised, they will never learn. 
 
 ' Lastly complaineth Curtise that he with great pain had 
 gotten a pudding in the winter, being a season in which 
 victuals are hard to get. Methinks silence would have be- 
 come him better, for he had stolen it, and male queesisti et 
 male perdidisti ; " ill gotten goods never prosper." Who can 
 blame Reynard for taking stolen goods from a thief ? It is 
 right, that he who understands the law, should fulfil the 
 law; nay, had he hanged Curtise he had offended none but 
 the king in doing justice without leave, and this for respect 
 to his majesty he did not, though he reap little thanks for 
 his labour. Alas ! how do these complaints hurt him ! Mine 
 uncle is a gentleman and a true fox ; nor can I endure false- 
 hood. Since the king proclaimed peace, he never thought to 
 hurt any man ; for he eateth but once a day, and li veth as 
 a recluse. It is a year since he ate any flesh, as I have been 
 informed by those that came but yesterday from him. He 
 hath forsaken his castle, and housed himself in a poor 
 hermitage: hunting he hath forsworn, and his wealth he 
 hath scattered, living only by alms and good men's charities.' 
 
 B2
 
 4 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 Whilst Grimbard, his nephew, was thus talking, they 
 perceived coming down the hill stout Chanticleer the Cock, 
 carrying upon a bier a dead hen, whose head Reynard had 
 bitten off, and it was brought to the king. 
 
 Chanticleer marched foremost, smiting piteously his feet 
 and feathers ; whilst on each side of the bier walked two 
 sorrowful hens, of whom one was named Cantart, and the 
 other Cragant ; they were two of the fairest hens between 
 Holland and Ardenne, and each bore a tall bright-burn- 
 ing taper. These hens were sisters to Copple, who lay 
 dead upon the bier ; and as they walked they cried, ' Alack 
 and well-a-day, for the death of Copple, our dear sister !' 
 Two young pullets bore the bier ; who cackled so heartily 
 and wept so loud for the death of their mother, that the 
 hills echoed the cry. When they came into the presence 
 of the king, Chanticleer kneeling down, spoke in the fol- 
 lowing manner: 
 
 'Great king, vouchsafe to hear our complaint, and to 
 redress the wrongs which Reynard hath done to me and to 
 my children, who stand here weeping. In the month of 
 April, when the weather was fair, I was in the height of 
 my pride and glory; both because of the nobility of my 
 descent, and because of the eight brave sons and seven fair 
 daughters which my wife had hatched, and which were 
 strong and fat, and walked in a well-walled yard, wherein 
 they were guarded by six stout mastiffs, so that my children 
 feared not any evil. But that false traitor, Reynard, often 
 assailed the walls, so that the dogs were let loose upon him, 
 to drive him away. Once they caught him, and made him 
 smoke for it, as his torn skin witnessed, and we were quit 
 of his troubling for a great while after. At last he came 
 again in the likeness of a hermit, and brought me a letter, 
 sealed with your royal signet. In it I found written, that 
 your majesty had proclaimed peace throughout your realm, 
 so that no manner of beasts or birds should do wrong to 
 each other. " Sir Chanticleer," he said, " be not afraid of 
 me from this time forward, for I have made a vow never 
 to eat flesh more. I am now old, and think only of my 
 end." He then departed. At this I was exceeding glad, and 
 ducked my children together, and walked out of the yard 
 with them. But false Reynard, who had lain down under 
 a hawthorn, came creeping between us and the gate, and 
 suddenly seizing one of my little ones, carried it off, to my 
 great sorrow ; and having once tasted the sweetness of our 
 flesh, neither hunter nor hound can keep him from us. 
 Night and day he watches for us so greedily, that out of 
 fifteen children he has left me only four unslaughtered ; and
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 5 
 
 yesterday Copple, my daughter, who here lieth dead, was 
 dragged from him by a pack of hounds. This is my com- 
 plaint ; and I appeal to your highness to have pity on me, 
 and avenge the death of my fair children.' 
 
 Then spoke the king : ' Sir Grimbard, hear you this of 
 your uncle, the recluse ? He hath fasted to some purpose ; 
 believe me, if I live, he shall dearly abide it. As for you, 
 Chanticleer, your complaint is heard, and shall be redressed ; 
 we will consult with our lords how to do you right and 
 justice against the murderer.' Then they sang a dirge, 
 and buried the body, and placed over it a smooth marble 
 slab, polished like glass, upon which the words following 
 were engraved in large letters : ' Here lieth buried Chanti- 
 cleer's daughter, Copple, whom Reynard the Fox hath slain. 
 Mourn, thou who readest; for her death was unjust and 
 lamentable.' 
 
 Then the king sent for his lords and counsellors, to 
 consult how they should punish the murderer. It was 
 determined that Reynard should be summoned to appear 
 before the king, to answer for the crimes alleged against 
 him, and that Bruin the Bear should carry the summons. 
 
 The king therefore called the Bear before him : ' Sir 
 Bruin,' said he, 'it is our pleasure that you deliver this 
 message ; yet, take great heed ; Reynard is full of cunning, 
 and knoweth how to flatter, dissemble, and betray ; he hath 
 a world of tricks, and if you use not great judgment he will 
 mock you, though you be the wisest creature breathing.' 
 ' My liege,' answered Bruin, ' let me alone with Reynard ; 
 I am Jiot such a truant to discretion, as to become a dupe 
 to his knavery.' Thus, full of jollity, the Bear took his 
 departure ; and if his coming back be as jolly as his going, 
 we shall hear of his bragging. 
 
 CHAPTER II. How Bruin the Bear sped with Reynard 
 the Fox. 
 
 I HE next morning away went Bruin the Bear in quest 
 of Reynard the Fox, armed against all knavery. Passing 
 through a dark forest, where Reynard had a by-path, to 
 be used when he was hunted, he saw a high mountain, over 
 which he must pass to go to Malepardus. Now Reynard 
 had many houses, but Malepardus was his chief and most 
 ancient castle, and he lived in it both for safety and ease. 
 
 When Bruin arrived, he found the gates shut ; then he 
 knocked, and called aloud, ' Sir Reynard, are you at home ?
 
 6 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 I am Bruin, your kinsman, whom the king hath sent to 
 summon you to the court, to answer many foul accusations 
 brought against you. His highness hath taken a vow, that 
 if you fail to obey his summons, your life shall answer for 
 your contempt, and your goods and honour shall be confis- 
 cated; therefore, fair kinsman, be advised by your friend, 
 and go with me to the court.' 
 
 Reynard, as was his custom, was lying close within the 
 gate for the sake of the sun ; and hearing these words, he 
 departed into one of his holes ; for Malepardus is full of 
 intricate and curious rooms, through which he could pass as 
 through a labyrinth, when danger threatened. There he 
 mused within himself how he might counterplot and dis- 
 grace the Bear, who he knew loved him not, and bring 
 himself to honour. At last he came forth, and said, ' Dear 
 uncle Bruin, you are exceeding welcome ; pardon my slow- 
 ness in coming. He that hath sent you this long and weary 
 journey hath done you no good service; your toil and labour 
 do far exceed the worth of the object. If you had not come, 
 I should have been at the court to-morrow of my own 
 accord ; yet I am not sorry that you are come, for at this 
 time your advice may be useful to me. But, my dear uncle, 
 could not his majesty find a meaner messenger than your 
 noble self to do such a trivial business ? I wish for your 
 sake we were both already at the court, for I fear I shall 
 be a sore trouble to you in my journeying; sooth to say, 
 since I have abstained from eating flesh, I have taken such 
 strange new meats, that I am much disordered. ' My dear 
 cousin/ said the Bear, ' what meat is this, pray, which so 
 much distempers you?' 'Uncle,' replied the Fox, 'what 
 profit will it be to you to know ? It was mean and simple 
 food ; we poor fellows are not lords, as you know ; we eat 
 that from necessity, which others eat from caprice ; it was 
 honey-comb, large and full, and so good, that forced by 
 hunger, I ate greedily. 'Ah,' quoth Bruin, ' honey-comb ! 
 do you speak so slightingly of that ? why, it is meat for the 
 greatest emperor in the world. Fair nephew, help me but 
 to some of that honey, and command me whilst I live ; I 
 will be your slave for ever.' 'Sure, uncle,' said the Fox, 
 'you do but jest with me.' 'Jest,' replied Bruin, ' beshrew 
 my heart then, for I am in such serious earnest, that for 
 one lick thereof, you shall make me the most faithful of all 
 your kindred.' ' Nay,' said the Fox, 'if you be in earnest, 
 I will bring you where so much is, that ten of you shall not 
 be able to devour it.' ' Not ten of us ?' said the Bear, 'that 
 is impossible; for had I all the honey between Hybla and 
 Portugal, I could in a short time eat it up by myself.'
 
 OP REYNARD THE FOX. 7 
 
 ' Well then, uncle,' quoth the Fox, 'there dwelleth near here 
 a husbandman, named Lant'ert, who is owner of so much 
 honey, that you could not eat it in seven years ; and this I 
 will put you in possession of.' Bruin, mad for the honey, 
 vowed that for one good meal of it, he would not only be 
 Reynard's faithful friend, but that he would stop the mouths 
 of all his foes. The Fox, smiling at his easy belief, said, ' If 
 you want seven tun, unole, you shall have it.' These words 
 pleased the Bear so well, and nfade him so merry, that he 
 could not stand for laughing. 
 
 'Well,' thought the Fox, 'this is lucky; sure 1 will 
 lead him where he shall laugh to another tune.' And then 
 he said, 'Uncle, we must lose no time, and I will do for 
 your sake that which I would not for any other of my 
 kin.' The Bear gave him many thanks, and so away they 
 went ; the Fox promising him as much honey as he could 
 eat. At last they reached Lanfert's house, the sight whereof 
 made the Bear rejoice. 
 
 Now Lanfert was a stout and lusty carpenter, and he 
 had brought into his yard the day before a large oak, which 
 he had begun to cleave, and had driven into it two wedges, 
 so that the cleft stood wide open. At this the Fox was very 
 glad, and with a smiling face he said to the Bear, ' Behold 
 now, uncle, this tree ; there is so much honey within that 
 it cannot be measured ; try if you can get into it. But, dear 
 uncle, be careful of yourself, and eat moderately ; for al- 
 though the combs be sweet and good, yet a surfeit is dan- 
 gerous, and may hurt you, which 1 would not for the world ; 
 for no harm can come to you, but must be to my dishonour.' 
 ' Trouble not for me, nephew Reynard,' quoth the Bear, ' do 
 not think me such a fool that I cannot temper my appetite.' 
 ' It is true, my good uncle, I was too bold. I pray you get 
 in, and you shall find what you desire.' The Bear with all 
 haste thrust his head into the cleft, quite beyond his ears. 
 When the Fox saw this, he pulled the wedges out of the 
 tree, so that he locked the Bear fast therein ; where with 
 his scratching and tearing he made such a noise, that Lan- 
 fert in amaze came out of his house with a sharp hook in 
 his hand, whilst Bruin lay helpless, roaring and howling 
 within the tree. The Fox, afar off, seeing the man, said 
 mocking to the Bear, ' Is the honey good, uncle ? I beseech 
 you do not eat too much. Nice things are apt to surfeit, 
 and it may hinder your journey to the court, if you eat 
 too much ; when Lanfert cometh, he will give you some 
 drink to wash it down.' And having said this, he went 
 away to his own castle. 
 
 Lanfert, finding the Bear fast in the tree, ran to his
 
 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 neighbours, and begged them to come into his yard; 'For,' 
 said he, 'there is a Bear fast caught there.' Which being 
 noised throughout the town, there was no man, woman, 
 or child, but ran there ; some with goads, and some with 
 rakes, some with staves, and some with stakes, and what- 
 ever they could lay hands on. This host put Bruin in great 
 fear, and hearing the noise come thundering about him, he 
 dragged and pulled so hard, that he got out his head, but 
 left behind him his ears and skin ; never was a fouler or 
 uglier beast seen; for the blood covered his face and his 
 paws, and his skin and claws being gone, nothing remained 
 but ugliness. The Bear had lost motion and sight ; and 
 while in this strait, Lanfert and all the parish came about 
 him, and sorely be-cudgelled him. All fell furiously upon 
 him; there was bandy-legged Houghlin, and long-nosed 
 Ludolf, the one with a heavy bat, and the other with an iron 
 rod ; and there was long-fingered Bertolf, and Burkin, and 
 Ablequack, and the friar with his staff, and dame Jullock. 
 But Lanfert and tall Ottram hurt him more than all the 
 rest; the first with his sharp hook, the last with his bent 
 staff, loaded with lead at the end, with which he used to 
 play at ball. All these so belaboured the Bear, that his 
 life was hi great danger. 
 
 The poor Bear sat and groaned under their blows, of 
 which Lanfert's were the heaviest, till, roused from his 
 swoon, the Bear leaped into the adjoining river, through a 
 bevy of old women, several of whom he threw into the 
 water; among these was dame Jullock. Then her hus- 
 band, seeing how she floated like a sea-mew, left beating 
 the bear, and cried out, ' Help, O help ; dame Jullock is in 
 the water !' On hearing this, every one left the bear to help 
 dame Jullock ; while the Bear swam away as fast as he 
 could, overjoyed at his escape ; but he bitterly cursed the 
 honey-tree, and the Fox which had betrayed him. 
 
 He swam some three miles down the stream, and grew 
 so weary that he went on the bank to rest ; where, with 
 blood trickling down his face, he groaned as if his last hour 
 had come. 
 
 Whilst these things were doing, the Fox in his way 
 home had stolen a fat hen, and running through a by-path, 
 that no man might see him, he came down upon the river. 
 He felt very gay, thinking that the bear was slain ; and said 
 to himself, ' My fortune is as I could wish ; for the greatest 
 enemy I had at court is dead, and no man can suspect me 
 to be the cause thereof.' But as he spoke these words, he 
 looked towards the river, and spied Bruin the Bear resting ; 
 which struck his heart with grief, and he railed against
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 9 
 
 Lanfert the carpenter, saying, 'Silly ass that thou art; 
 what fool would have lost such good venison, so fat and so 
 wholesome, and which was taken to thy hand : any man 
 would have been proud of the good luck which thou hast 
 lost.' Thus railing and chiding he came to the Bear, and 
 said, mocking, ' I hope I see you well.' ' O thou foul red 
 villain,' said the Bear, ' what impudence is thine !' But 
 the Fox went on with his speech, and said, ' Dear uncle, I 
 hope you have not forgotten any thing at Lanfert's, and that 
 you paid for the honey ; if you did not, it will be very 
 discreditable to you ; and rather than your good name 
 should suffer, I will pay for it myself. The honey was in- 
 deed very good, and I know of a good deal more at the same 
 price. But, good uncle, what a new fashioned head-dress 
 you wear. Why, when your crown was shaved, your ears 
 were cropped too ! and your foretop is lost, and you have 
 no gloves; fie, uncle, you should not go out bare-handed. 
 They tell me you can sing peccavi capitally.' These taunts 
 made Bruin mad with rage. 
 
 After [some little rest, he plunged again into the river, 
 and swam over to the other side, where he began to reflect 
 how he might get to the court. He could not walk, but he 
 must needs go ; so at last, forced by extremity, he lay down 
 on his side, and tumbled over and over ; and so by degrees, 
 tumbling now half a mile, and then half a mile, in the end 
 he tumbled to the court ; where divers persons beholding 
 the strange manner of his approach, thought some prodigy 
 was coming. 
 
 When the. king knew him, he was much enraged. ' It 
 is/ quoth he, ' Sir Bruin, my servant ; what villains have 
 wounded him thus V ' O my dread sovereign liege,' cried 
 Bruin, 'behold how I am massacred, which I humbly be- 
 seech you to revenge upon that false Reynard, who, for 
 doing your royal will, hath brought me to this shame 
 and torture.' Then said the king, ' By my crown I swear, 
 I will have a vengeance which shall make the traitor 
 tremble.' 
 
 Then the king sent for all his council, and they con- 
 sulted how and in what way they should proceed against 
 the Fox. It was finally resolved that he should be again 
 summoned to appear and answer the accusations against 
 him, and it was determined that the messenger should 
 now be Tibert the Cat, as well for his gravity as wisdom. 
 All which pleased the king well.
 
 10 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 CHAPTER III. How the King sent Tibert the Cat for 
 Reynard the Fox. 
 
 1 HEN the king called for Sir Tibert the Cat, and said to 
 him, 'Sir Tibert, you shall go to Reynard, and summon 
 him the second time to appear and answer for his offences ; 
 assure him that if he fail at the next summons, I will take 
 so severe a course against him and his posterity, that his 
 punishment shall be a warning to all offenders.' 
 
 Then said Tibert the Cat, 'I beseech your majesty, 
 send some one of greater power; I am small and feeble, 
 arid if noble Sir Bruin, that is so strong and mighty, could 
 not bring him, what will my weakness avail?' The king 
 replied, ' It is your wisdom, Sir Tibert, I employ, and 
 not your strength ; and many prevail with art, when 
 violence returns with lost labour.' ' Well,' said the Cat, 
 ' since it is your pleasure, it must be accomplished ; I pray 
 my fortune be better than my heart presageth.' 
 
 Then Tibert made ready and set out for Malepardus, and 
 in his journey he saw a raven flying towards him, to whom 
 he cried aloud, ' Hail, gentle bird, turn thy wings and fly 
 on my right hand.' But the bird turned the contraiy way, 
 and flew on the left side. Then the Cat grew very heavy, 
 for he was wise and skilful in augury, and knew the omen 
 to be unlucky ; nevertheless, he armed himself with better 
 hope, and went to Malepardus, where he found the Fox 
 standing before the castle gates. 
 
 * Health to my cousin Reynard !' said Tibert ; ' the king, 
 by me, orders you to court, and if you fail or delay, there 
 is nothing more certain unto you than a cruel and sudden 
 death.' The Fox answered, ' Welcome, dear cousin Tibert ; 
 I obey your command, and wish the king infinite days of 
 happiness. Let me entreat you to rest with me to-night, 
 and take such cheer as my simple house affordeth, and to- 
 morrow, as early as you will, we will go towards the court. 
 There was with me the other day the treacherous knight 
 Sir Bruin the Bear, who looked upon me with that tyran- 
 nous cruelty that I would not for the wealth of an empire 
 hazard my person with him ; but, my dear cousin, with you 
 I would go were a thousand ills upon me.' 
 
 Tibert replied, ' You speak like a noble gentleman, and 
 methinks it is best now to go forward, for the moon shines as 
 bright as day.' 'Nay, dear cousin,' said the Fox, 'let us take 
 day before us ; the night is full of fear and danger.' ' Well,' 
 said the Cat, ' if it be your pleasure, I am content ; what 
 shall we eat ?' Reynard replied, ' Truly my store is small ;
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 11 
 
 the best I have is a honey-comb, both pleasant and sweet ; 
 what think you of it ?' Quoth Tibert, ' It is meat I little 
 respect, and seldom eat ; I had rather have one mouse than 
 all the honey in Europe.' ' A mouse !' said Reynard, ' why, 
 my dear cousin, here dwelleth a man hard by, who hath 
 a barn by his house so full of mice, that I think half the 
 wains in the parish would not carry them.' ' Oh, dear 
 Reynard,' quoth the Cat, ' do but lead me thither, and 
 make me your servant for ever.' ' Why,' said the Fox, 
 ' but do you love mice so exceedingly ?' ' Beyond expres- 
 sion,' quoth the Cat ; ' a mouse is beyond venison, or the 
 most delicate cates on princes' tables ; therefore conduct me 
 thither, and command my friendship in any matter. Had 
 you slain my father, my mother, and all my kin, I would 
 clearly forgive you.' 
 
 Then said Reynard, ' Sure you do but jest.' * No, by 
 my life,' said the Cat. ' Well, then,' quoth the Fox, ' if 
 you be in earnest, I will so work, that this night I will give 
 you as much as you can eat. ' It is not possible,' said the 
 Cat. ' Follow me,' said the Fox, ' and I will bring you 
 to the place presently.' Thus away they went with all 
 speed to the barn, which was walled about with a mud 
 wall, where only the night before the Fox had broken in 
 and stolen an exceeding fat hen, at which the fanner was 
 so angry, that he had set a snare before the hole to catch 
 him at his next coming. This the Fox knew perfectly, 
 and therefore he said to the Cat, ' Sir Tibert, creep in at 
 this hole, and you shall not tarry a minute's space, but 
 you shall have more mice than you are able to devour. 
 Hark, you may hear how they squeak ; when you can 
 eat no more, come again ; I will wait for you at this 
 hole, and to-morrow we will go together to the court. 
 But, good cousin, stay not too long, for I know my wife 
 will hourly expect us.' Then said the Cat, ' Think you I 
 may safely enter at this hole ?' ' Why, cousin Tibert,' said 
 the Fox, ' I never saw you turn coward before ! what, 
 fear you a shadow ?' 
 
 The Cat, ashamed at his fear, sprang in at the hole, but 
 was instantly caught by the neck ; he quickly leaped back 
 again, and the noose running close, he was half strangled. 
 He then began to struggle and cry out most piteously. Rey- 
 nard stood before the hole and heard all ; he was very glad 
 and joyful, and cried out in mockery, 'Cousin Tibert, do you 
 love mice ? I hope they be well fed, for your sake. If the 
 landlord knew of your feasting, he would bring you sauce 
 quickly; methinks you sing at your meat ; is that the court 
 fashion ? If it be, I would Isgrim the Wolf were coupled 
 with you, that all my friends might be feasted together/
 
 12 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 All this while the poor Cat was fast, and mewed so 
 piteously, that the master of the house awoke, and awaked 
 all his house, crying, ' The fox is taken, the fox is taken.' 
 Then getting up, he gave his wife a candle to light, and 
 coming first to Tibert he smote him with a large stick : the 
 others followed him, so that the Cat received many heavy 
 blows. Sir Tibert, thinking his death to be nigh, grew 
 desperate, and with a spring fastened on the farmer with 
 teeth and claws, so that he cried out lustily : which when 
 his wife heard, she screamed aloud to her son Martinet to 
 come and help. 
 
 All this while Reynard stood before the hole and saw 
 what passed, and laughed until he was ready to burst ; but 
 the poor man fell down in a swoon, so that eveiy one left 
 the Cat to revive him. While they were doing this, the 
 Fox returned home to Malepardus, supposing the Cat to be 
 past all hope of escape : but Tibert seeing his foes busy all 
 about the man, leaped out of the hole, and went on scream- 
 ing and tumbling like the Bear, to the royal court. 
 
 Before he reached the court, the sun was up, and the 
 day was advanced, and he entered in a pitiful plight ; for 
 his body was bruised, his bones broken, one of his eyes was 
 out, and his skin was torn. When the king saw Tibert 
 so pitifully mangled, he fell into a furious rage, and once 
 more took counsel, how he should avenge these injuries 
 upon the Fox. 
 
 After some consultation, Grimbard the Brock, Reynard's 
 sister's son, said, ' My good lords, though my uncle were 
 twice as evil as these complaints make him, there is a 
 remedy against these ills : it is fit you do justice as to a 
 beast of rank ; he must be three times summoned, and 
 then if he appear not, find him guilty of all that is laid 
 to his charge.' Then the king demanded of the Brock, 
 whom he thought fittest to summon him, or who would be 
 so desperate as to hazard his life with one so wicked. 
 'Truly,' answered the Brock, 'if it please your majesty, I 
 am that desperate person, who dare venture to carry the 
 message to my cunning kinsman, if your highness but com- 
 mand me.' 
 
 CHAPTER IV. How Grimbard the Brock was sent to 
 summon the Fox to Court. How the Fox came into 
 the Court, and how he was condemned to death. 
 
 1 HEN said the king, ' Go, Grimbard, for I command you : 
 yet take heed of Reynard, for he is sly and subtle.'
 
 OF REYNARD THK FOX. IS 
 
 The Brock thanked his majesty, and taking leave, vent 
 to Malepardus, where he found Reynard and Ermeline his 
 wife, sporting with their young whelps. Having saluted his 
 uncle and aunt, he said, ' Take heed, fair uncle, that your 
 absence from the court do you not still more wrong than 
 the crime you are accused of: it is high time that you 
 appear, for your delay will but bring on you the greater 
 punishment ; the complaints against you are many, and 
 this is the third time of summons. Your own good sense 
 must tell you, that if you delay, there is left to you and 
 yours no hope of mercy : for within three days your castle 
 will be demolished, your kindred made slaves, and yourself 
 selected for a public warning. Therefore, my very good 
 uncle, I pray you act with your usual wisdom, and go at 
 once with me to the court.' 
 
 Reynard replied, ' Nephew you say true ; I will go with 
 you; not to answer accusations, but because I know the 
 court stands in need of my advice. If I but speak with 
 his majesty, I doubt not his mercy, though my offences 
 were ten-fold ; for I know that the court cannot stand with- 
 out me, and that his majesty shall understand truly. I 
 know I have many enemies, yet it troubles me not, for my 
 innocence shall overcome their malice, and they shall know 
 that in high matters of state policy Reynard must not be 
 wanting. It is the envy of others that hath made me leave 
 the court ; for though I know their shallowness cannot 
 dishonour me, yet their multitudes might overwhelm me. 
 Nevertheless, nephew, I will go with you to the court, and 
 not risk the welfare of my wife and children. The king is 
 mighty, and though he do me wrong, yet will I bear it with 
 patience.' 
 
 Then turning to his wife, '/ Take care,' said he, ' of our 
 children, especially my youngest son Reynikin, for he hath 
 much of my love, and will, I hope, follow in my steps : 
 Rossel too is passing hopeful, and I love him well ; therefore 
 be careful of them, and if I escape, doubt not my love shall 
 requite you.' At this leave-taking, Ermeline wept, and her 
 children howled ; for their lord and provider was gone, and 
 Malepardus left without a defender. 
 
 When Reynard and Grimbard had gone a good way on 
 their journey, Reynard stopped and said, ' Dear nephew, 
 blame me not if my heart be full of care, for my life is in 
 great danger. ' I have grievously offended against all beasts, 
 and especially my uncle Bruin, who was sorely beaten and 
 bruised on my account ; and Tibert the Cat, whom I en- 
 snared. I have injured Chanticleer and his children, and 
 devoured many of them ; nay, the king himself hath suf-
 
 14 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 fered from my malice, for I have slandered him and his 
 queen. I have betrayed Isgrim the Wolf, and called him 
 uncle, though none of his blood runs in my veins. I made 
 him tie his foot in the bell-rope, to teach him to ring; but 
 the peal had like to cost him his life, so sorely did the men 
 of the parish beat and bruise him. After this I taught him 
 to catch fish ; but for this he was soundly beaten, and he 
 feeleth the stripes to this day. I led him to steal bacon at 
 a rich man's house, where he fed so ravenously, that not 
 being able to get out where he got in, I raised all the 
 people, and then ran to where the fanner was at dinner 
 with a fat fowl before him ; the fowl I snatched up, and 
 ran away, and the farmer after me, crying, "Kill the fox, 
 kill the fox," and the people after him, whom I led to the 
 place where Isgrim was ; there, much against my will, I 
 let the fowl fall, and leaping through a hole, got to a place 
 of safety. When the farmer spied Isgrim, he cried out, 
 "Strike, friends, strike ! here is the wolf; by no means let 
 him escape." Then the people came with clubs and staves, 
 giving the poor Wolf many a deadly blow, and he fell down 
 as if he had been dead ; they took him by the heels, and 
 threw him into a ditch, where he lay all night, but how he 
 got thence I know not. 
 
 'Another time I led him to a place where I told him 
 were seven cocks and hens set on a perch, all lusty and fat ; 
 and hard by the place stood a trap-door, to which we 
 climbed. I told him if he could creep in at that door he 
 would find the fowls ; then Isgrim went laughing to the 
 door, and entered in a little way, groping about; "Rey- 
 nard," quoth he, "you mock me; for 1 find nothing." 
 "Then,'' replied I, " uncle, they are further in; those which 
 used to perch just there, I myself devoured some time ago." 
 At this, the Wolf going a little further, I gave him a push 
 forward, and he fell down ; his fall made such a noise, that 
 those who were asleep in the house awoke, and finding him 
 there beat and bruised him mortally. Thus have I brought 
 the Wolf to many hazards of his life, more than I can now 
 remember; but which, as they come to my mind, I will 
 reveal to you hereafter. And thus having told you my 
 wickedness, now order such penance, as shall seem fit to 
 your discretion.' 
 
 Now Grimbard was both learned and wise. He tore a 
 branch from a tree, and said, ' Uncle, you shall three times 
 strike your body with this rod, then lay it on the ground and 
 jump three times over it without bending your legs or 
 stumbling ; then shall you take it up, and kiss it gently, 
 in sign of your meekness ; which doue, all your faults sliall
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 15 
 
 be forgiven.' At this the Fox was exceeding glad; and then 
 Grimbard said to him, ' See that henceforth, uncle, you 
 leave your evil life, your theft and your treason.' The Fox 
 promised to do this : and they went together towards the 
 court. 
 
 But as they went along, there was a nunnery a little 
 way from the road, whei'e many geese, fowls, and capons 
 were feeding outside the wall ; and as they went talking, 
 the Fox led Grimbard out of his right way to that place, 
 and finding amongst the poultry a fat young capon which 
 strayed a little from his fellows, he suddenly sprang and 
 caught him by the feathers ; but the capon escaped, which 
 Grimbard seeing, said, ' Wretched creature, what are you 
 doing ? will you for a silly pullet undo all you have done ?' 
 To which Reynard answered, ' Pardon me, dear nephew, I 
 had forgotten myself ; but I will be careful, and mine eye 
 shall no more wander.' Then they turned over a little 
 bridge, but the Fox still turned his eyes towards the 
 poultry, and could not refrain it ; for the ill that was bred 
 in his bones still stuck to his flesh. The Brock said, ' Fie, 
 dissembling cousin, why do your eyes wander after the 
 poultry ?' The Fox replied, ' Nephew, you wrong me, so 
 to mistake me ; I was only thinking with grief on all the 
 unhappy poultry I have eaten.' ' Well,' said Grimbard, 
 'it may be so, but your glances are suspicious.' Now by 
 this time they were come into the road again, and made 
 haste towards the court, which, as soon as the Fox saw, his 
 heart quaked for fear; for he knew well how many and 
 heinous were the crimes he had to answer for. 
 
 As soon as it was bruited in the court that Reynard the 
 Fox and Grimbard his kinsman were arrived, every one 
 prepared to complain of the Fox ; at which Reynard's 
 heart quaked, though his countenance changed not. He 
 walked as proudly as he was wont, and came as gallantly 
 into the court as if he had been the king's son, and as clear 
 from trespass as the most innocent of them all. When he 
 came before the chair of state, in which the king sat, he 
 said, ' May your majesty enjoy glory and renown above 
 all the princes of the earth : never king had a truer sub- 
 ject than I have been to you, and still am, and so will 
 die ; nevertheless, my lord, I know there are many in this 
 court that seek my destruction. They endeavour to gain 
 your majesty's ear, but you scorn the slanders of malice ; 
 and although in these days flatterers have place in princes' 
 courts, yet with you it is not so, nor shall they reap any- 
 thing but shame for their pains.' 
 
 But the king cut him short, and said, ' Peace, traitorous
 
 16 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 Reynard, I know your dissimulation and your flattery, but 
 both shall now fail you ; think you I can be trapped with 
 the music of your words? no, it hath deceived me too often. 
 Thou evil one among the good, with what face canst thou 
 say thou lovest me, seeing proofs of thy falsehood in all 
 those wretched creatures whose wounds yet spit defiance 
 upon thee?' 
 
 ' My dread lord,' said the Fox, ' if Brain's crown be 
 bloody, am I the cause ? If he would neglect the message 
 in which your majesty employed him, to steal honey at 
 the carpenter's house, where he received his wounds, how 
 am I to blame ? If he seek vengeance, why did he not take 
 it himself? He is strong and powerful, while I am weak 
 and puny. As for Tibert the Cat, whom I received with 
 all friendship, if he against my will or advice will steal into 
 the barns to catch mice, and there lose his eyes, wherein 
 is my offence ? O, my dread lord, you will do your royal 
 pleasure, and however my innocence may plead, yet am 
 I ready to suffer any death your will may doom me to.' 
 
 As he thus spoke, Bellin the Ram stepped forth, and his 
 Ewe, dame Oseway, and besought the king to hear their 
 complaint : with them Bruin the Bear, and all his mighty 
 lineage, and Tibert the Cat, Isgrim the Wolf, Kayward the 
 Hare, and Bruel the Goose, and Baldwin the Ass, and Bor- 
 tel the Bull, and Hammel the Ox, and the Panther, the 
 Boar, and the Camel, the Colt, the Kid, and the Weasel, 
 and Chanticleer the Cock, and Partlet his Hen, with all her 
 children. All these with one voice cried out against the 
 Fox, and so moved the king with their complaint, that the 
 Fox was seized and put under arrest. 
 
 Upon 'this a council was called : all voices were against 
 Reynard, and notwithstanding his replies to every accu- 
 sation, and that with such art as to raise the admiration 
 and wonder of all that heard him, the proofs were so strong, 
 and the witnesses so many, that he was found guilty, and 
 adjudged to be hanged by the neck until he was dead. 
 
 At this sentence the Fox hung down his head ; and 
 Grimbard the Brock, and others of his kin, who could not 
 endure to see him die, took leave of the king, and departed 
 sorrowfully. 
 
 When the king saw how many gallant beasts had de- 
 parted sad and weeping from the court, he said to himself, 
 ' It behoveth us to take mature counsel ; though Reynard 
 hath faults, yet hath he some virtues, and many friends.' 
 As the king thus mused, the Cat said to the Bear, ' Sir 
 Bruin, and you, Sir Isgrim, why are you so slow in this 
 execution? It is now almost night; there are many bushes
 
 Of RKYJfARD THE FOX. 17 
 
 and hedges about, and if he once escape us, so great is his 
 cunning, that with all our art we shall not catch him again. 
 If you mean to hang him, proceed ; for it will be dark night 
 before the gallows can be made.' Isgrim recollecting himself 
 said, ' There is a gibbet near at hand ;' and with that he 
 fetched a deep sigh ; which the Cat noting, said, ' Are you 
 afraid, Sir Isgrim, or is the execution against your mind ? 
 You may remember it was through him that your brothers 
 were hanged : surely if you have any sense, you would 
 hang him for that only, and not stand thus wasting time.' 
 Isgrim replied, half angry, ' Your ill-will makes you un- 
 reasonable : if we had but a halter that would fit his neck, 
 we would soon dispatch him.' Reynard, who had been 
 silent a good while, now said, ' 1 pray you shorten my 
 pain : Sir Tibert hath a strong cord in which he was hanged 
 himself at the friar's house. Moreover, he can climb well ; let 
 him be the hangman, for it becometh not Isgrim nor Bruin 
 to do thus with their nephew. Bruin, go before, and lead 
 the way ; you, Isgrim, follow.' ' You say well,' quoth Bruin. 
 
 So they went forth, and Isgrim and his friends guarded 
 the Fox, holding him by the neck. When Reynard felt 
 this, he was frightened ; yet he said, ' Why, my kinsmen, 
 do you thus trouble yourselves to do me harm? well I 
 know, that if Isgrim's wife, my aunt, knew of my trouble, 
 she would not, for old affection's sake, see me thus tor- 
 mented. But I am subject to your will, and can endure 
 your worst malice. As for Bruin and Tibert, I leave my 
 revenge to justice ; I know the worst, death can come but 
 once. I saw my father die, and how quickly he vanished ; 
 therefore the worst is familiar to me.' 
 
 So Isgrim on the one side, and Bruin on the other, led 
 the Fox to the gallows; and Tibert running before with 
 the halter, hoped to be revenged for all his wrongs. When 
 they were come to the place of execution, the king and 
 queen, and all the nobility, took their places to see the Fox 
 die. Then Reynard, full of sorrow, busily bethought him- 
 self how he might escape; he considered also how to bring 
 the king to his side, saying to himself, ' Though the king 
 and many others be offended with me, as they have reason, 
 for I have thoroughly deserved it ; nevertheless, I hope to 
 live to be their best friend.' During this meditation, the 
 Wolf said, ' Sir Bruin, now remember your wrongs ; take a 
 full measure of revenge, for the day we wished for is come ; 
 Tibert, mount quickly, and bring the rope to the gallows 
 with a running noose, for this day you shall have your will 
 of your enemy : and now, good Sir Bruin, take heed he 
 escape not, whilst I raise the ladder.' 
 
 REYNARD. C
 
 18 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 When all things were prepared, the Fox said, ' My dread 
 lord the king, and you my sovereign lady the queen, and 
 you my lords that stand to see me die, I beseech you grant 
 me this boon, that I may open my heart to you, and clear 
 my breast, so that hereafter no man may be blamed for my 
 faults; which done, my death will be easy and peaceful.' 
 
 CHAPTER V. How Reynard spoke to the King of his 
 great Treasure. 
 
 JO/VERY" creature now took compassion on the Fox, and 
 besought the king to grant his request : this was done ; and 
 then the Fox spoke. 
 
 * I see no one here whom I have not offended ; yet was 
 not this natural inclination in me, for in my youth I was 
 accounted good-natured : I played with the lambs all the 
 day long, and took delight in their pretty bleating ; but 
 once in my play I bit one, and the taste of the blood was 
 so sweet that I could not afterwards forbear it. This 
 humour drew me into the woods among the goats, where 
 I slew one of the kids, which made me so bold that I fell 
 to killing hens, geese, and other poultry. Thus my crimes 
 increased by habit, and I grew worse, until all was fish that 
 came to my net. Once in the winter season I met with 
 Isgrim, when he lay hid under a hollow tree, and he un- 
 folded to me how he was my uncle, and laid the pedigree 
 down so plain, that from that day forth we became com- 
 panions ; which friendship I may ever rue ; for then began 
 our thefts and slaughters. He stole the great things, J the 
 small; he murdered nobles, I meaner subjects; and in all 
 our actions, his share was ever the greatest. When he got 
 a sheep or a calf, his gluttony would hardly afford me the 
 bones to pick : nay, when he had an ox or a cow, after 
 himself, his wife, and his seven children were served, no- 
 thing remained for me but the bare bones. This I speak 
 not because I wanted, for it is well known I have more 
 plate, jewels, and coin, than twenty carts would carry, but 
 only to shew his ingratitude.' 
 
 When the king heard him speak of this great treasure, 
 his heart was inflamed ; and he said, ' Reynard, where is 
 that treasure you speak of?' The Fox answered, 'My lord, 
 I will willingly tell you. True it is the wealth was stolen, 
 but had it not been stolen it had cost your highness' life, 
 which, I pray, may it be long preserved to your kingdom.' 
 When the queen heard that, she started, and said, ' What
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 19 
 
 dangers are these you speak of, Reynard ? I do command 
 you to unfold these doubtful speeches, and to keep nothing 
 concealed which concerns my dread lord.' 
 
 The Fox, with a sorrowful countenance, replied, ' O 
 sovereign lady, how happy would my death now be, could 
 I be spared this ; but, gracious madam, I will discharge 
 my conscience, and speak nothing but what I will make 
 good. 'Tis true the king would have been murdered by 
 his own people, and my nearest kindred, whom I am 
 unwilling to accuse, did not my fealty to the king com- 
 mand it.. 
 
 The king, much perplexed at this discovery, said, ' la 
 this true, Reynard, which you say ?' The Fox answered, 
 ' Alas ! my dread lord, you see the case wherein I stand, 
 and how little sand is left to run in my poor glass : can your 
 majesty imagine I will now dissemble?' And at that he 
 looked so pitifully, that the queen had compassion on him, 
 and humbly besought the king to take some pity on the 
 Fox, and command all his subjects to hold their peace, till 
 he had spoken the uttermost of his knowledge. All this was 
 granted, and the Fox proceeded in this manner : 
 
 ' Since it is the pleasure of my sovereign, I will freely 
 and boldly unfold this foul treason, and in the relation spare 
 not any guilty person. Know then, my lord, that my father, 
 by a strange accident, digging in the ground discovered king 
 Ermenrich's treasure, a mass of riches infinite and innume- 
 rable. Being possessed of this, he grew so proud and haughty 
 that he held in scorn all the beasts of the wilderness which 
 before had been his companions. At last he sent Tibert the 
 Cat into the forest of Ardenne, to Bruin the Bear, with 
 orders to tender him his homage and fealty, and to offer to 
 make him king. This was done ; Bruin agreed, and came 
 into Flanders, where my father received him nobly : then 
 he sent Grimbard my nephew, for Isgrim the Wolf, and 
 for Tibert the Cat : and these five going to a place near 
 Ghent, held council for the space of a whole night. In that 
 night, from the great confidence they had in my father's 
 riches, they resolved that your majesty should be murdered; 
 and vowed to make Bruin their king, to place him in the 
 chair of state at Aix-la-Chapelle, and to set the imperial 
 diadem on his head ; and if any of your majesty's blood and 
 lineage should resist, that then my father with his treasure 
 would hire those that should utterly drive them out of the 
 forest. 
 
 ' After this resolution was passed, it happened that my 
 nephew Grimbard being on a time heated with wine, dis- 
 covered this wicked plot to dame Slopard his wife, command- 
 
 C2
 
 20 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 ing her upon her life to keep it secret; but she disclosed 
 it in confidence to my wife ; and she, woman-like, so soon 
 as she met with me gave me full knowledge of all that 
 passed, under a promise that I should keep it secret too ; 
 for she had vowed by the three kings of Cologne never to 
 disclose it. My heart now was like lead, cold and heavy 
 in my bosom, and I called to mind the story of the 
 Frogs, who t)eing free and without subjection, complained 
 to Jupiter, and desired they might have a king to rule and 
 govern over them, and he sent them a Stork which ate and 
 devoured them: so that by his tyranny they became the 
 most miserable of all creatures : then they complained again 
 to Jupiter for redress ; but it was too late, for they that 
 could not be content with their freedom must of necessity 
 suffer in thraldom. 
 
 ' Thus I feared it might happen with us, and thus I sor- 
 rowed for your majesty, although my sorrow was of little 
 use. I knew the ambition of the Bear and his tyranny to 
 be so great, that should the government come into his hands, 
 the whole commonwealth would be destroyed. Besides, I 
 knew your majesty to be so mighty, so gracious,' and so 
 merciful, that it would have been a miserable exchange to 
 have seen a ravenous Bear upon the throne of a royal Lion; 
 for there is in the Bear more villany and meanness than in 
 any other beast of the forest. 
 
 ' But to proceed ; I began to meditate how I might undo 
 the wicked conspiracies of my father, who sought to bring 
 a traitor to the imperial throne : for I well perceived, that 
 so long as he held the treasure, there was a possibility of 
 your majesty being deposed. So I laboured how I might 
 find out where my father's treasure was hid ; and watched 
 night and day in the woods, in the bushes, and in the 
 fields ; nay, in all places wheresoever my father turned his 
 eyes, there was I ever watching. Now it happened on a 
 time as I was laid flat down on the ground, I saw my 
 father come out of a hole ; and as soon as he was come 
 out, he gazed about him to see if any one watched him ; 
 then seeing the coast clear he stopped the .hole with sand, 
 so that no eye could discern it ; and where the print of 
 his foot remained, he stroked it over with his tail, and so 
 smoothed it, that none could perceive it ; and indeed, that 
 and many other subtleties I learned of him there at that 
 instant. When he had finished, away he went. Then went 
 I towards the hole, and notwithstanding all his subtlety, 
 I quickly found it out; and entered the cave, where I found 
 an immense quantity of treasure: I then took Ermeline my 
 wife to help me, and we ceased not day or night, to carry
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 21 
 
 away this treasure to another place, where we laid it safe 
 from the search of any creature. During the time that my 
 wife and I were thus employed, my father was in consul- 
 tation with the rest of the traitors about the death of the 
 king : in which it was concluded that Isgrim the Wolf 
 should travel all over the kingdom, and promise to all the 
 beasts that would acknowledge Bruin for their sovereign, 
 a full year's pay beforehand; and in this journey my father 
 accompanied him. When this negotiation was finished, 
 and many valiant soldiers were raised, they returned to 
 Bruin and his friends, to whom they declared the many 
 perils they had escaped, and how they were pursued by 
 huntsmen and hounds ; so that they hardly escaped with 
 life. After this relation they shewed Bruin the muster- 
 roll, which pleased him exceeding much ; for here was 
 Isgrim's lineage, about twelve hundred, devoted to the cause, 
 besides the Bear's own kindred, and the Fox's, the Cat's, 
 and the Brock's, who would be in readiness at an hour's 
 warning. Things being brought to this state, my father 
 went to his cave; but when he found it open, and ran- 
 sacked, it is not in me to express the agony and sorrow 
 he fell into ; his grief turned to madness, and his madness 
 to despair, so that he went to the next tree and hanged 
 himself. 
 
 'Thus, by my art only, was the treason of Bruin de- 
 feated, and for this I now suffer ; for these foul traitors, 
 Bruin and Isgrim, being of the king's private council, and 
 sitting in high authority, tread upon me, and work my dis- 
 grace ; notwithstanding that for your majesty's sake 1 have 
 lost my own father. O my lord, what can any one do more 
 for you, than lose his own blood for your safety ?' 
 
 When the Fox had thus said, the king and queen having 
 great hope to get this treasure, took him from the gibbet 
 and entreated him to unfold where it was. But the Fox 
 replied, ' O my lord, shall I make mine enemies my heirs ? 
 Shall these traitors, who take my life and would destroy 
 yours, possess the wealth ? That would be a folly which 
 would make my death bitter indeed.' Then said the queen, 
 ' Fear not, Reynard, the king shall save your life and grant 
 you pardon, and you shall henceforth bear true allegiance to 
 his majesty.' The Fox answered, ' Dearest madam, if the 
 king of his royal nature will believe my words and forgive 
 my former offences, there was never king so rich as I will 
 make him.' Then the king checked the queen and said, 
 ' Madam, will you believe the Fox ? know you not that it is 
 his nature to lie, and cheat, and steal ?' The queen answered, 
 ' My dear lord, now you may freely believe him ; for
 
 22 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 though in his prosperity he was full of error, now you may 
 see he is changed. Why, he spareth not to accuse his own 
 father ; nay, Grimbard, his dearest nephew and kinsman. 
 Had he dissembled, he might have laid this crime on other 
 beasts, and not on those he most loveth.' 'Well, madam/ 
 said the king, ' you shall at this time rule me, and all the 
 offences of the Fox I will freely pardon ; yet with this pro- 
 test, that if ever again he offend in the smallest degree, not 
 only himself, but his whole generation I will utterly root 
 out of my dominions.' The Fox looked sadly when the king 
 spoke thus, but was inwardly most glad at heart; and 
 he said, ' My dread lord, it were a shame in me should I 
 speak any untruths in this great presence.' 
 
 Then the king pardoned the Fox of all he had ever com- 
 mitted ; and the Fox fell down before the king and queen, 
 and humbly thanked them for their mercy, protesting that 
 he would make them the richest princes in the world. 
 From that day forward no man's counsel prevailed with the 
 king so much as that of the Fox. 
 
 The Fox now said to the king, ' My gracious lord, you 
 shall understand that at the west side of Flanders there is a 
 wood called Husterloe, near which runneth a river named 
 Crekenpit; it is a wilderness so vast and impassable, that 
 hardly in all the year there cometh either man or woman 
 into the same. In it have I hid this treasure, whither I 
 would have your majesty and the queen to go ; for I know 
 none but yourselves whom I dare trust in a business of such 
 importance. When your highness comes thither, you shall 
 find two birch trees growing by a pit ; into this you shall 
 enter, and there you shall find the treasure, which con- 
 sisteth of the coin, rich jewels, and the costly crown which 
 king Ermenrich wore ; with which crown Bruin the Bear 
 would have been crowned, if his treason had succeeded. 
 There shall you see also many rich and costly precious 
 stones, of which when you are possessed, then remember 
 the love of your servant Reynard.' 
 
 The king answered, 'Sir Reynard, you must yourself dig 
 this treasure; for I shall never find it. I have heard of 
 Paris, London, Aix-la-Chapelle, and Cologne, but Crekenpit 
 I never heard of; therefore I fear you dissemble.' The 
 Fox blushed at these words, and said, * Is your majesty so 
 doubtful of my faith ? Nay, then I will prove my words 
 by public testimony ;' and with that he called forth Kay- 
 ward the Hare, and commanded him to come before the 
 king, charging him upon the allegiance which he bore to 
 the king and queen, to answer truly to such questions as he 
 should ask him. The Hare answered, * I will speak truth
 
 OF UEYNARD THE FOX. 23 
 
 ia all things, though I were sure to die for the same.' Then 
 the Fox said, ' Know you not where is Crekenpit ?' ' Yes,* 
 said the Hare, ' I have known it these dozen years ; it is 
 in a wood called Husterloe, a vast and wild wilderness, 
 where father Simony the Friar made false coin, with 
 which he supported himself and his fellows.' ' Well,' said 
 the Fox, 'you have spoken sufficiently; go to your place 
 again.' So away went the Hare. 
 
 Then said the Fox, ' My sovereign lord, what say you 
 now to my relation, am I worthy of your belief or not ?' 
 The king said, ' Yes, Reynard ; and I beseech thee excuse 
 my jealousies. Therefore forthwith make preparation that 
 we may go to the pit where this treasure lieth.' The Fox 
 answered, 'Alas, my lord, do you imagine that I would not 
 gladly go if I might do so without dishonouring you? Surely 
 I would. But you shall understand, though it be to my 
 disgrace, that when Isgrim the Wolf would needs turn 
 monk, the portion of meat which served for six monks was 
 too little for him alone. Whereupon he complained so piti- 
 fully unto me, that I, commiserating his case, he being my 
 kinsman, gave him counsel to run away, which he did. 
 Whereupon I stand under the pope's anger, and to-morrow, 
 as soon as the sun riseth, must take my way towards Rome, 
 and from Rome I intend to cross the seas into Palestine, and 
 will never return again into my native country till I have 
 done so much good, that I may with honour and reputation 
 attend on your majesty's person.' The king hearing this, 
 said, ' In this case I must not have you about me ; and 
 therefore I will at this time take Kay ward the Hare, and 
 some other with me to Crekenpit, and only command you, 
 Reynard, to return soon.' 'My lord,' said the Fox, 'I will 
 not rest night or day till I return.' ' The course you take 
 is good,' said the king, 'go on and prosper in your intent 
 and purpose.' 
 
 CHAPTER VI. How Reynard the Fox waa honoured of 
 all beasts by the King's command, and how he pulled 
 off the Wolf's shoes. 
 
 A.S soon as the conference was ended, the king, mounted 
 upon his high throne made of fair square stone, com- 
 manded a general silence amongst all his subjects ; and then 
 every one took his place according to his birth or dignity, 
 only the Fox was placed between the king and queen. 
 Then said the king, ' Hear, all you noblemen, knights, gen-
 
 24 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 tlemen, and others of inferior quality ; this Reynard, one of 
 the chief and supreme officers of my household, whose 
 offences had brought him into the hands of the law, hath 
 this day in requital of those injuries, done such noble and 
 worthy service to the state, that both myself and my queen 
 stand bound to render him our best favour. Therefore know 
 that for divers things, best known unto ourselves, we have 
 freely given pardon to all his offences, and restored to him 
 whatsoever was confiscated : and now I command all of 
 you, upon the hazard of your lives, that you fail not, from 
 this day forward, to do all honour, not only to Reynard 
 himself, but also to his wife and children, whensoever or 
 wheresoever you shall meet them, whether by night or 
 by day ; and that none of you hereafter be so audacious as 
 to trouble mine ears with any more complaints of him. 
 In aid of his good intentions, to-morrow he taketh his 
 journey towards Rome, where he will purchase a pardon 
 for all his offences, and will then go on a pilgrimage.' 
 
 When Tisellin the Raven heard this, he flew to Bruin, 
 Isgrim, and Tibert, and said, ' Wretched creatures, how 
 are your fortunes changed ! Reynard is now a courtier, 
 a chancellor, nay, the prime favourite: his offences are 
 forgiven, and you are all betrayed.' Isgrim replied, ' It 
 is impossible, Tisellin, nor can such a thing be suf- 
 fered.' 'Do not deceive yourselves,' said the Raven, 'for 
 it is as true as that now I speak it.' Then went the Wolf 
 and the Bear to the king; the Cat stayed, being so frightened 
 at the news, that, to purchase the Fox's friendship again, 
 he would not only have forgiven the evils received, but 
 willingly have run into a second hazard. But Isgrim, with 
 great majesty and pride came before the king and queen, 
 and with bitter words inveighed against the Fox in such 
 a passionate and impudent manner, that the king being 
 moved with great displeasure, caused him and the Bear to 
 be arrested for high-treason; this was done with violence, 
 and they were bound so fast, that they could not stir from 
 the place where they were. 
 
 When the Fox had thus entangled his enemies, he so 
 laboured with the queen, that he got leave to have so much 
 of the Bear's skin as would make him a large scrip for 
 his journey ; which being granted, he wanted nothing but 
 a strong pair of shoes to defend his feet from the stones 
 in his travel. Whereupon he said to the queen, ' Madam, 
 I am your pilgrim, and if it would please your majesty 
 to take into your consideration, you shall find that Sir 
 Isgrim hath a pair of excellent long lasting shoes, which 
 you vouchsafe to bestow upon me, I would pray for
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 25 
 
 your majesty in all my travels. Mine aunt Herswin, too, 
 hath other two shoes, which would your majesty bestow 
 upon me, I should be most infinitely bound to you, nor 
 would it be to her any wrong, because she goes seldom 
 abroad.' The queen replied, ' Reynard, I perceive that you 
 will want such shoes; for your journey is full of labour 
 and difficulty, both of stony mountains and gravelly ways, 
 and therefore you shall have from each of them a pair to 
 accomplish your journey.' 
 
 After the Fox had made his humble petition, they 
 seized upon Isgrim, and pulled off the skin of his forefeet in 
 a very cruel manner, so that the sinews lay bare. And 
 then they treated dame Herswin in the same way on her 
 hinder feet; which the Fox seeing, he said to her in 
 mockery, ' Dear aunt, how much I thank you for taking 
 all this trouble for my sake. I protest yo,u shall share in 
 the gains of my pilgrimage, and in the indulgence which 
 I shall bring from Rome by the help of your shoes.' Then 
 Here win with difficulty replied, ' Sir Reynard, you have 
 gained your ends ; but, I hope, you will suffer for your 
 wickedness.' But Isgrim and Bruin lay mute ; for their 
 wounds were grievous. 
 
 Early next morning Reynard oiled his shoes, and made 
 them as fit to his feet as they had been to those of Is- 
 grim and Herswin. He then went to the king and queen, 
 and said, 'My lord and lady, your poor subject bows to 
 your majesties, humbly beseeching you to deliver me my 
 mail and staff, with the proper ceremonies due to pilgrims.' 
 
 Then the king sent for Bellin the Ram, and commanded 
 him to hang about Reynard's neck the mail made of the 
 Bear's skin, and put the palmer's staff into his right paw. 
 Being thus provided, the Fox looked sadly on the king, 
 as if he had been unwilling to depart, though sorrow and 
 he were never further asunder. Then he took leave of 
 all the others, and prepared to depart ; for, knowing his own 
 knavery, he was anxious to be gone : and the king said to 
 him, ' I am sorry we must part so soon.' The Fox said, 
 ' There is no remedy, my liege, nor ought I to be slow in 
 an act so praiseworthy.' 
 
 Then the king gave strict command to all his court, 
 except the Bear and Wolf, to attend Reynard on a part 
 of his journey. Any that had seen how gallant and brave 
 Reynard looked, and how well his staff and mail be- 
 came him, and how his shoes fitted, would have been 
 stirred to much laughter: but the Fox behaved very de- 
 murely, though inwardly he smiled at his own. knavery, 
 and was amused to see his enemies become his waiting-men,
 
 26 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 and even the king, whom he had so gulled with his tricks, 
 accompanying him, as if he had heen his companion. 
 
 When he had got some distance, the Fox said, ( I heseech 
 your majesty, trouble yourself no further, but think of the 
 danger which might happen to your royal person ; for you 
 have arrested two capital traitors, and if they should get at 
 liberty in your absence, great peril might ensue.' Having 
 said thus, he stood up on his hind legs, and took leave of the 
 king with a sad countenance ; then turning to Kay ward the 
 Hare and Bellin the Ram, he said to them smiling, 'My best 
 friends, shall we part so soon ? Do not leave me yet : with 
 you I have never been offended, your conversation is suited 
 to my disposition ; for you are mild, kind, and courteous, and 
 full of wisdom, even as I was myself when I first became a 
 recluse. You are temperate and modest, and if you have a 
 few green leaves, or a little grass, you are as well content 
 as if you had all the fish and bread in the world.' And 
 thus with flattering words he induced these two unsuspect- 
 ing beasts to go along with him. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. How Kay ward the Hare was killed by 
 Reynard the Fox, and how the Ram carried the head to 
 the King. 
 
 1 HUS these three walked on together ; and when Reynard 
 had reached the gates of his own house, he said to Bellin 
 the Ram, ' Cousin, I entreat you to stay without a little 
 while, for I have some domestic business to transact within, 
 which I should wish Kay ward to be a witness to.' Bellin 
 consented ; and the Fox and the Hare went into Malepardus, 
 where they found Ermeline lying on the ground with her 
 young ones about her, sorrowing exceedingly for the loss 
 and danger of her husband ; but when she saw his return, 
 her joy was ten times doubled. Then beholding his staff, 
 his mail, and his shoes, she wondered exceedingly, and said, 
 * Dear husband, how have you fared ?' Upon this he told 
 her every thing that had happened at court, both his danger 
 and his release, and that he was now on a pilgrimage ; that 
 the king had bestowed Kay ward upon him to treat as he 
 pleased, affirming that Kayward was the first who accused 
 him. 
 
 When Kayward heard these words, he was alarmed, and 
 would have fled, but the Fox got between him and the 
 gate, and seized him by the neck. Then the Hare would 
 have cried to Bellin for help, but the Fox strangled him in
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 27 
 
 a trice ; which done, he and his wife and little ones feasted 
 merrily. 
 
 But Ermeline said, ' I fear, Reynard, you mock me ; 
 tell me, as you love me, how you really sped at the court.' 
 Then he told her how he had flattered the king and queen, 
 and tricked them with a promise of treasure which did not 
 exist, so that when all should be found out, the king would 
 seek every means to destroy him. ' And therefore, wife,*^ 
 said he, ' there is no other remedy but that we should steal 
 from hence into some other forest, where we may be more 
 safe, and where we may live on the daintiest food that can 
 he wished for, and enjoy clear springs, fresh rivers, cool 
 shades, and wholesome air. And now I have got my thumb 
 out of the king's mouth, I will no more come within the 
 danger of his claws.' ' Yet,' said Ermeline, ' I have no 
 fancy to go from hence to a place with which I am utterly 
 unacquainted : here we possess all that we desire, and it is 
 unwise to change a certainty for an uncertainty : besides, 
 we are here safe enough, and should the king besiege us 
 never so closely, we have so many passages that he cannot 
 cut us off from relief. Oh, what reason have we then to 
 flee beyond seas ?' ' Well, dame/ said the Fox, ' grieve not ; 
 second thoughts are best : I do not think that this journey 
 will avail me much, and therefore I am resolved not to 
 start from hence, but follow thy counsel. If the king hunt 
 after me, I will use my cunning against his power.' 
 
 All this while stood Bellin the Ram at the gate : he 
 grew angry both with the Fox and the Hare, that they 
 made him wait so long, and called out aloud upon them. 
 When Reynard heard him, he went forth, and said, ' Good 
 Bellin, be not offended ; Kay ward is in earnest conference 
 with his dearest aunt, and he entreated me to tell you, that 
 if you would walk before, he would speedily overtake you, 
 for he is lighter of foot than you, nor will his aunt part 
 with him so suddenly, for she and her children are much 
 perplexed at my departure.' ' Ay,' quoth Bellin, * but me- 
 thought I heard Kayward cry for help.' ' How ! can you 
 imagine he shall receive hurt in my house ? I will tell you 
 the reason of his calling out : as soon as we were come into 
 my house, and Ermeline heard of my journey, she fell down 
 in a swoon, which when Kayward saw, he cried aloud, " O 
 Bellin, come and help my aunt, she is dying, she is dying." ' 
 Then said the Ram seriously, ' I mistook the cry, and 
 thought Kayward was in danger.' ' It was your too much 
 care of him,' said the Fox ; ' but you remember, Bellin, 
 that yesterday the king commanded me, that before I de- 
 parted from the country, I should send him two letters ; these
 
 28 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 I have made ready, and will entreat you to bear them to 
 his majesty.' The Ram answered, ' I will willingly do you 
 service, but I am unprovided with any thing to carry them 
 in.' The Fox said, ' You shall have my mail, which you 
 may conveniently hang about your neck : I know they will 
 be thankfully received by his majesty, for they contain 
 matter of great importance.' 
 
 So the Fox took the mail, and put therein the head of 
 Kayward, and brought it to the Ram, and gave him charge, 
 as he valued the king's favour, not to look therein, till it 
 was presented to the king : and, that he might farther en- 
 dear himself with his majesty, he recommended him to say 
 that he had himself indited the letters, ' which,' quoth he, 
 ' will be so pleasing to the king, that he will pour his favours 
 upon you.' 
 
 The Ram was very glad of Reynard's advice, and thanked 
 him, saying, ' The favours you have done me shall not go 
 unrequited ; I know it will be much to my honour, if the 
 king shall think I am able to indite with such perfection ; 
 for I know there be many in these days as ignorant as my- 
 self, who have risen to high promotion, only by taking upon 
 them the worth of other men's labours. Yet, ought 1 not to 
 take Kayward the Hare along with me ?' ' By no means,' 
 said the Fox ; ' let him come after you, for I know his aunt 
 will not yet part with him : besides, I have secret things to 
 impart to him.' This said, Bellin took leave of the Fox, 
 and went towards the court, where he arrived before noon, 
 and found the king in his palace, sitting amongst the 
 nobility. 
 
 The king wondered when he saw the Ram come in with 
 the mail made of the Bear's skin, and he said, ' Whence 
 comest thou, Bellin, and where is the Fox, that you have 
 his mail with you ?' Bellin answered, ' My lord, I attended 
 the Fox to his house, where, after some repose, he desired 
 me to bear certain letters to your majesty of great import- 
 ance. He delivered them to me inclosed in this mail, which 
 letters myself have indited, and I doubt not but they are 
 such as will give your highness satisfaction.' The king 
 commanded the letters to be delivered to Bocart, his secre- 
 tary, who was an excellent linguist, and understood all lan- 
 guages ; so he and Tibert the Cat took the mail from Bellin's 
 neck, and, opening the same, instead of the letters, drew out 
 the head of Kayward the Hare. 
 
 Amazed at this, they cried out, ' Woe and alas ! what 
 letters call you these? My dread lord, here is nothing but 
 the head of poor murdered Kayward.' When the king 
 saw the head, he cried out, ' Oh miserable me, that I have
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 29 
 
 believed this traitorous Fox !' And then oppressed with 
 anger, grief, and shame, he held down his head for some 
 time, as did the queen also. At last, shaking his curly 
 mane, he groaned so fearfully, that all the beasts of the 
 forest trembled. 
 
 Then spoke Sir Fyrapel the Leopard, the king's nearest 
 kinsman : ' Why is your majesty thus grieved ? I beseech 
 you asswage your anguish. Are you not king and master of 
 your people ; and are not all things subject to your power?' 
 The king replied, ' Cousin, I am betrayed by a traitor and 
 a villain ; I have been made to wrong my best friends and 
 subjects, even those of my wisest council, the stout Bruin 
 and valiant Isgrim, whose wrongs speak loudly to my dis- 
 honour ; yet I was myself most unwilling ; only that my 
 queen's pitifulness working on my too easy belief, hath 
 made me do that which 1 can never pardon myself for.' 
 ' Nay,' said the Leopard, ' say not so ; your majesty can 
 do no wrong ; a smile from you can heal the deadliest 
 wound. You have the power to reward, and what reputa- 
 tion cannot be soldered by reward ? The Bear hath lost 
 his skin, and the Wolf and dame Herswin have lost their 
 shoes ; -but your majesty may bestow upon them, in compen- 
 sation, the body and substance of Bellin the Ram, who hath 
 confessed himself a party in this foul murder. As for 
 Reynard, we will besiege his castle, arrest his person, and 
 hang him by the law of arms, without further trial.' 
 
 CHAPTER VIII How Bellin the Ram and his lineage were 
 
 given to the Bear and the Wolf, and how new com- 
 plaints were made against the Fox. 
 
 JL HE king consented to the Leopard's proposal, and Fyra- 
 pel went forthwith to the prison, where the Bear and the 
 Wolf were shut up ; and said to them, 'My lords, I bring you 
 a free pardon from the king, with his love, and sorrow for 
 your wrongs : in compensation for which he is pleased to 
 grant unto you Bellin the Ram and his whole generation, 
 with whatsoever they may possess, which is confiscated to 
 his majesty, to have and to hold from henceforth by you 
 and your heirs for ever, with full powers to kill, slay, and 
 devour them, wheresoever you may find them, in woods or 
 forests, fields or mountains. The king also granteth to you 
 full power to hunt, kill, or wound Reynard the Fox, />r any 
 of his lineage or generation, in anyplace whatever.'
 
 SO THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 Thus did the Leopard make peace between the king and 
 these nobles ; and the privileges then granted are held by 
 the Wolf unto this day, nor has any reconciliation ever 
 taken place between him and the kindred of the Ram. 
 Then Bellin the Ram was slain by the Bear and the Wolf ; 
 and the king proclaimed a feast to be held for twelve days, 
 to testify his joy at the conclusion of the peace. 
 
 This feast being made known throughout the kingdom, 
 all manner of wild beasts resorted to it : no delight or plea- 
 sure that could be devised was wanting; such as music, 
 dancing, masking, and other royal recreations. Such was 
 the plenty of meats of all kinds, that the court was like an 
 inexhaustible store-house. There also came all kinds of 
 birds, and every creature that was at peace with the king, 
 saving only the Fox. 
 
 When the feast had lasted for the space of eight days, 
 Laprel the Rabbit came before the king and queen as 
 they sat at dinner, and with a plaintive voice cried out, 
 ' My gracious lord, hear my complaint, which is of violence 
 and murder, attempted against me by Reynard the Fox. 
 As I passed yesterday by his castle of Malepardus, there he 
 stood without the gates, attired like a pilgrim, and counting 
 his beads. I, supposing I might pass unmolested, saluted 
 him : but without returning any reply, he lifted up his right 
 foot, and gave me such a blow on the neck, that I had just 
 enough life left to leap from his claws, grievously maimed, 
 and deprived of one of my ears. I humbly beseech your 
 majesty to have pity on your poor subjects, and not to 
 allow this murderer to live longer for their affliction.' 
 
 While the Rabbit was yet speaking, Corbant the Rook 
 came flying into the court before the king, and he said, 
 ' Great king, I beseech you to hear my complaint. This 
 morning I went with my wife Sharpbeak, to the heath, 
 where we found Reynard the Fox, lying on the ground, as 
 though he were dead, with his eyes half out of his head, his 
 mouth open, and his tongue hanging : we stood some time 
 wondering, and then went and touched the body. Then 
 my wife, poor dear creature, went and put her head near 
 his mouth to try if he yet drew breath ; but at the instant 
 the foul murderer, who had been on the watch, biding his 
 time, snatched at her, and bit her head off. At that I 
 screamed, exclaiming, " Woe is me ! what misery is mine !" 
 and the murderer at once started up, and rushed upon me 
 with such dire intent, that I was glad to fly to a tree, where 
 I stayed in dread and anguish, and saw him devour my dear 
 wife, whose dreadful death will never be absent from my 
 memory. When the murderer departed, I went down and
 
 OP REYNARD THE FOX. 31 
 
 gathered up my poor lost wife's feathers, which I lay be- 
 fore your majesty, beseeching you to do me justice.' 
 
 When the king heard these complaints of the Rabbit 
 and the Rook, he was moved with anger, his eyes darted 
 fire, his face became terrible to look upon, and the whole 
 court trembled to behold him. At length he said, ' By my 
 royal crown, I will have a dire revenge ! His falsehood 
 and flattery shall get no more belief from me. But it was 
 not I, it was the queen's persuasion ; nor am I the first that 
 hath been misled by that weak sex. I here vow, that I will 
 so fearfully avenge these outrages on my crown and dignity, 
 that the good shall look on with approbation, while the 
 wicked shall die with fear.' Then he commanded all the 
 beasts about the court to assist him with their counsel, and 
 so to complete his just revenge. 
 
 Now Isgrim the Wolf and Bruin the Bear were very 
 glad, and doubted not they should have full revenge against 
 Reynard ; but they held their peace, and said not a word. 
 But the queen, with a deep courtesy, began thus : 'Sire, a 
 wise man will not believe any thing, nor make a vow to any 
 course, until he be fully informed; nor should he lend 
 both ears to any complaint, but keep one open for the de- 
 fence. For my part, I may have been wrong, but I have 
 strong ground for my belief. In all cases, whether Rey- 
 nard be guilty or not guilty, it is your majesty's duty to 
 proceed not against him without due form of law.' 
 
 When the queen had spoken, Sir Fyrapel the Leopard 
 rose and said, ' My lord, the queen hath spoken graciously, 
 and I see not that your majesty can act against her judg- 
 ment. Let him be summoned, and if he appear not before 
 the close of this festival, either to defend himself, or to 
 submit to your mercy, then shall your highness do to him 
 according to your good pleasure.' 
 
 Then spoke Isgrim the Wolf : ' Sir Fyrapel, I think 
 that none here present will dissent from your counsel, so 
 that it meet the pleasure of my lord the king. As to the 
 treasure which he hath informed his majesty lies hid at 
 Crekenpit in Husterloe, there never came a falser word 
 from the mouth of any creature. It was a lie invented to 
 wrong me and the Bear, and get himself freed from his 
 bonds, to begin anew his course of robbery and plunder.' 
 
 Then said the king, ' I will summon him no more ; but 
 I do command all who owe me allegiance, to appear before 
 me at the end of six days, with bows, guns, pikes, and hal- 
 berts, on horseback or on foot ; for I will instantly besiege 
 Malepardus, and destroy Reynard and his generation from 
 the face of the earth.'
 
 CHAPTER IX. How Grimbard the Brock communed with 
 Reynard the Fox. 
 
 W HEN Grimbard the Brock heard this, he grew exceed- 
 ing sorry, and stealing from the rest of the company, he ran 
 with all speed to Malepardus, over bush and briar, pale and 
 rail. And as he went, he said within himself, 'Alas, my 
 dear uncle Reynard, there is but one step betwixt thee and 
 thy death. Well may I grieve for thee, since thou art wise 
 and wary, and a friend to thy friends when they stand in 
 need of thy counsel ; for with thy smooth tongue thou canst 
 enchant all creatures : but I fear all is bootless.' 
 
 With such lamentations as these came Grimbard to Male- 
 pardus : there he found his uncle Reynard standing at the 
 castle gates ; who beholding his nephew Grimbard, said, 
 ' Welcome, my best beloved nephew, whom I esteem above 
 all my kindred ; how runs the news at court ?' ' Oh,' said 
 Grhnbard, ' exceeding ill with you, for you have forfeited 
 your life, honour, and estate ; the king is up hi arms against 
 you, and Isgrim and Bruin are now in more favour with 
 his majesty than ever ; therefore it is high time you take 
 care of yourself : they have informed against you, that you 
 are a thief and a murderer, and to second their informations, 
 Laprel the Rabbit, and Corbant the Rook have made dread- 
 ful complaints against you ; so that I see no hope of your 
 escape from a shameful death.' ' Tush,' said the Fox, ' let 
 no care affright you, but let us be cheerful together ; for 
 though the king and all his court compass my death, and 
 they all prate and jangle and tire themselves with their 
 counsels, yet without the help of my wit and policy neither 
 can the court or commonwealth have any long continuance. 
 Come then, my good nephew, let us enter into my castle 
 and feast ; I have a pair of fat pigeons for you. Come, 
 I say, my wife Ermeline will receive you kindly : but by 
 all means report not to her of danger ; for she is of a soft 
 temper, and it might alarm her, and make her ill. When 
 we have feasted, I will go with you to the court ; and if 
 I can but obtain speech with the king, 1 shall gall some of 
 them deep enough.' ' This you may depend upon,' said 
 the Brock, ' that you shall come and make your answer 
 before the lords freely ; for none shall dare to arrest you : 
 that favour the queen and the Leopard have obtained from 
 the king.' ' I am glad of that,' said the Fox, ' nor care I 
 then a hair for their worst malice.' 
 
 This said, they went to Malepardus, and found Ermeline
 
 OP REYNARD THE FOX. 
 
 sitting amongst her younglings, who arose and received the 
 Brock with all kindness, he on his part saluted her and 
 her children with all courtesy. Presently the two pigeons 
 were made ready, and they supped together, each taking his 
 part. Then said the Fox, ' Nephew, how like you my 
 children Rossel and Reynardine ? I hope they will do 
 honour to our family, they are getting on I assure you ; for 
 the one lately caught a chicken, and the other hath killed a 
 pullet : they can all deceive both the lapwing and mallard. 
 I tell you truly, that I dare already adventure them far ; 
 only I mean first to instruct them how to escape from 
 traps, and to avoid the huntsman and his hounds. They 
 are of the right sort, nephew, and like me both in counte- 
 nance and temper ; their sport is malice, their kindness is 
 deceit, and they kill smiling. This is the true nature of the 
 Fox, and in this they are perfect.' 
 
 ' Uncle/ said the Brock, ' you may be proud that you 
 have such forward children, and I rejoice because they are 
 of my blood/ ' I thank you, nephew/ said the Fox, ' but I 
 know your journey hath made you weary, therefore you 
 shall go to your rest/ The Brock consented, and they laid 
 them down, and all slept soundly, except the Fox, who lay 
 studying how he might best excuse himself before the king. 
 As soon as the morning began to rise from the top of the 
 mountains he arose, and went with Grimbard towards the 
 court. Yet before he went, he took leave of his wife and 
 children, and said, ' think not mine absence long, dear wife 
 and children, for I must go to the court with my cousin 
 Grimbard. Be careful of yourselves, and keep my castle 
 close, and well guarded, and doubt not but I will defeat all 
 mine enemies/ ' Alas, Reynard/ said his wife, ' what moves 
 you to take this sudden journey? The last time you were 
 at the court, you know what dangers you escaped, and will 
 you now run a second hazard?' ' Dame/ said the Fox, 
 'the events of the world are divers and uncertain, and we 
 are subject to the strokes of fortune ; but rest you content, 
 there is a necessity for my going, and I hope my stay may 
 not be above five days at the utmost/ And so embracing 
 his wife and children, he departed. 
 
 As they journeyed over the heath, Reynard said to the 
 Brock, 'Dear nephew, I will relate to you some of the 
 faults which I have committed, that you may know of 
 what I am likely to be accused/ Then he proceeded, 
 'You know, nephew, that I caused the Bear to be partly 
 flayed to make a mail of his skin, and that I caused the 
 Wolf and his wife to be stript of their shoes ; I appeased 
 the king with falsehood ; I feigned a conspiracy against his 
 
 REYNARD. D
 
 34 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 majesty's life by the Bear and the Wolf, when there was 
 never any such treason ; and I falsely reported of great 
 treasure in Husterloe ; I slew Kay ward, and betrayed 
 Bellin ; I wounded the Rabbit, and killed dame Sharpbeak, 
 the Rook's wife. I once cheated the Wolf into a broken 
 head, in this way : as I went talking with him over a plain, 
 we beheld a bay mare grazing with a foal by her side, whicli 
 was exceeding fat and frisky : the Wolf was almost dead 
 with hunger, and he entreated me to go to the mare and 
 ask if she would sell her foal. After speaking to the mare, 
 I told the Wolf that if he wished to know the price of the 
 foal, he must read what was written on the mare's hind 
 foot ; which he, being a scholar, said he could very well do. 
 Now the mare had been newly shod with stout iron shoes, 
 having in them plenty of sharp-headed nails, and when he 
 went towards the mare, she lifted up her heels, and gave 
 him such a kick upon the forehead, that he rolled over and 
 over, and lay in a swoon. Then away trotted the mare and 
 her colt, leaving the Wolf stunned and bleeding; and when 
 he came to himself, he howled like any dog. Then went I 
 up to him, and said, " Sir Isgrim, have you eaten too much 
 of the colt ? indeed, you are very unkind that you will not 
 give me a share. Methmks you have outslept your dinner, 
 good uncle ; tell me what was written under the mare's 
 foot ? was it in prose or rhyme ?" u Alas, Reynard," said 
 the Wolf ^to me, " I pray you forbear your mockery ; for 
 mine anguish is so great, that a heart of flint would pity me. 
 The wicked mare on her long leg had an iron foot, and I 
 took the nails to have been letters ; while I looked at them 
 she hit me so full on the head, that I think my skull is 
 cloven." " Dear uncle," said I, "is this truth which you 
 tell me ? I took you for one of the greatest scholars in the 
 kingdom. Well, I perceive the old proverb is now made 
 good in you ; the greatest clerks are not the wisest men ; 
 poor men sometimes may outstrip them in judgment ; and 
 the reason is, you great scholars study so much, that you 
 grow dull because you overwork yourselves." With these 
 mocks and taunts I brought the Wolf within a hair's 
 breadth of his death. Now fair nephew I have unloaded 
 my conscience, and come what may at the court, I am 
 armed against all dangers/ 
 
 Then Grimbard said, ' You have been very wicked, but 
 what is done cannot be undone. I can only hope you will 
 repent; but the contempt you made in sending the king 
 Kayward's head, and telling him so many falsehoods, will 
 lie heavy upon you.' 
 
 With such discourse they held on their journey towards
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 35 
 
 the court. But the Fox's heart, for all his fair show, was 
 sad and heavy ; yet his countenance betrayed it not. He 
 passed without hesitation through all the court, till he came 
 to the presence of the king ; and the Brock marched close 
 by his side, saying, ' Uncle, be not afraid ! be of good cheer ! 
 fortune favours the brave.' Then said the Fox, ' Nephew, 
 you say true, and your counsel is good.' And so on he 
 went, casting many disdainful glances on those he liked not, 
 as who should say, ' Here I am ; what is it that the proud- 
 est of you dare object against me?' He beheld there many 
 of his kin, which he knew loved him not ; and many he 
 saw that loved him. So soon as he was come before the 
 king, he fell down on his knee and spoke as followeth. 
 
 'CHAPTER X. How Reynard the Fox excused himself 
 before the King, and of the King's answer. 
 
 HAIL to my lord the king, and my lady the queen ; and 
 may they discover who hath right and who hath wrong ; 
 for there are many false appearances in the world, and the 
 countenance is not a true index of the heart. I would that 
 you, my sovereign lord, knew how I employ my time early 
 and late, labouring in your service ; for which cause only 
 malice makes complaint against me, striving to thrust me 
 out of your favour ; so that, in my anguish, I cannot but 
 cry shame to them who have so belied me. Nevertheless, 
 I know that you, my lord and sovereign lady, are excellent 
 in your judgments; and therefore I humbly beseech your 
 majesties to look into the matter, and to decide according to 
 the right. Believe it, my lord, it shall be known before 
 I depart from your court, that though I cannot flatter, I can 
 shew myself with an unblemished front.' 
 
 All those who were in the presence stood amazed when 
 the Fox spoke so stoutly. But the king with a stately 
 countenance said, 'Reynard, I know you are expert in 
 fallacies ; but words alone cannot now relieve you. I fear 
 this day will be the last of your pride, and that disgrace 
 abides you. I will not chide you, because my resolve is 
 that you shall live but a short time. It is an old saying, 
 " that the pitcher goes often to the well, but at last it is 
 broken;" in like manner your crimes have so long succeeded, 
 that they will ruin you in the end.' 
 
 At these words Reynard was struck with fear, and 
 wished himself away ; yet he bethought himself that now 
 he must bear up, whatever should happen. 
 
 D2
 
 3O THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 ' My lord/ said he, ' it is just that you hear my 
 answer ; for were my faults more heinous than envy can 
 make them, yet equity gives the accused leave to reply. I 
 have done you service in former time, and still may do so. 
 I have never swerved from your majesty, but have stood by 
 you when others have deserted you. I see here divers of 
 my kindred and friends who now value me not, who now 
 wish to deprive you of the best servant you possess. Can 
 your majesty imagine that if I had been guilty, I would 
 thus voluntarily have made my appearance in the throng of 
 mine enemies ? No, no ; I could not have done so ; but I 
 know my innocence, and dare confront my worst enemy. 
 When my kinsman, Grimbard, first brought me the tidings, 
 I must confess I was half distracted, and had I not been on 
 my journey, I had appeared ere they had left complaining; 
 but that detained me, and as I journeyed I met my uncle 
 Martin the Ape, who far exceedeth any other in learning ; 
 for he hath been a student these nine years. Seeing me in 
 this trouble he said, " Dear cousin, why are you thus 
 dejected? Grief is easy to carry when the burden is divided 
 amongst friends." I answered him, " You say true, dear 
 uncle ; sorrow is indeed laid upon me. I am falsely ac- 
 cused by one I ranked with my best friends ; namely, the 
 Rabbit, who came yesterday to my house and told me he 
 was both hungry and weary, and requested of me some 
 meat. I willingly gave him a couple of manchets and some 
 butter. Now when he had almost finished, my youngest 
 son, Rossel, came in and offered to take away what he had 
 left; but the Rabbit smote Rossel on the mouth, and he 
 fell down hi a swoon ; which when Reynardine my eldest 
 son beheld, he leaped upon the Rabbit and caught him by 
 the head, and doubtless had slain him, had I not come to 
 the rescue ; which done, I went and gave my son correction 
 for his fault. But Laprel the Rabbit posts to my lord the 
 king, and informs him that I sought to murder him. 
 
 * Thus I am accused : I, that in truth have the best 
 cause to accuse others. Not long after came Corbant the 
 Rook, flying to my house with a sad noise. I demanding 
 what he ailed, he answered, " My wife is dead." I asked 
 the cause, and he said that she had eaten too greedily of the 
 body of a hare which she found dead on the heath, and that 
 she had died of the surfeit. And without speaking to me 
 any more, away he flew, leaving me much amazed ; and now 
 reports that I slew his wife. How could I possibly do so ; 
 for she flyeth in the air, and I walk upon the ground? 
 Thus, dear uncle, you may see how I am slandered ; but 
 perhaps it is for the best, and therefore I bear it with
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. S7 
 
 patience. Then said the Ape to me, " Nephew, you shall 
 go to the court and disprove their falsehoods." " Alas ! 
 uncle," quoth I, "it cannot be; for I am on my way. to 
 Rome to buy a pardon. Were I but free of this necessity, 
 then would I go to the court and plead my cause, and 
 turn their malice into their own bosoms." Then said the 
 Ape, " Cousin, cast off your sorrow ; for I know the way 
 to Rome well, and am experienced in these matters ; there- 
 fore I will go thither, and will bring you back a well-sealed 
 indulgence. I have many great friends there, who will all 
 stand by me ; moreover, I will not go without money, for I 
 know that suitors are best heard with gifts, and the law 
 hath no ear to him that hath no gold : money is a true 
 friend in necessity ; therefore cast off your grief, and go to 
 the court as soon as you can." 
 
 ' This, my sovereign king, rejoiced me much, and 1 re- 
 solved to come and relate to you the truth. Therefore if 
 any creature in this court can charge me with any crime 
 whatsoever, and prove it by testimony as the law requireth, 
 or else oppose himself against me hand to hand in single 
 combat, grant me but one day, and equal lists, and I will 
 maintain my innocence against him in the fight.' 
 
 When all the assembly of beasts heard this, they were 
 amazed at his boldness. As for the Rabbit and the Rook, 
 they were so scared, they durst not speak, but privately 
 stole away out of the court, and being far on the plain, 
 they said, 'this villainous murderer hath such art in his 
 falsehood, that no truth can look with better countenance ; 
 these things only ourselves know, but have no other witness, 
 therefore it is better we depart, than try a combat with him 
 who is so much too strong for us.' And so away they went. 
 
 Isgrim and Bruin were very sad when they saw these 
 two forsake the court ; but the king said, ' If any will im- 
 peach the Fox, let him come forth, and he shall be heard : 
 yesterday, we were laden with complaints ; where are they 
 to-day ? Here is the Fox, ready to answer.' 
 
 Then said the Fox, f Absence makes accusers bold, when 
 presence daunts them ; as your highness may see both by 
 the Rabbit and the Rook. But for me it matters not; 
 nevertheless, had they at your majesty's command but 
 asked me forgiveness, I had quickly cast all their offences 
 behind me, for I will never hate mine enemies : revenge I 
 look not for, and justice I leave to your majesty.' 
 
 Then the king said, ' Reynard, you speak well ; yet I 
 fear your grief is not so much as you express.' ' It far sur- 
 mounts it,' said the Fox. 'No/ quoth the king, ( for I 
 must charge you with one treason ; which is, that when I
 
 38 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 had pardoned all your crimes, and you had promised me to 
 go a pilgrimage, when I had furnished you with mail, with 
 staff, and all things fitting, then, with the greatest contempt, 
 you sent me back by Bellin the head of Kay ward the Hare; 
 a thing so notoriously 'to my disgrace and dishonour, that 
 no treason can be fouller. This you cannot deny, for Bellin 
 at his death revealed the whole history, and the same re- 
 ward which he then gained, the same you shall receive.' 
 
 At this sentence Reynard was so alarmed, that he knew 
 not what to say. He looked with a pitiful countenance 
 upon all his kindred who stood round about him, and his 
 heart fainted, but none lent him aid. Then the king said, 
 ' Thou dissembling and false traitor, why art thou now so 
 dumb V But the Fox fetched a sigh as if his heart would 
 break, so that every beast pitied him, save only the Bear 
 and the Wolf, who rejoiced to see his sorrow. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. How dame Rukenaw answered for the Fox 
 to the King, and of the apologue she told him. 
 
 UAME Rukenaw the Ape, the aunt of Reynard, and a 
 great favourite of the queen, was much grieved when she 
 saw this despair ; and it was well for the Fox that she was 
 in the presence; for she was exceeding wise, and durst 
 speak boldly. 
 
 After reverence done, she said, * My lord the king, you 
 should not be filled with anger when you sit in judgment; 
 discretion only should accompany you in that duty. For 
 my own part I think I know the laws as well as some 
 who wear silk gowns, for I have read much, and I had 
 always in the pope's palace a bed of straw when other 
 beasts lay on the bare ground ; and I was suffered to speak 
 freely without interruption, because I talk not beyond my 
 experience. It is Seneca's opinion, that princes are bound 
 to do justice to all, nor may the law shew partiality. I 
 wish every one to know himself, for none is so sure but he 
 may fall ; none is so good that he needeth no amendment. 
 To do wrong once or more, is the way of human frailty, but 
 to trespass and still gallop forward in iniquity, is insufferable. 
 He that falleth oft, but in the end arriveth, cannot be said 
 to fail wholly. These sentiments would some take to their 
 hearts, the day would not appear so dark as it doth to my 
 cousin Reynard. It is well known that his grandfather and 
 father had always a better reputation in this court than 
 either Bruin or Isgrim, or their whole generation. When
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 39 
 
 have their counsels or wisdom been worthy to have held 
 comparison with those of my cousin Reynard's ? The usages 
 of the world are to them as riddles, which they understand 
 not, and the court is turned topsy turvy hy his absence : 
 the evil are now advanced, and the good suppressed. How 
 this can long endure, I see not, since the end of their labour 
 is but the ruin of your majesty.' 
 
 To this speech the king made this answer: 'Dame, 
 had the Fox done to you that wrong which he hath done 
 to others, you would speak in another style. My duty com- 
 mands me to punish him ; he only it is who breaketh the 
 laws. You have heard him accused of theft, murder, and 
 treason ; how can you defend him ? Believe me there is no 
 one good thing in him ; search him, and you will find him 
 rotten at the core. There is neither kinsman nor friend 
 besides yourself that will assist him, and therefore your 
 vehemence draws my greater wonder. What friend hath 
 ever thrived by his society, or whom hath he smiled upon 
 that he hath not after made to weep ?' 
 
 To this the Ape -replied, ' My lord, 1 love him, and have 
 ever loved him, and I can recount one noble and good action 
 he did in your presence, for which you then thanked him, 
 though it is now forgotten. 
 
 ' I remember about two years since there came to this 
 court a man and a serpent to have judgment in a doubtfuj 
 matter, which was thus: the serpent attempting to get 
 through a hedge had been caught by the neck with a snare, 
 so that there was no way to escape with life : a certain man 
 passing by, the serpent called out to him, and entreated his 
 help, or he should perish. Then the man taking pity on 
 him said, " If thou wilt faithfully promise me neither to do 
 me hurt with thy tooth or sting, I will release thee." The 
 serpent promised he would not : so the man loosed him 
 and set him free, and they went forth and travelled together 
 a long while. 
 
 ' In time the serpent grew exceeding hungry, and 
 rushing upon the man endeavoured to kill him; but he 
 started aside, and said, " What meanest thou ? hast thou 
 forgotten thine oath?" The serpent replied, "No; but I 
 may justly kill thee, since I am compelled by hunger, which 
 cancelleth all obligations." Then the man said, " If it be 
 so, yet let me live till we meet with a passenger who may 
 judge the controversy." 
 
 ' The serpent agreed thereto ; so they travelled till they 
 met with Tisellin the Raven, to whom the dispute being 
 referred, the Raven adjudged that the serpent should eat 
 the man ; hoping that he should get a share also. But the
 
 40 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 man said, " How shall he that is a robber, and lives by 
 blood, judge the cause ? it must be done by such as know- 
 both law and equity : the Raven is neither just nor indif- 
 ferent." Then they travelled till they met the Bear and 
 the Wolf, unto whom also they told the matter, and they 
 adjudged against the man likewise. Then the serpent be- 
 gan to cast his venom at the man, but the man leaped away, 
 and said,." You do me wrong thus to attempt to kill me." 
 And the serpent said, " Hath not judgment gone twice on 
 my side ?" " Yes," said the man, " by such as are mur- 
 derers themselves ; but I appeal to the court ; let me be 
 tried by your king, and what judgment he giveth I will 
 willingly abide." To this all consented ; so they came to 
 the court, before your majesty. Then the full process of the 
 matter was declared ; but the man's kindness, .and the pro- 
 mise made to him, the serpent's danger, and his attempted 
 breach of faith occasioned by extremity of hunger, caused 
 to your highness much perplexity; for the man's sorrow 
 and the serpent's hunger ; the man's goodness and the ser- 
 pent's ingratitude, equally raised pity in your bosom. In 
 a word, such doubts arose, that not one in your court was 
 able to judge it. 
 
 'At last, when no help could be found, then you com- 
 manded my kinsman Reynard to decide the business. He 
 \^as at that time the oracle of the court, nor was any thing 
 received but what he propounded ; he told your majesty 
 that it was impossible to give judgment according to their 
 testimony, but if he might see in what manner the serpent 
 had been caught, and what his danger had been, then he 
 should be able to decide. You commended him, and ap- 
 proved that which he had spoken. Then went the man 
 and the serpent to the place where the serpent was trapped, 
 and Reynard commanded the serpent to be fastened on as 
 before to the snare ; which being done, then said your ma- 
 jesty, " Reynard, what judgment will you now give ?" And 
 he replied, " They are now, my lord, in the same state they 
 were at their first encounter ; they have neither won nor 
 lost, therefore this is my judgment, under your majesty's 
 pleasure ; if the man will now unbind the serpent upon the 
 same promise made formerly to him, he may do so ; but if 
 he think that hunger will make the serpent break his faith, 
 then may the man freely go whither he will, and leave the 
 serpent bound as he first found him. 
 
 'This judgment your majesty applauded, and held the 
 wisdom of the Fox inimitable. When did the Bear or 
 Wolf do the like? They can howl, or scold, steal, rob, 
 and eat fat bits. They will condemn him to death who
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 41 
 
 takes a chicken, but themselves will kill kine, oxen, and 
 horses. These, my lord, and the like of these, are the 
 fools of these corrupt times ; they destroy towns and castles, 
 land and people, nor care they whose house burns so they 
 may warm their fingers. But Reynard the Fox and all his 
 family have ever made- the honour of the king their aim 
 and object, and have applied their counsel to do him service; 
 this hath been and is still his endeavour, though it now be 
 thankless ; but time I hope will shew whose merit is great- 
 est. Your majesty says his kindred is fallen from him : 
 had any but your highness affirmed this, you would then 
 have seen there could not be a greater mistake ; but your 
 grace may say your pleasure, nor will I in any word oppose 
 you ; Reynard and myself would unite our strength against 
 any one who should do so. Your highness may call to mind 
 the greatness of our pedigree, and how dearly from time to 
 time his friends have respected him, willing to lay down 
 their lives for the noble Reynard. For mine own part I am 
 of his race myself, and although I belong to another family, 
 yet for him I would not hesitate to spend my dearest blood. 
 I have also three full grown children, who are known as 
 valiant and strong in arms, yet for his sake I would venture 
 them all to peril, though, I love them with that affection 
 that no mother doth exceed me ; my first-born is called 
 Bitelas, the most active and nimble; my second is Fairlimb, 
 the third is a daughter called Hartnet.' With that she 
 called them forth, and said, ' Come, my dear children, and 
 stand with your kinsman, the noble Reynard, and with you 
 come all the rest of our ancient family, and be all petitioners 
 to the king for justice to him.' 
 
 Then came forth a crowd of other beasts ; the Squirrel 
 and the Ferret, for these love poultry as well as Reynard 
 doth ; then came the Otter, and above twenty other beasts 
 for her sake, and stood by Reynard ; then came also dame 
 AiTot the Weasel, and her two sisters, and Baldwin the 
 Ass, Grimbard the Brock, and the Beaven> and many others 
 to the number of almost a hundred, and stood by Reynard 
 with such affection as if his trouble did equally concern 
 themselves. Then said Rukenaw, ' My lord the king, now 
 you may see that my kinsman hath friends that dare avow 
 him, and we are your true and loyal subjects, who will 
 never fail to do you faithful service ; therefore let us with 
 one voice beg of your majesty that Reynard may have jus- 
 tice ; and if he be not able to nonsuit his adversary, and 
 clear himself of the crimes imputed to him, let the law pass ; 
 we will not murmur at his fate.' 
 
 Then said the queen to Rukenaw, ' Thus much I told
 
 42 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 his majesty yesterday, but his anger was so great, he would 
 not hear me.' Also the Leopard said, ' Sire, you must judge 
 according to evidence, for government by mere will is ty- 
 ranny/ Then answered the king, ' It is true, but the dis- 
 grace done to myself in Kay ward's death, and some other 
 accusations so robbed me of patience, that I could not look 
 either to law or reason ; therefore now let the Fox speak 
 boldly, and if he can acquit himself of the crimes laid against 
 him, I shall gladly restore him his liberty, and the rather 
 for your sake, who are his dear friends, and whom I have 
 ever found faithful and loyal/ 
 
 How glad was the Fox when he heard these words ; he 
 said in himself, ' Thanks, my noble aunt, a thousand times ; 
 thou hast put new blossoms on my dried roses, and set me 
 in a fair path to liberty. I have one good foot to dance 
 with, and I doubt not to use my art of dissimulation so 
 bravely, that this day shall be remembered as the day 
 of my victory/ 
 
 CHAPTER XII. How Reynard excused himself of Kay- 
 ward's death, and all other imputations. How he got 
 the King's favour, and made relation of certain Jewels. 
 
 1 HEN spoke Reynard the Fox. ' Alas ! my sovereign 
 lord, what have you said ? is good Kay ward the Hare dead ? 
 Oh ! where is Bellin the Ram ? what did he bring to your 
 majesty at his return? I delivered to him three rich and 
 inestimable jewels, that I would not for the wealth of India 
 should be detained from you. The chief of them I directed 
 to you, my lord the king, the other two to my sovereign 
 lady the queen/ The king replied, ' I received nothing 
 but the head of poor murdered Kay ward, for which I exe- 
 cuted the Ram, who confessed the deed to be done by his 
 advice and counsel/ ' Is it indeed so ?' said the Fox, ' Then 
 wo is me that ever I was born, for there are lost the good- 
 liest jewels that ever were. Would I had died when you 
 were thus defrauded. I know it will be the death of my 
 wife, nor will she ever henceforth esteem me/ 
 
 Then said dame Rukenaw, ' Dear nephew, why should 
 you sorrow thus for transitory wealth? Tell us what 
 manner of jewels they were, it may be we shall find them. 
 We will search all the corners of the earth till we restore 
 them to the king/ 'Oh! aunt/ said the Fox, 'Do not 
 persuade yourself so : whoever hath them will not restore 
 them to gain an empire, they are so beautiful and precious :
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 43 
 
 yet your words do somewhat appease me. But whom shall 
 Ave trust in this corrupt age, when even innocence itself 
 Avalks masked and mistaken.' Then fetching a deep sigh, 
 with which he gilded his dissimulation, he said : 
 
 ' Hearken all you of my stock and lineage ; for I 
 will here discover what these rich jewels were, of which 
 both I and the king are defrauded. The first of them, 
 which I intended for his majesty, was a ring of pure gold, 
 and within it were engraved letters enamelled with azure 
 and sable, containing three magic words. For my own 
 part I could not read them, but Rabbi Abron, of Trent, 
 the excellent linguist, who knoweth the nature of all man- 
 ner of herbs, beasts, and minerals, assured me that they 
 were three names of great power, and whosoever shall 
 wear them about him, shall never be hurt by thunder or 
 lightning, neither shall any witchcraft have power over 
 him, nor shall heat or cold ever- annoy him. Upon the 
 top of the ring was enchased a most precious stone of three 
 several colours ; the first was a red crystal, glittering like 
 fire, with such brightness, that if one had occasion to jour- 
 ney by night, the light thereof was as great as that at noon- 
 day. The second was white and clear as if it had been 
 burnished, and the virtue of it was to cure all manner of 
 swellings, head-aches, or other maladies of any kind, arising 
 from poison, cholic, or indigestion. The last was green 
 as grass, mingled with a few purple spots ; and it is asserted 
 by the learned, that whosoever wears it about him can 
 never be conquered by his foes. Again, if any one should 
 wear it fasting, he would be welcomed and beloved in what- 
 ever company he chanced to be, though of his bitterest 
 enemies ; nor should he ever hear an ill word. And lastly, 
 though alone and unarmed in an open field against a hun- 
 dred enemies, he should succeed against them all, provided 
 only that he be of noble birth and gentle disposition, for 
 the ring gives no virtue to any but a true gentleman. 
 Considering all these virtues, I thought myself unworthy 
 to retain so excellent a jewel, and therefore I sent it to 
 your majesty, knowing you to be the most excellent of 
 living creatures, and the only one fitted to wear so noble 
 a ring. 
 
 ' This ring I found in my father's treasury, together with 
 a comb , and a glass mirror, which my wife desired of me. 
 They were wondrous and admirable jewels, and were sent 
 to my lady the queen, because of her grace and mercy to- 
 wards me. The comb can never be enough praised ; it was 
 made of the bone of a noble beast called Panthera, living 
 beyond the greater India. His hue is so beautiful, that
 
 44 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 there is no beauty under the sun but hath some likeness 
 in him : and he hath so pleasant an odour, that the smell 
 of him cureth all infirmities, and his good qualities cause all 
 other beasts to follow him. This Panthera hath one broad 
 and thin bone, and when he is killed, all his virtues reside 
 in this one bone, which can never be consumed or destroyed, 
 nor can it perish by water, fire, or violence : and yet it is 
 so light that a little feather can weigh it down. Whosoever 
 once smells it, takes delight in no other smell : he is eased 
 of all his infirmities, and his heart is cheerful and merry 
 ever after. 
 
 ' This comb is polished like fine silver ; its teeth are 
 smooth and even, and between the large teeth and the small, 
 there is a space on which beautiful figures are engraved, 
 adorned with enamel and fine gold ; the groundwork is 
 argent and sable, and upon it the history of Venus, and 
 Juno, and Pallas, is wrought in ivory and azure, and how 
 they strove for the golden apple in mount Ida, and how 
 the shepherd Paris was made the umpire of their beauty. 
 
 ' At that time Paris tended his flocks on the mountain, 
 and when the golden prize was put into his hands to be 
 bestowed on one of the three goddesses, Juno promised him 
 that he should be the richest man in the world if he would 
 give it to her. Pallas said, "That if she received it, she 
 would make him the wisest man of his age, and the con- 
 queror of his enemies." But Venus spoke to him, and said, 
 " What need hast thf u of wisdom, wealth, or valour ? Art 
 thou not son of Priam and brother of Hector, who are lords 
 of all Asia ? Art thou not an heir of mighty Troy ? Come, 
 give me the apple, and I will give thee the greatest trea- 
 sure the world knows. I will bestow on thee the fairest 
 wife breathing, whose equal the sun shall never see again ; 
 so shalt thou be richer than riches, and wiser than wisdom, 
 and more valiant than valour : for beauty is the great elixir 
 which turns all into joy and satisfaction." When Paris 
 heard this, he wished to know the lady, and Venus said, 
 " It is Helen of Greece, the gem of the world, the treasure 
 of beauty, and the glory of all eyes." Then Paris gave 
 her the apple, and confirmed her the fairest of the three. 
 And on another part of the comb was engraved how Paris 
 won Helen, and brought her to Troy, the festival of his 
 marriage, the noble games in his honour, and all other 
 events of that great history. 
 
 'The glass mirror, too, was not inferior to the other 
 jewels, for one could see in it whatever was done, within 
 a mile thereof, whether by man or beast, whatever the 
 owner wished to know. So great were the virtues of this
 
 OP REYNARD THE FOX. 4.5 
 
 rare glass, that I can .but shed tears to think of its loss. 
 The wood which served it for a frame was light and smooth, 
 but so strong that it will last for ever, nor can wet or dust, 
 worms or time, destroy it. Its value far exceeds that of 
 gold : it is like the wood of which king Crampart made 
 the magic horse for the love of the beautiful daughter of 
 king Marcadiges. This horse was made with such mar- 
 vellous art, that whoever rode on it, could make it go above 
 a hundred miles an hour. This was proved to his cost by 
 the king's son Clamades, who being young and stout, and 
 not believing in its wonderful powers, leaped upon it, and 
 turned a -pin that was in the neck of the horse. The won- 
 derful machine moved instantly, got out of the palace win- 
 dow, and in a minute had advanced ten miles. Clamades 
 was much frightened, and thought he should never get back 
 again. But of his long journey, his fear, and his alarm, 
 also of his great joy when he understood the management 
 of the wonderful horse, I will say no more, that I may not 
 weary you : I have said enough to prove the high virtue of 
 the wood. 
 
 ' Of this wood the frame of the glass was made, and 
 upon it were divers histories figured in gold, silver, azure, 
 and precious stones, very curiously wrought, and under each 
 figure was the story told with such art, that any man might 
 read it. In the upper part was wrought a fiery horse, of 
 beautiful proportions, chasing a stately deer : but the horse 
 could not overtake the deer, at which he was greatly en- 
 raged ; and he went to a herdsman, and told him, that if he 
 would help him to catch the deer, he should have all the 
 profit of it. The herdsman asked him by what means he 
 should help him. The horse said, " get upon my back, and 
 I will carry thee after the deer, until we take him." The 
 herdsman agreed, and mounted the horse, and followed the 
 deer : but the deer fled so fast, that after long chasing, the 
 horse grew weary : so he bade the herdsman alight, for he 
 was tired. But the herdsman said, " I have a bridle in my 
 hand, and spurs on my heels ; I know how valuable a ser- 
 vant thou art, and I will never part from thee, but will 
 govern thee according to my pleasure." Thus the horse 
 brought himself into thraldom, and was taken in his own 
 net : for no creature hath a greater foe than his own ill will, 
 and many that seek after others' hurt, do fall into their own 
 destruction. 
 
 ' In another part was engraved the story of the Dog and 
 the Ass, who were both the servants of a rich man. This 
 man was very fond of his dog ; he would often play with 
 him, and suffer him to fawn upon him, and leap \ipon him,
 
 46 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 and lick his face. Now when the ass saw this, he began to 
 envy the dog, and he said, " What does my master see in 
 this foul hound, that he suffers him thus to leap upon him 
 and kiss him ? He does him no profitable service, while 
 I draw, and carry, and work more in one week than the 
 dog and all his race could do in a year. Yet I have not 
 a tenth part of his favours ; he sitteth by his plate, eats of 
 his best meat, and sleeps on cushions and carpets : while 
 I who do every thing, am fed with nettles and thistles. I 
 will no longer endure this, but will study to gain my mas- 
 ter's favour, as much at least as the dog, if not more." When 
 the master came home, the ass determined to begin ; he ran 
 up, leaped upon him with his fore feet, and tried to kiss 
 him ; but so roughly that he rubbed the skin off his ears, 
 and nearly threw him backwards ; so that the master cried 
 out "Help, help, the ass will kill me." Then came in the 
 servants with staves, and they beat the ass so unmercifully, 
 that he was almost killed. Therefore the ass returned to 
 his state again, and remained an ass ever after. Thus do 
 they suffer who envy others' welfare ; an ass is bora to eat 
 thistles, and where asses govern, there is no good in the 
 kingdom, for they can see nothing beyond their own foolish 
 fancies : 'tis true asses are sometimes promoted ; the more's 
 the pity. 
 
 * In another part was figured the story of Tibert the Cat, 
 and my father Reynard ; how they travelled together, and 
 pledged their troth that neither for love nor hate would 
 they leave each other. But once upon a time they saw 
 hunters with a pack of hounds come running over the coun- 
 try : and they fled apace, for their lives were in danger. 
 Then my father said, "Whither shall we flee, Tibert, for the 
 hunters have seen us ? for my own part, I have a thousand 
 wiles to escape them, and as long as you abide with me, you 
 need not fear." But Tibert was much frightened, and he 
 said, " Alas ! Reynard, I have but one wile, and that must 
 help me :" and forthwith he clambered up to the top of a 
 high tree, where he lurked among the leaves, so that neither 
 huntsmen nor dogs could reach him ; and he left my father 
 to abide the danger, with all the pack pursuing him, and 
 the woods echoing with the cry of " Kill the fox, kill the 
 fox." When Tibert saw this, he mocked my father and 
 said, " Now cousin Reynard shew forth all your wiles, for if 
 your wit fail you, I fear your body will perish." My father 
 heard this from the creature he most trusted in; he was 
 almost spent, the dogs were at hand, and his wiles would all 
 have been in vain, had he not luckily espied a hole, into 
 which he crept, and escaped the hounds and the hunters.
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 47 
 
 Thus may you see the false faith of the Cat, who hath many 
 others like him. I might well be excused for not loving 
 him, but I wish him no harm : though I confess I cannot be 
 sorry to hear of his misfortunes, and that not for hatred, but 
 for remembrance of my wrongs, which is too strong for my 
 good resolutions. 
 
 ' There was also engraved another story of the Wolf ; 
 how he found once upon a heath a dead horse, whose flesh 
 was eaten away, and he was fain to devour the bones ; and 
 this he did so greedily, that one stuck fast in his throat, 
 and was well nigh choking him. Upon this he sought for a 
 cunning surgeon, promising great rewards to whomsoever 
 should ease his torment. At length he met with the Crane, 
 and besought him to help him with his long neck, and said 
 that he would r?wTd him. The Crane, to gain the reward, 
 put his long neck into the Wolf's throat, and drew out the 
 bone. The Wolf started at the pull, and said aloud, "Thou 
 hurtest me, but I forgive thee. Yet I charge thee do not so 
 again ; for at another's hands I would not bear it." The 
 Crane replied, " Go and be merry, Sir Isgrim ; for you are 
 cured. I desire no more than the reward you promised 
 me." "How!" quoth the Wolf; "what impudence is this? 
 I suffer and have cause to complain, yet this fellow wants 
 a reward, and will not so much as thank me for his life ; 
 forgetting that I had his head in my mouth, and allowed 
 him to draw it out again, although he put me to much pain. 
 It is I who deserve a reward, and not the Crane." 
 
 ' All this, and much more than I can remember, was 
 curiously wrought upon the glass ; for the maker was the 
 most cunning workman alive. And because such jewels 
 were too precious for me to keep, I sent them as a present 
 to their majesties, in token of my faith and service. Any 
 one that had seen the sorrow of my children when the glass 
 was sent away, would have pitied them; for they often 
 gazed at it to see their persons, and how their clothing 
 became them. 
 
 ' Little did I think how near good Kay ward was to his 
 death ; for I knew no messenger but him and Bellin the 
 Ram worthy to carry such a present. I will search the 
 world, but I will find the murderer ; for murder cannot be 
 hidden. He who knows what is become of Kayward, is 
 possibly now in the presence ; for many evil ones do pass 
 themselves for innocent. 
 
 'But my greatest trouble of all is that his majesty should 
 say that neither my father nor myself ever did good. The 
 cares of state may well breed forgetfulness in kings, or 
 your majesty might call to mind how when the king your
 
 48 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 father lived, and you were a prince of two years' old, my 
 father came from college, where he had made himself so 
 famous for his knowledge of physic, that he wore garments of 
 silk and a golden girdle. When he came to the court, he found 
 the king grievously sick, at which he was much afflicted ; 
 for he loved the king exceedingly. And the king rejoiced 
 at seeing him, and would suffer no other to come near him. 
 Your father said, " Reynard, I am in great pain, and I feel 
 my sickness increasing." My father examined into his case 
 and answered, " My dear lord, if you will be eased of your 
 malady, you must eat the liver of a wolf seven years old ; 
 else your disease will never be cured." The Wolf at that 
 time stood by your father, but said nothing. Whereupon 
 the king said, " Sir Isgrim, you hear there is nothing that 
 can cure me but your liver." The Wolf replied, " Not so, 
 my lord ; for I am not five years old." " No matter," said 
 my father, " let him be opened ; and when I see his liver, 
 I will tell you if it will do." Then the Wolf was taken to 
 the kitchen and opened, and the king ate his liver, and was 
 soon cured of his disease. And the king thanked my father, 
 and commanded all his subjects, on pain of death, to call 
 him from thenceforth Master Reynard. So he remained 
 near the king, and was trusted by him in all things ; and 
 the king gave him a garland of roses, to wear upon his head 
 as a mark of honour. 
 
 * What I have now related, my lord, fell out in your 
 youth, and you may well forget it. But I may say, without 
 boasting, that I have myself rendered your majesty both 
 honour and service, though you may have forgotten what I 
 am about to relate ; which I now do, not to upbraid your 
 majesty; for you are worthy of far more service than ever 
 I can render, but only to justify my boasting. 
 
 ' It fell out, that Sir Isgrim and I went a hunting to- 
 gether, and we caught a pig, which because of his loud 
 screaming we were forced to kill. At that moment yourself 
 came out of a neighbouring grove, and you saluted us like a 
 friend, and said that you and the queen were very hungry ; 
 and you entreated us to give you a part of our chace. 
 Isgrim then began mumbling, so that none could under- 
 stand him; but I said aloud, "With all my heart, my lord ; 
 and were it better than it is, it would be too mean for you." 
 But Isgrim growled as usual, and in a very rude way seized 
 one half of the pig, leaving your majesty and the queen only 
 a quarter for each of you ; poor I had nothing but the 
 refuse. When your majesty had eaten, you were still 
 hungry, but Isgrim would not give up any, and therefore 
 you gave him a blow with your foot, which tore the skin
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 49 
 
 about his ears, and sent him off howling. Then your ma- 
 jesty commanded him to return speedily, and bring you 
 more meat ; but he went off grumbling, and I begged your 
 majesty's leave to go with him to hasten him. So away we 
 went together, and soon caught a calf; and when you saw 
 us bring it, you laughed, and said to me that I was a swift 
 huntsman to find my game so soon, and you bade me divide 
 it. I obeyed, and gave half the body to your majesty, and 
 half to the queen ; the inside I gave to your royal children ; 
 the head to the Wolf, and the feet I kept for myself. Then 
 your majesty said, "Ah, Reynard, who taught you to 
 divide so well ?" " My lord," replied I, " he who sits here 
 with his broken head." For he had lost his skin by his 
 folly, and by his greediness gained only shame and dis- 
 honour. But no matter ; there be many wolves in these 
 days that would eat up their best friends and kin ; nay, even 
 your majesty's self; for they respect no one. But woe to 
 that land where such as these have the upper hand. 
 
 'This, my lord, and many such deeds as this, have I 
 done for your majesty's service ; which, but for tediousness, 
 I could relate to you. But they are all now cast out of 
 your remembrance ; though I hope that time and my loy- 
 alty will one day recall them to you. I have seen the day 
 when no business was complete in the court without my 
 advice ; and though my judgment is not now reputed, yet 
 it may be, it shall be once again in favour, and be believed 
 as firmly as before, so long as it swerves not from justice, 
 which alone I aim at. If any accuse me of injustice, and 
 can prove it by witness, here I stand to endure the utmost 
 rigour of the law. But if I am slandered by malice without 
 witnesses, I claim the wager of battle, according to the law.' 
 
 Then said the king, ' Reynard, you say well. I know 
 nothing more of Kay ward's death, than the bringing of his 
 head to me by Belliu the Ram ; therefore I here acquit 
 you of his murder.' ' My dear lord,' said the Fox, ' I 
 humbly thank you; but his death is so grievous to me, 
 that I cannot let it pass so easily. I remember that my 
 heart was heavy at his departure, and my spirits very low ; 
 which was a sad presage of the loss about to follow.' 
 
 These words, and the sad looks of the Fox, so affected 
 the beholders, that they believed all he had said ; every one 
 of them lamented his loss, and pitied his grief. But the 
 king and queen were touched, both with his sorrow and 
 with his praises of the jewels, which they begged him to 
 use all his endeavours to find again. And as he had told 
 them that he intended the jewels for them, although they 
 had not received them, they gave him as many thanks as 
 
 REYNARD. E
 
 50 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 if they had them in safe possession, and entreated him to 
 find means to restore them. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. How Isgrim again complained of the 
 Fox, and how they prepared to fight. 
 
 L HE Fox heard the king's words with all humility : and 
 although he had no thought of performing his promises, he 
 thanked their majesties for the comfort they bestowed on 
 him, and vowed that he would not rest night or day, but 
 search through all the world until he had found the jewels. 
 
 Then the king assured him, that so soon as he should 
 find out where the jewels were, no help should be wanting. 
 The Fox humbly thanked the king ; he had now got all he 
 wanted, and by his false tale and flattery he had so bound 
 the king to him, that he might do what he liked, and none 
 dui^st complain or accuse him. But Isgrim stood all this 
 while in high displeasure ; and not being able to contain 
 himself, he said, 'O my lord, is it possible that your majesty 
 should be so easy of belief as to trust in the lies of this 
 deceiver ? Be not seduced by him ; he is a wretch covered 
 with murder and treason, and dares to make a scoff of your 
 majesty, even before your face. I am glad he is here in 
 your royal presence, where I may shew up his villanies in 
 such a light, that all the lies he can invent will not bear him 
 away in safety. 
 
 ' I will shew your highness how shamefully he cheated 
 dame Herswin not long ago. They were travelling to- 
 gether by a large lake on a winter's day, when he persuaded 
 my wife that he would teach her a new and curious way to 
 catch fish with her tail, by hanging it down like a fishing- 
 line into the water. He told her so many fish might be 
 taken in this way, that a dozen wolves could not eat them. 
 My poor foolish wife, believing his deceitful tongue, walked 
 some way thi-ough the mud until she came to the deep 
 water, and then she held down her tail as he directed her, 
 expecting the fish to come and bite. But the weather was 
 so cold, and she stood there so long, that her tail was frozen 
 hard into the ice, and with all her strength she could not 
 pull it out again. Then the villain mocked and jeered her 
 while she stood howling with cold and pain. He cannot 
 deny this ; for I myself caught him, having heard her cries ; 
 and he, seeing me approach, ran away like a coward as he 
 was. I had a world of trouble before I could break the ice 
 about her ; and in spite of all my trouble, she was obliged to 
 leave a piece of her tail behind her. Indeed, we were both
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 51 
 
 in great danger; for my poor wife's cries alarmed the people 
 of the village, who came running with staves and bills, and 
 flails and forks, and the women with their distaffs; and they 
 so assaulted us, crying, " kill, kill," and " slay, slay," that 
 I was never in so desperate a case. One strong and swift 
 fellow among the rest did us much hurt with his pike-staff, 
 and had not the night befriended us, we should never have 
 escaped the danger. Thence we came to a field full of broom 
 and brambles, where we hid from the fury of our enemies. 
 Thus, my gracious lord, you have heard how this traitor and 
 murderer hath used us, and we claim justice against him.' 
 
 Reynard then answered, ' If this were true, I confess it 
 would touch my reputation ; but it is a vile slander, and 
 cannot be proved against me. I confess I taught her to 
 catch fish, and how to enter the water and never touch the 
 mire. But her greediness so transported her Avhen she 
 heard me name the fish, that she ran without attending to 
 my directions, and so reaching the ice, she was there frozen, 
 because of too long tarrying ; for she had more fish than 
 would have satisfied twenty reasonable appetites. But it 
 is an old saying, " covet all, lose all ;" and covetousness 
 seldom bringeth any thing well home. When I saw her so 
 fastened in the ice, I used my best endeavours to loosen 
 her, but to little purpose ; for by reason of her weight, I 
 was not able to move her. 
 
 ' Now whilst this was doing, Isgrim came, and seeing 
 what had happened, he fell into a great rage ; he began to 
 abuse dame Herswin, called me all manner of names, and 
 threatened vengeance against me ; so that more to avoid 
 his noise than from fear, I went my way. Then he came, 
 and with great ado, and much heaving and pulling, he 
 helped her out ; and they, almost dead with cold, ran and 
 skipped up and down the fields to get themselves warm. 
 This is all truth which I have spoken ; for I would not 
 utter a falsehood before your majesty to be master of 
 millions ; truth is my badge, and hath ever been the ensign 
 of all my ancestors; and if there be any doubt of my 
 assertion, I ask but eight days to confer with my learned 
 counsel, at the end of which I will so prove my words by 
 the testimony of good and sufficient witnesses, that your 
 majesty in coxmcil cannot but yield to the justice of my 
 cause. What have I to do with the Wolf? It is well known 
 that he is a notorious villain, and false to your majesty, 
 and as to the trick which he says I played his wife, I appeal 
 to herself whether it be not a base falsehood ; provided she 
 be made free of her husband, whose tyranny will compel 
 her to say any thing, however unjustly.' 
 
 E2
 
 52 THE MOST DELECTARLE HISTORY 
 
 At this dame Herswin stepped forth and said, ' Oh, Rey- 
 nard, thou hast so oily a tongue, thou art so dipped in 
 flattery, that no one is safe from tnee. Not once only, but 
 oftentimes thou hast cheated me. Remember how thou 
 didst use me at the well, with two buckets hanging at one 
 rope which ran through a pulley, so that when one went 
 down the other went up. Thou didst get into one of them, 
 and didst fall down to the bottom, where thou sattest in 
 great danger until I, hearing thy moans, ran thither in 
 great haste, asking thee how thou didst get there. Thou 
 saidst thou wert there a fishing, and that thou hadst caught 
 and eaten so many fish, that thou wert nigh bursting. And 
 when I asked how I might come to thee, thou saidst, "Aunt, 
 leap into the bucket which hangeth there, and thou wilt be 
 presently at the bottom." This I did, and being heavier 
 than thou, I went quickly to the bottom, and thou gottest 
 to the top. And when I was angry, thou saidst, " Aunt, 
 this is but the way of the world ; one falls and another 
 rises." And saying this, thou didst leap out of the bucket 
 and run away, leaving me alone, where I remained all day, 
 starving with hunger and dying of cold, and receiving so 
 many blows before I could get out, that my life was in great 
 danger.' ' Aunt/ replied the Fox, 'though the blows were 
 painful to you, it is better you should receive them than I ; 
 for you are the stronger, and better able to bear them. More- 
 over, aunt, I have taught you a lesson of wisdom, never 
 to trust any one, either friend or' foe, when his advice tends 
 to get him out of danger ; for we all love ourselves best.' 
 
 Then said dame Herswin to the king, ' I beseech your 
 majesty to mark how this dissembler can blow all winds 
 with the same breath, and paint all colours with the same 
 brush. I could tell a hundred of his false knaveries : once 
 he betrayed my husband to my aunt the Baboon, and before 
 he could escape, he lost one of his ears. If the Fox dare for 
 once to tell the truth, I desire no better evidence against 
 him than his own tale.' The Fox instantly caught at this, 
 and said, ' Willingly I will do it, and that without flattery 
 or falsehood, and therefore I pray your majesty to lend 
 your royal ears. 
 
 1 Once upon a time, the Wolf came to me in the forest, 
 and complained that he was exceeding hungry. I never 
 saw him fuller, but he was always a dissembler. However, 
 I pitied him, and said that I was hungry as well as he. So 
 away we went, and we travelled half a day together without 
 finding any thing ; then he began to cry and whine, and 
 said he could go no further. Here we spied a hole close by 
 a hawthorn tree, and heard a great rustling within, but
 
 OP REYNARD THE FOX. 53 
 
 could not guess the cause. I desired the Wolf to go in, and 
 try if he could find any thing that would serve us ; for 
 something I knew there must be. But he said, " Cousin, I 
 would not go in for a hundred pounds, unless I knew what 
 was there ; for it may be dangerous : but if you will try 
 yourself, who have art and wit to get yourself out of 
 danger, I will stay under this tree till your return ; and 
 I pray you make haste, and let me know what there is as 
 soon as you find it out." 
 
 ' Thus, my lord, did he cause me, a poor weak beast, to 
 try first this danger; and he who is large and strong, lay in 
 peace without, while I for his friendship determined to 
 abide the hazard. I entered into the hole, and found the 
 way dark, long, and tedious ; but at last I saw a great light 
 which came in at the other end of the cavern, and by it I 
 saw lying a great baboon, with eyes sparkling like fire, her 
 mouth set round with long sharp teeth, and with nails on 
 her hands as sharp as bodkins: a more dreadful beast I 
 never beheld. By her side lay several of her children, as 
 ugly and as cruel as herself. When they saw me, they 
 gaped on me with their mouths, so that I was frightened, 
 and wished myself far away. However, I took courage, 
 and resolved, that now I was in, I would acquit myself as 
 well as I could : I therefore looked boldly at her, and me- 
 thought she looked bigger than Isgrim, and the smallest of 
 her young ones larger than myself. They were all so dirty, 
 that I thought I should have been poisoned. However, I 
 thought it best to speak them fair, and therefore I said, 
 " Long life to you, aunt, and happy days to you and my 
 cousins, your pretty children ; really, they are of such sur- 
 passing beauty and perfection, that they may well be ac- 
 counted of princely issue. Truly, aunt, I am delighted to 
 behold such a beautiful family. When I came into this part 
 of the country, I could not rest a day without coming to 
 visit you." She replied, "Cousin Reynard, you are ex- 
 ceeding welcome; you have found me in a sad sluttish 
 state, but I thank you for your kind visit; you are re- 
 nowned for your wit and judgment throughout the king's 
 dominions, and you do much honour to your kindred. I 
 must entreat you to take charge of my children, and in- 
 struct them in the sciences ; that they may know how to 
 live jn the world. I have thought of you ever since they 
 were born ; and have resolved upon this, cousin, because 
 I know your good qualities, and that you keep company 
 only with the good and virtuous." 
 
 ' I was glad enough when I heard these words, which 
 proceeded from my calling her aunt. She is no kin what-
 
 54 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 ever to me ; for my true aunt, indeed, is dame Rukenaw, who 
 standeth yonder, and is the mother of excellent children. 
 Notwithstanding this, I thus answered the foul monster, 
 "Aunt, my life and goods are both at your service, and 
 what I can do for you night or day, shall ever be at your 
 command." I now most heartily wished myself far away ; 
 for I was almost poisoned in that close and dirty cavern. I 
 also pitied Isgrim, who was sore distressed with hunger all 
 this while ; and I therefore offered to take my leave, pre- 
 tending that my wife would be uneasy till my return. She 
 said, " Dear cousin, you shall not depart till you have eaten 
 something. I shall take it unkind if you do." Then she 
 rose up, and led me into an inner room, where there was 
 great store of all kind of venison ; red deer, fallow deer, and 
 roes ; and so many partridges, pheasants, and other fowls, 
 that I was astonished. When I had eaten sufficiently, she 
 gave me a side and half a haunch of a fat doe, to carry 
 home to my wife, which I was ashamed to take, but that 
 she compelled me ; and so taking my leave, and being en- 
 treated to visit her often, I departed much rejoiced that I 
 had sped so well. 
 
 ' Now being come out of the cavern, I spied where 
 Isgrim lay groaning pitifully, and I asked him how he felt. 
 He said he was so faint with hunger, that if he could not 
 get some meat, he should certainly die. Then I had com- 
 passion on him, and gave him the fat meat I brought from 
 the cavern, which preserved his life. For this he gave me 
 many thanks, much as he tries to injure me now. As soon 
 as he had devoured my venison, he said, "Reynard, my dear 
 cousin, what did you find else in the hole ? for I am now 
 more hungry than ever ; this little morsel hath served only 
 to sharpen my appetite." "Uncle," replied I, "get you into 
 the hole, and there you will find my aunt, with her children ; 
 if you can flatter her, and speak her fair, you need not fear 
 any ill, and all will go as you could wish." 
 
 'I think, my gracious liege, that this was warning 
 enough for any creature of wisdom ; but rude and barbarous 
 spirits are never advised. However, he promised to follow 
 my counsel, and down he went into the murky den ; there 
 he found the baboon, lying as I have said. He was startled, 
 and cried out, "What wretched sty is this? Did ever mortal 
 see such dirty whelps ? Drown them, pray drown them, 
 they are so hideous, they would frighten a scarecrow : their 
 horrid ugliness makes my hair stand on end." "Sir Isgrim," 
 said the Baboon, "their ugliness is no fault of their own, 
 nor is it your business ; they are my children, and I am 
 their mother. A fair kinsman of their's was here to-day,
 
 OF KEYNARD THE FOX. 55 
 
 and is but just gone, who far exceeds you in birth and wis- 
 dom, and he accounted them fair and lovely. 1 care not for 
 your opinions, and you may go away as soon as you please." 
 Isgrim replied, " Dame, I want some of your meat ; it is 
 much fitter for me than for those ugly urchins." She told 
 him she had no meat for him ; but he said he would soon 
 find meat enough ; and with that he tried to seize some, 
 when up started my pretended aunt and her children, rushed 
 upon him with their sharp nails, and so clawed him, that the 
 blood ran about his ears. I heard him cry and howl lustily, 
 and he had nothing for it but to get out of the hole as fast 
 as he could. When he appeared, he was well beaten and 
 well bitten ; his skin was slashed like a Spanish jerkin, and 
 one ear was left in the cave as a pledge for his better 
 behaviour. 
 
 ' When I saw him in this condition, I told him I feared 
 he had not flattered enough. He said he had spoken as he 
 found them ; for the mother was an ugly beast, and the 
 young ones a set of hideous little monsters. I told him he 
 should have commended their beauty, and called them his 
 best kinsfolk ; but he replied that he would have seen them 
 all hanged first. " Then," quoth I, " you cannot complain 
 of the usage you met with. Fair words cost nothing, and 
 never come out of season. Civility is no falsehood, and 
 even our betters will go so far as to say that, and farther too, 
 if the truth be told." 
 
 ' Thus, my lord, I have told you truly how he came by 
 his red night-cap ; and this he cannot deny, for it is all 
 true, without deceit/ 
 
 The Wolf replied to the Fox, " False villain that thou 
 art, I care not for thy gibes and mockeries, but I will reply 
 to thine injuries. You say I was dying for hunger, and that 
 you helped me in my need ; thou liest like a dog. It was 
 nothing but a bare bone thou gavest me, from which thou 
 hadst gnawed off all the meat. Thou hast accused me of trea- 
 son against the king ; saying that I have compassed his 
 majesty's death for certain treasures lying in Husterloe ; 
 another base and childish falsehood. 1 have forborne you 
 too long ; but look not for further escape. There is now 
 no need of further testimony than that of our own consci- 
 ences ; therefore, before my lord the king, and the rest of 
 my noble lords, my friends and kin, I here affirm and 
 avouch to the last gasp of life, that thou, Reynard the Fox, 
 ail a false traitor and a murderer; and this I will make 
 good upon thy body in fair duel before the king, body 
 against body, until one of us shall fall. In witness whereof, 
 I here cast thee my glove, which I dare thee to take up,
 
 56 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 that I may be righted of my wrongs, or else die like a 
 recreant.' 
 
 Reynard was somewhat perplexed when he saw this ; 
 for he knew he was much weaker than the Wolf, and he 
 feared he might come by the worst. But then he remem- 
 bered that he had one advantage in the Wolf's claws having 
 been pulled off, he not being yet completely cured ; so he 
 replied boldly, ' Whoever he be that sayeth I am a traitor 
 and murderer, I say he lieth in his throat, and Isgrim 
 above all others. Fool that thou art, thou urgest me to 
 thine own destruction ; all thy words I will prove to be 
 false and traitorous, and in token thereof I take up thy 
 gage, and here throw thee mine.' 
 
 When this was done, the king received their pledges, 
 and permitted the battle, commanding them to bring for- 
 ward their sureties, that the combat might take place on 
 the morrow. Then the Bear and the Cat stepped forth, and 
 offered themselves as sureties for the Wolf ; and Grimbard 
 the Brock, and Bitelas the young Ape, became sureties for 
 the Fox. When all the forms had been gone through, dame 
 Rukenaw took Reynard aside, and said, 'Nephew, take care 
 of yourself in this battle ; be bold and prudent. Your uncle 
 once taught me a charm of singular virtue for one about to 
 fight, which he learned from an excellent and worthy clerk. 
 And he who shall repeat this charm fasting, shall never be 
 conquered in battle ; and therefore, my dearest nephew, fear 
 nothing ; for before the fight begins, I will read it over to you, 
 and the Wolf shall not be able to prevail against you.' The 
 Fox returned her many thanks for her kindness and said 
 that he had no doubt of his success ; for his quarrel was fair 
 and honourable. And he remained all that night with his 
 kinsfolk, who wore away the time with pleasant discourse. 
 
 Dame Rukenaw the Ape thought carefully how she 
 might work for his advantage in the duel ; so she caused 
 all his hair to be shaved off' from his head to his tail, and 
 then she oiled his body all over with olive oil, and made it 
 so smooth and slippery, that the Wolf could not possibly get 
 hold of him ; in addition to which, he was round, fat, and 
 plump, which was greatly to his advantage. Then she 
 counselled him to be wary in the fight, more especially at 
 the outset ; to avoid coming to close combat, so as to make 
 his adversary toil and run after him ; and in that case to 
 run where there was most dust, which he should strive to stir 
 up with his feet and his bushy tail, so as to make it fly into 
 his eyes ; at the same time to keep his tail as close as he 
 could, that the Wolf might not be able to seize upon it, and 
 thereby pull him to the ground. She said that when his
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 57 
 
 foe was blinded with the dust, he should profit by his ad- 
 vantage, and bite him where he might do him most mis- 
 chief; then strike him over the eyes with his tail ; that this 
 would confuse and bewilder him. 'And thus,' she said, 
 ' you will so tire and weary him, that he will not be able 
 to follow you, the more especially as his feet are not yet 
 fully cured of their wounds, caused by the loss of his shoes, 
 which you pulled off from him ; for though his body is 
 large, his heart is small and weak. This, nephew, (con- 
 tinued she) is my advice; and assure yourself that in these 
 cases artifice prevaileth above force. Therefore I pray you 
 so comfort yourself, that not you alone, but all your family 
 may gain honour and reputation from your success. And 
 this is the charm which your uncle Martin taught me, by 
 which you may be invincible in combat. It is as follows. 
 Then she laid her hand upon his head, and said, 
 
 Blaerde Scay Alpbenio, 
 
 Kasbue Gorfons Asbulfrio. 
 
 Now, nephew, you may be sure that you are quite free from 
 all evil and mischief; therefore go to your repose, for it is 
 almost day, and sleep will better enable you to win the 
 fight.' 
 
 The Fox gave his aunt a thousand thanks, said that 
 he placed the firmest confidence in the charm she had re- 
 peated, and told her that he was bound to her service for 
 ever. Then he lay down to sleep on the grass under a tree, 
 until sun-rise : when the Otter came to him, awaked him, 
 and gave him a fat young duck to eat, saying, ' Dear 
 cousin, 1 have watched all the night to get this present 
 for you ; I took it from a fowler, and find it is good : here 
 take and eat it, for it will give you strength and courage.' 
 The Fox thanked him heartily, saying it was a lucky 
 morsel, which he would requite, if he survived that day. 
 He then ate the duck without other sauce than his hunger, 
 and drank four large draughts of water to wash it down. 
 Then he went to the place appointed for the fight, with all 
 his kindred attending him. 
 
 When the king beheld Reynard so shorn and oiled, he 
 said to him, ( Well, Reynard, I see you are careful of your 
 own safety, you look more to avoid danger than to gain 
 booty.' The Fox answered not, but bowed humbly to the 
 earth before the king and queen, and went forth into the 
 field, where the Wolf stood ready, boasting and uttering 
 many proud and vain-glorious speeches. The Leopard and 
 the Lynx were the marshals and the rulere of the lists ; 
 they first called upon the Wolf to make his declaration ;
 
 58 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 and he affirmed that the Fox was a traitor and a murderer, 
 which he would prove upon his body, or else be accounted 
 a recreant. Then Reynard affirmed that the Wolf was a 
 false thief and a villain, which he Avould prove upon his 
 body, or else be accounted a recreant. 
 
 When these ceremonies were over, the marshals of the 
 field held them to the challenge. Then every creature de- 
 parted from the lists, except dame Rukenaw, who stood by 
 the Fox, and bade him remember the words and instruc- 
 tions she had given him. She told him to call to mind 
 how, when he was but a few years old, his wisdom had been 
 reckoned great among beasts, and that now his experience 
 was greater, and his strength not lessened. She bade him 
 fight so as to win the day, which would be an ever-during 
 monument of renown to him and to all his family. To 
 this the Fox replied, ' Thanks, my good aunt, be assured 
 that I will do my best, and not forget one tittle of your 
 advice. I doubt not that my deeds will bring honour to 
 my friends, and cast shame against my foes.' ' Thus may it 
 be,' said the Ape, and then left the lists. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. Of the fight between the Fox and the 
 Wolf, and of the victory of the Fox, and his advance- 
 ment to the highest dignities. 
 
 YV HEN the lists were empty of all but the combatants, 
 the Wolf advanced to the Fox with great rage and fury, 
 striking at him with his fore feet ; and would have beaten 
 him to the earth, had not the Fox nimbly avoided the blow. 
 Then the Wolf pursued him several times round the lists, 
 in view of all their friends, and taking much larger strides 
 than the Fox, he several times overtook him, arid lifted his 
 fore foot to strike him ; but the Fox always avoided the 
 blow, and took advantage of the moment to throw the dust 
 into his eyes ; and while he was clearing them, he smote 
 him across the face with his tail, so that the Wolf was ex- 
 cessively annoyed thereat. Then he durst follow the Fox 
 no longer ; for the dust and sand sticking in his eyes made 
 them smart so much that he was forced to stop and rub 
 and wash it away. This Reynard seeing, he rushed upon 
 him with all the force he had, gave him three great wounds 
 ou the head with his teeth, and said in mockery, ' Take 
 that, Sir Isgrim, you who murder poor innocent lambs, and 
 then lay the fault on me ; I can now punish you for all
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 59 
 
 your crimes ; for you are at my mercy : but I am pitiful, 
 and if you kneel down and ask my forgiveness, and confess 
 yourself vanquished, I will spare thy life, wicked as thou 
 art.' These scoffs made the Wolf desperate ; he raised his 
 foot, regardless of his wounds, and struck the Fox such 
 a blow, that he felled him to the ground. But Reynard 
 nimbly rose upon him, and then began the tug of war. 
 The Wolf was furious and raging, and ten times he leaped 
 upon the Fox, hoping to give him a mortal bite ; ten times 
 the Fox, aided by his oily skin, slipped away, and was so 
 wondrous nimble, that whenever the Wolf thought he had 
 him most surely, then he received some terrible bite, which 
 in spite of his greater strength, brought him almost to 
 despair. 
 
 Thus continued the battle ; on one side force, on the 
 other cunning; on one side fury, on the other prudence. 
 Now the Wolf began to deplore his sore feet and the want 
 of his claws; he resolved to imitate the prudence of the 
 Fox, so he reserved himself for one blow, which he thought 
 would finish the battle; he therefore watched his oppor- 
 tunity, leaped upon the Fox unexpectedly, threw him to 
 the ground, and fell upon him, hoping with his great weight 
 to press the breath out of his body. 
 
 Now the Wolf's friends began to shout for joy, and 
 those of the Fox to look sorrowful. One other attempt 
 Reynard made to escape, but in vain, although in the effort 
 he knocked out one of Isgrim's eyes ; but his foe was too 
 powerful, and held him with a mortal gripe, crying out, 
 ' Now, Fox, I have thee ; yield, or I will kill thee ; neither 
 lies nor tricks shall avail thee aught, but thou must die or 
 be my slave.' Then the Fox said, 'Dear uncle, I yield 
 myself your most dutiful slave ; at your bidding I will go 
 to Palestine, or anywhere, and upon any errand whatever ; 
 you shall be lord of all my lands and all my revenues, and 
 when I catch poultry, partridges, or plovers, fish, flesh, or 
 fowl, you shall have the first choice of all. I will aid your 
 strength with my cunning, and when united the world can- 
 not conquer us. I am sorry I have fought against you, 
 which I would not have done, but that you challenged me ; 
 in the fight I have spared you as much as I could, and have 
 done you no more harm than accidently knocking out your 
 eye ; which indeed is in one respect an advantage, for while 
 others see but one eye in you, you will see two in them. 
 Therefore I beseech you spare my life: it is good to be 
 temperate in wrath, and rashness is the parent of repent- 
 ance. I know you are discreet, wise and valiant, and that 
 you seek honour and renown, rather than vengeance and
 
 60 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 bloodshed ; my death will avail you nought, but by saving 
 my life you gain a most valuable servant. 
 
 Then spoke Isgrim, ' False cheat, how dost thou cheat 
 thy own self ! how well I know that if thou wert once on 
 thy feet, all thy words would be at once denied. But know, 
 that all the wealth of the world would not purchase thy 
 ransom ; all thy wealth I esteem no more than I do thee ; 
 nor do I believe a word thou hast uttered. O, how thou 
 wouldst triumph and crow, if I should believe thee; thou 
 wouldst truly say my wit was small ; but thy many tricks 
 have taught me to see through thee, and beyond thee. I 
 now understand thee much better than thou desirest, and 
 will give thee not a minute to repent in, no more than thou 
 hast given me time to breath in the battle, for all thy vain 
 talking of sparing me in fight.' 
 
 The Wolf had better not have been so eloquent ; for 
 while he was going on so much beyond his usual way, he 
 forgot himself ; his wounds all the while were bleeding, and 
 the Fox seizing the advantage, gave him such a bite in the 
 throat with his sharp teeth, that he fainted. Then the Fox 
 rose up from his desperate grasp, shook himself with a joy- 
 ful tremor, and gave his fallen foe several bites in token of 
 victory, while the poor Wolf lay as dead upon the sand, and 
 was unable to rise and continue the fight when called by the 
 heralds. 
 
 Then the Leopard and Lynx entered the lists, and pro- 
 claimed that the fight was at an end ; that both parties had 
 behaved fairly and honourably, and that all the field con- 
 fessed the Fox was victor. Reynard said, ' I humbly thank 
 them, and am ready to obey the king in all things.' Then 
 came Grimbard the Brock, and dame Slopard his wife ; 
 dame Rukenaw, and her two sons, Bitelas and Fairlimb ; 
 and moreover there came Pancrote the Beaver, and Ordi- 
 gale the Otter, and the Martin, the Ferret, the Squirrel, 
 the Polecat, the Weasel, and the Shrew, and a hundred 
 more who would never have come had not the Fox gained 
 the victory ; many others also came who had formerly been 
 his accusers, but who now were ready to do him service, and 
 proclaimed themselves his dearest friends. Such is the way 
 of the world ; the prosperous hath great store of friends, 
 and plenty of service ; the poor hath naught but foes, and 
 all his gain is only loss. All these attendants of the Fox 
 proclaimed his victory with shouts and music, trumpets and 
 horns, and hailed him as the greatest of beasts. They then 
 attended him to the king with the -marshals walking before, 
 and pipers and minstrels following after. 
 
 When Reynard came into the king's presence, he fell on
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 6l 
 
 his knees, but the king raised him up, and said, ' Reynard, 
 you have this day won much honour ; I therefore discharge 
 you from arrest, and set you free to go wherever you please. 
 As soon as Isgrim's wounds are cured, I will call together 
 the wisest of my kingdom, when you shall both be sent for, 
 and your contestation fully adjudged before them.' 
 
 ' My dread lord/ replied the Fox, ' I am well paid with 
 whatever your majesty may adjudge to me. But, my liege, 
 when first I came to court, how many malicious beasts were 
 there whom I have never injured, but who sought my life, 
 joining my enemies against me. They thought the Wolf 
 was in favour with your majesty more than I, and this was 
 the ground of all their malice. They are like a pack of 
 dogs whom once I saw near the house of a rich man ; they 
 were there waiting for one of their body, who had gone into 
 the kitchen, and who presently came out with a fat piece of 
 beef in his jaws ; but he was followed by the cook, who 
 threw hot water upon him, and scalded him miserably. 
 Then these types of base flatterers, who saw only the fat 
 beef, said, " Oh, how rich thou art, and how art thou bound 
 to the good cook who hath given thee such a prize." But 
 when he came nearer, and they saw how terribly he was 
 scalded, they began to flout him and avoid him, and at last 
 drove him from their company. Such are these, my now 
 devoted followers. I may cheat and plunder the poor, and 
 I am praised and aided by them, that they may lick their 
 fingers by sharing in the spoil ; none may offend me, I am 
 the dog with the well-fleshed bone in my jaws. Anon, if I 
 am scalded, I am then fit for no one's company, but am 
 accused, avoided, and execrated.' 
 
 The king then said, ' Reynard, you owe me homage 
 and fealty, and I have no mistrust of your good service. I 
 therefore make you one of the lords of my council, and 
 command you to behave yourself with all honour; for I 
 place you in a situation of power and authority, and hope 
 you will administer justice with equity. Remember the 
 moral you have related to me, and be a lover of truth and 
 honour ; employ your wit in good actions, and the court 
 cannot do without you. You are a star, whose brightness 
 exceeds that of all others, and while you employ your 
 wisdom in well doing, no creature in my kingdom shall 
 injure you, but that I will take of him a speedy vengeance.' 
 
 Then the Fox's friends applauded the king's judgment ; 
 and the king said he would for their sakes promote the Fox 
 still further, if he shewed himself deserving ; and he begged 
 that they would all admonish him to he careful of his faith 
 and loyalty, if ever he seemed about to forget it. * Fear
 
 6*2 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY, &C. 
 
 not, your highness,' said dame Rukenaw, ' we will all watch 
 over him, and if he fail towards you, we will utterly forsake 
 him.' The Fox also thanked the king, and said, ' My gra- 
 cious sovereign, I am not worthy of these high honours, but 
 I will always study to deserve them ; nor shall my hest 
 counsel ever be wanting.' 
 
 In the meantime Bruin the Bear, and Tibert the Cat, 
 and dame Herswin and his other friends drew Isgrim from 
 the field, laid him upon soft hay, and covered him up warm. 
 They then sent for skilful surgeons, who dressed his wounds, 
 which were five and twenty in number. He still lay in a 
 swoon ; but they chafed his temples, and rubbed him under 
 the eyes until he recovered his senses, when he howled so 
 loud, that all who heard were startled at the sound. The 
 physicians then gave him cordials, and an opiate ; and they 
 consoled dame Herswin with the assurance that her hus- 
 band's life was in no danger. 
 
 When the court broke up, and every beast returned to 
 his own home, Reynard took his leave among the rest, and 
 the king and queen condescended to request he would not be 
 long absent from them ; and the Fox replied that he would 
 always be ready for their service, as was his duty, and not 
 himself only, but all his friends and relations also. Then 
 he departed, not a little glad that he had escaped so well, 
 and was so high in the king's favour, that, as he told his 
 friends, he could now advance whomsoever he pleased, and 
 pull down any who should endeavour to injure him. 
 
 After some travel, they all came to his castle of Male- 
 pardus, where they took leave of Reynard, who thanked 
 them for the kindness and support he had received of them, 
 and vowed to remain their faithful servant, and to help 
 them whenever his life or goods could be of use to them. 
 So they shook hands and departed. 
 
 The Fox then went to dame Ermeline, who received him 
 with tenderness ; and he related to her and to their children 
 all the strange events which had befallen him at court, with- 
 out missing one tittle. And they were delighted at his good 
 fortune ; and he spent his days among them with great hap- 
 piness and content. 
 
 END OP THE FIRST PART.
 
 THE 
 
 SECOND PART 
 
 HISTOKY OF REYNARD THE FOX. 
 
 WRITTEN BY ANOTHER HAND. 
 
 CHAPTER I. How Isgrim the Wolf was made Earl of 
 Pitwood, and appointed to succeed Bellin the Ram ; 
 and how Reynard, and Bruin, and Tibert were ad- 
 vanced to great dignities. 
 
 1\| OW was the Fox not only honoured with the title of 
 lord Reynard, but he became veiy intimate with the king, 
 so that none were admitted to an audience of his majesty, 
 without first obtaining the favour of lord Reynard. 
 
 But Reynard knew that he was mortally hated by Isgrim 
 the Wolf, Bruin the Bear, and their friends ; and knowing 
 as he did the changeableness of fortune, he feared that one 
 day they might do him some mortal injury; and being 
 unable to destroy them, he thought his best policy was to 
 dissemble, and by doing them good service, make it their 
 interest to serve him. So he sought his opportunity, and one 
 day when he was hunting with the king, and their conver- 
 sation turned upon the troubles of royalty, and the danger 
 of a discontented people, Reynard said, ' Your majesty has 
 none in your realm discontented except Isgrim the Wolf 
 and his friends. All my enmity to them is long forgotten, 
 and I should be happy if by any advancement of their 
 interests they might be made loyal and grateful servants.' 
 The king greatly praised Reynard's generosity, and asked 
 how this could be done. ' My lord,' quoth Reynard, ' since 
 the death of Bellin the Ram, the professorship of philosophy 
 in the university hath been vacant, and his whole family 
 being extinct, there is no one to take the office. Now Is- 
 grim is learned, he hath been a student in several foreign 
 universities, and hath filled a chair in one of them ; if it 
 were your majesty's pleasure, no one would be more fit than 
 he to succeed Bellin.' ' How can this be/ said the king, 
 ' Isgrim is so feared by the students, that none will come to 
 his lectures.' 'Your majesty is always in the right,' replied
 
 64- THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 the Fox, 'but for this \ve will find a remedy. Sir Isgrim 
 hath only to put on Bellin's woolly gown, and he will no 
 longer be feared nor hated.' The king was pleased with 
 Reynard's advice, and he ordered Fyrapel the Leopard to 
 summon all his nobles to court on the following morning, 
 and not to forget Bruin and Isgrim. 
 
 At the appointed hour all the beasts appeared, and the 
 king addressed Bruin and Isgrim first, saying, in a friendly 
 manner, that he wondered at their long absence, and would 
 have been glad to see them oftener at court. Both started 
 up with angry looks at the Fox, and were about to burst 
 forth with new complaints, when the king interrupted 
 them, and said, ' They were met not to redress private 
 grievances, but upon a public matter, which required the 
 counsel of all, being the appointment of a lecturer at the 
 college.' When the Bear and Wolf heard this, they sat 
 down, and the king said to the Fox, ' Cousin Reynard, our 
 command is that you declare to the council our pleasure 
 concerning this matter.' Then the Fox, after due rever- 
 ence made, began to speak : 
 
 ' Worthy lords, it is known to all of you, that for sundry 
 good reasons, it pleased his majesty to deprive Bellin the 
 Ram of his life, and to confiscate his goods to the use of the 
 noble Sir Bruin, and the learned Sir Isgrim, and to their 
 heirs for ever. In consequence of this unhappy occurrence, 
 the office of public lecturer at the university is become 
 vacant ; and therefore our mighty prince, having the good 
 of his subjects at heart, has thought proper to call this 
 assembly, and with your advice to make choice of a suc- 
 cessor to the chair : after you shall have chosen the person, 
 his majesty will present him for approval to an assembly of 
 the commons, who shall be summoned for the purpose.' 
 
 When the Fox had ended, the assembly sat for some time 
 silent ; Bruin and Isgrim, hearing themselves styled by the 
 Fox noble and learned, began to have hopes of the appoint- 
 ment, and their choler somewhat abated. At last the king 
 said, ' Sir Isgrim, why are you so silent ? Cousin Reynard 
 tells me you are a great scholar, learned in law and philo- 
 sophy, and that you have taken your degrees in the foreign 
 universities : I hoped that you would have offered yourself 
 for this high dignity.' The Wolf, highly flattered, now 
 spoke : ' My liege, I was kept silent, not by my unwillingness 
 to undergo any trouble or charge for the good of your ma- 
 jesty and the welfare of your kingdom, but because of the 
 unhappy discord which has existed between me and your 
 honourable minister, lord Reynard, upon matters not worth 
 discussion in so noble an assembly my silence had no other
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 65 
 
 cause.' ' The lord Reynard is not your enemy,' said the 
 king, ' nor is he any one's enemy ; he hath spoken to me 
 most highly of your learning, and of the noble spirit of Sir 
 Bruin the Bear ; he hath also much praised the swiftness, 
 subtlety, and policy of Sir Tibert the Cat, upon all of whom 
 I have my eye, and will promote them to some office, in 
 which they may benefit themselves and please me.' 
 
 All parties were thus satisfied. The Wolf gave his paw 
 to the Fox, and the Fox gave his to the Bear and the Cat : 
 then all sat down ; Sir Isgrim's appointment to the vacant 
 office was put at once to the vote, and carried unanimously. 
 
 When the assembly broke up, the Fox and the Wolf 
 retired together to have a little conversation, which began 
 by Isgrim's expression of his gratitude to Reynard, and at 
 the same time his fears lest he should not be approved in 
 the assembly of the commons. ' Ay !' said the Fox, ' are 
 you afraid of your rough look ? follow my advice, and 
 there is no doubt of your success. Go home, shave yourself 
 close, and then put on Bellin's coat of wool, which will fit 
 you handsomely, and no one will know you but for one 
 of his kindred : make it a rule to be mild tempered, and 
 above all never to shew your teeth in the day-time ; in the 
 night you may do as you please, for we must live, as you 
 know.' 'Excellent,' quoth the Wolf: 'I shall do well, I 
 perceive. But then I fear much that my voice will betray 
 me.' 'Tush,' replied the Fox, 'when you are about to 
 lecture, say you have a cold.' ' But,' quoth Isgrim, ' that 
 excuse will not do for ever.' 'How little you know of 
 office,' said the Fox : ' if you read but once a year it will be 
 much for one so high in dignity ; you may keep as many 
 deputies as you like, who will do all the drudgery for you.' 
 The Wolf's spirit rose with every reply, and he now said 
 he had but one difficulty more, which was his name : 'Sure 
 am 1,' said he, ' that no sooner shall I be proposed to the 
 commons than the cry will be, "No Isgrim, down with 
 Isgrim." ' ' For that,' said the Fox, ' we will find a remedy. 
 Go you home, prepare yourself for your new dignity, and 
 I will confer with his majesty upon granting you a new 
 title, with which you shall be invested before the assembly 
 of the commons shall take place. Keep yourself in readi- 
 ness to come to court as soon as you shall be summoned for 
 the purpose.' 
 
 The Wolf then went home gay an happy, and the Fox 
 returned to the palace to lay before his majesty the new 
 difficulty. The king without hesitation said, that he would 
 at once make Isgrim an earl, and that he should take his 
 name from some place near his habitation. The Fox in- 
 
 REYNARD. F
 
 66 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 formed his majesty that the neighbourhood of his house 
 was called Pitwood : ' Then Earl of Pitwood shall be his 
 title,' said the king ; ' and as soon as his patent can be made 
 out, send for him, and give it to him, with a grant of all the 
 estates contained under that name/ 
 
 When this was ready, Tibert the Cat was despatched as 
 messenger to the Wolf, whom he found in his new attire, 
 and so changed, that he did not kno*w him until he heard 
 his voice. He communicated his message, and away they 
 went together. On their arrival at court, the Wolf was 
 led by Reynard to the presence of the king, who started at 
 seeing the change in his appearance. ' Sir Isgrim/ said he, 
 ' I really should not have known you ; you are surely grown 
 younger with your new dignity.' ' Mighty sir,' quoth the 
 Fox, ' I have advised him to shave and dress himself thus, 
 as most suitable to his new office ; arid have besides given 
 him other instructions, from which I make no doubt 
 he will derive great profit.' 'Sir Isgrim,' said the king, 
 ' Reynard is your best friend ; he has recommended you to 
 this high honour, he has given you good advice, and now he 
 has suggested to me that I should confer on you a title of 
 honour whereby your ordinary name, which is distasteful to 
 our good commons, may be laid aside, and you may thus 
 more readily find acceptance with them. I now confer on 
 you the earldom of Pitwood, and grant that large estate to 
 you and your heirs for ever. The old name shall be laid 
 aside, and none shall from this time dare to address you by 
 any other title than Pitwood.' Isgrim, ready to jump out 
 of his skin for joy, bowed with great reverence to the king 
 and the Fox, protested that in future he would do every 
 thing in his power to promote the interest of his majesty 
 and the good of Reynard, and that his own profit should 
 evermore be last in his thoughts, with divers other protesta- 
 tions, in all of which he lied egregiously, as will appear 
 anon. 
 
 When the day came for the commons to assemble, the 
 Fox arrived the first at court, and with all humility saluted 
 the king, by whom he was received with his usual courtesy. 
 Then came Tibert the Cat, and announced the coming of 
 lord Pitwood, with a long train of attendants, who were 
 ushered into the presence by the Fox. The earl was, by the 
 king's order, honoured with a chair of state; and his lineage, 
 after due obeisance to his majesty, stood round about the 
 seat of their chief. 'Lord Pitwood,' began the king, 'I am 
 happy to see you here so early, and that all your lineage are 
 so well fitted with the gowns of Bellin and his kindred ; 
 you are much indebted to the Fox for his cunning device.'
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 6? 
 
 ' Mighty sir,' replied the Wolf, ' you are in the right ; and 
 I, with all my family, after your royal self, cannot but re- 
 gard him from henceforth as our patron and protector, and 
 the preserver of our good name.' 
 
 And now came in other nobles, who were delighted with 
 the change in Isgrim's appearance ; and fully persuaded that 
 he had changed his nature with his garb. So they took a 
 short repast, and went out to meet the commons, who were 
 assembled in great multitudes in a field near the palace. 
 
 When the commons saw the king approaching at the 
 head of his valiant nobles, they all shouted with one voice, 
 ' Long live our noble king !' The royal procession at last 
 sat down, and many comments were made on the appear- 
 ance of the Wolf, who was thought by some to be a son of 
 the unhappy Bellin, while others said it was some foreign 
 ambassador from beyond the seas. Some of Bellin's friends 
 in the crowd had a shrewd guess who it was, but they dared 
 not speak their thoughts. 
 
 Then the king and Reynard, with Pitwood and his 
 lineage, mounted a scaffold, where they sat down, and the 
 king commanded silence ; which being obtained, he thus ad- 
 dressed the multitude, ' It is known to many of you, my 
 loving subjects, that for a notorious murder, we removed 
 from all his offices at court and elsewhere Bellin the Ram ; 
 since which time he hath been without a successor ; and 
 the learned sciences, to which he so largely contributed, 
 have since his death been in some danger of total decay, 
 and you have all been destitute of teachers. To remedy 
 this grievance we have, with the advice of our lords here 
 present, made choice of a very learned scholar, now stand- 
 ing next our person, of whose worth and experience we 
 are fully satisfied. This person, and all his lineage, we 
 recommend to you to be your teachers throughout our 
 dominions.' Thus having spoken, the king sat down. 
 
 Then rose lord Reynard, who with a graceful bow to the 
 assembled commons, thus addressed them, ' Worthy sirs, 
 his majesty hath not without much grief reflected on the 
 sad deprivation of public instruction you have all suffered 
 by the death of Bellin and his kindred ; and in his wisdom 
 he hath provided a remedy to obviate those enormities 
 which we all are but too ready to run into for want of 
 guides and teachers. Therefore, he hath requested the 
 noble lord Pitwood to devote his great learning to the 
 general good, for the advantage of the whole realm ; and 
 this his lordship hath not only promised to do, but he hath 
 also engaged all his kindred to devote themselves to that 
 honourable, but burdensome duty. I hear some of you 
 
 F2
 
 68 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 surmising that lord Pit-wood is some stranger from foreign 
 parts ; it is not so, but I cannot be surprised at the sus- 
 picion, for he hath hitherto led so recluse a life, devoted 
 only to study, that no hermit could he more unknown to 
 the world than he is. He is, moreover, silent and bashful, 
 speaking little, unless on the subject of his studies; but 
 kind, mild, and gentle withal. Such a one as he is can 
 hardly be paralleled throughout the dominions of his ma- 
 jesty. Those, therefore, who are true subjects of the noble 
 Lion, will signify their approbation of his choice by holding 
 up their right hands.' 
 
 At these words, the greatest part of the assembly held 
 up their right hands, and those that least understood what 
 was said, held up both. Then Pitwood and his kindred 
 made low bows to the whole body, but for fear of shewing 
 their teeth, spoke not a word, which was attributed to their 
 great bashfulness. The Fox returned the thanks of the 
 king and his council to the commons for their attendance, 
 and Grimbard the Brock, being made crier on the occa- 
 sion, dismissed the assembly, who departed quietly to their 
 abodes ; the majority satisfied with what had passed, a few 
 doubtful, and some visibly discontented, remembering the 
 mildness and kindness of the deceased Bellin; but they 
 were set down as disaffected persons, and treated by the 
 rest accordingly. Then the royal party returned to the 
 palace, where they dined together with much harmony, 
 and the day concluded with speeches and toasts in honour 
 of the new dignitaries. 
 
 On the following morning the king summoned Reynard 
 to the court early, and on his appearance thus addressed 
 him : ' Cousin Reynard, I have been seriously thinking of 
 my promise made to Bruin and Tibert, and I much fear 
 that if I do not make haste to fulfil it, some villanous 
 conspiracy will be brought to bear against my crown ; for 
 yesterday I perceived strange looks of treasonable import in 
 their faces. Give me your thoughts on this matter.' ' My 
 liege,' replied the Fox, ' your discernment is infinite ; a 
 look has shewn you as much as many days' observation have 
 disclosed to me. Mischief has indeed been brewing; and 
 within these few days Bruin and Tibert have both been 
 filled with thoughts of villany. This I had discovered, but 
 pacified them with promises of your royal favour.' 
 
 ' Well,' said the king, ' I understand you ; it is high 
 time to do something, and I ask your advice, cousin, to 
 what office I may promote them without injury to my- 
 self or to the state V ' Sir,' quoth Reynard, ' consider the 
 natures and tempers of the two, and act accordingly. Bruin
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 6*9 
 
 is heavy and lumpish ; he loves idleness, and sleeps away 
 one half of his life ; an empty title without any duties will 
 best content him. Tibert is active, cunning, and covetous ; 
 and some stirring office, with profit, will please him better 
 than all the titles in the world.' ' You judge profoundly, 
 Reynard,' said the king, 'and I will be advised by you. 
 What shall I do for them?' 'My liege, Bruin wants 
 nothing but a title; make him lord of the woods and 
 forests, and he will be more than happy. Then, to kill 
 two birds with one stone, make Tibert his deputy, which 
 will require a person of activity, and produce much profit ; 
 and this is just what Tibert requires.' ' 
 
 Then said the king, 'These dignities are great, but as 
 you recommend the measure, I consent, for you are loyal 
 and trust-worthy. To none but you would I so far con- 
 descend, and you must be surety for their good behaviour. 
 I have also reflected that you yourself should have some 
 office of dignity, which may ennoble you in the eyes of the 
 world; and although you cannot have more power and 
 influence than you now, by my favour and your own good 
 conduct, possess, yet something more is required for the 
 public. I shall therefore make you high bailiff of all my 
 dominions, and you shall enter upon that office when Bruin 
 takes the title of lord of the woods and forests. I will com- 
 municate my resolution to my council to-morrow ; there- 
 fore call in Tibert, and order him to summon all my 
 nobles to the court.' Reynard bowed his head in token of 
 joyful acquiescence. Tibert hastened to communicate the 
 happy intelligence to Bruin, and the night was spent by 
 all three in pleasing anticipation of the dignities about to 
 be conferred upon them on the morrow. 
 
 The council met early on the following morning, and 
 when the preliminary ceremonies were ended, the king thus 
 addressed them : ' My good lords, we have recently taken 
 your advice in the matter of promoting our cousin Isgrim 
 to the office formerly held by Bellin. I have now to call 
 your attention to the good services and high descent of our 
 cousin Bruin, who has been too long in obscurity, without 
 holding any place of dignity. I therefore now create him 
 lord of my woods and forests, in order to bind him more 
 closely to my person, and to make known to all my sub- 
 jects that we will honour all those to whom honour is any 
 way due. I also hereby make known to you that I appoint 
 Sir Tibert to the office of lord Bruin's deputy, an office for 
 which he is well qualified by his sagacity, diligence, and 
 activity ; and which he well deserves for his unwearied 
 zeal hi our service. Moreover, as it is our duty to reward
 
 70 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 those who admonish us of our duty, we have determined 
 to confer high honours on our cousin Reynard, the pre- 
 server of our crown. We therefore create him high bailiff 
 of all our dominions, give him power over all our subjects, 
 and constitute him their judge ; reserving only to ourselves 
 the last resort in cases of appeal, and the judgment in right 
 of differences between any of our nobles.' 
 
 The king then gave Reynard a gold-headed staff, saying, 
 ' Take this, and let it be borne before you by your cousin 
 Grimbard, or in his absence by Bitelas. Deal justly by all 
 our subjects, decide their differences with impartiality, and 
 be their second father/ Then the king retired, and Grim- 
 bard the Brock, taking the staff of office, bore it before 
 Reynard, who went home to his castle, followed by the 
 Wolf, the Bear, and all the other nobles, who took leave of 
 him at his castle gates. 
 
 CHAPTER II. How Reynard behaved in his new offices, 
 and of his treason and defeat. 
 
 W HEN Reynard found himself thus raised to almost the 
 highest estate in the kingdom, he was puffed up beyond 
 his accustomed prudence, and began to conceive hopes of 
 climbing higher than was befitting a loyal subject. He did 
 not however omit any of his usual duties to the king, but 
 continued to serve him, to all outward appearance, as here- 
 tofore, while .he was in truth weakening his hold on the 
 affections of his subjects by misgoverning in his name, by 
 receiving bribes and thereby amassing large sums of money, 
 and by making valuable presents to the nobles of the court 
 so as to win them over to his wicked schemes. The Lion 
 was now growing old, and the Fox taking care that no com- 
 plaint should ever reach his ear, he supposed that every 
 thing was going on well ; and he blessed himself in having 
 so good a deputy, who took all the trouble of reigning off 
 his hands, and gave satisfaction to every body. At the same 
 time the Fox engaged his best friend, Bitelas, to spread re- 
 ports of the old Lion's gradual decay, and to sound the 
 opinions of the nobles about selecting a prince of a new 
 family in case of his death, instead of electing the son of 
 the old Lion. 
 
 Bitelas performed his task well, and went even farther 
 than Reynard had at first intended. He made promises 
 to one, held out hopes to another, and gave money to a 
 third, until he had brought them all over to the opinion
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 71 
 
 that the Fox would prove a better king than the Lion, and 
 that although it was too soon to say any thing about it as 
 yet, means should be gradually prepared to make him so 
 by force, if the Lion should not die soon enough. The evil 
 course thus begun was soon hurried oh faster than the actors 
 would have desired. Each one was afraid of treachery on 
 the part of the rest, and considering that a discovery would 
 end in ruin, they determined to make quick work of it. 
 All was planned by Reynard, who advised that each noble 
 should enlist as many soldiers as he had means of maintain- 
 ing from among the common beasts, but secretly, and under 
 the pretence of having quarrels with one another ; and that 
 on an appointed day, when the king held his annual family 
 dinner, to which none but those of the royal race were ad- 
 mitted, an attack should be made on the palace, and all the 
 inmates put to death. 
 
 In the mean time Reynard strongly fortified his castle 
 of Malepardus, and supplied it with provisions to last a 
 long time in case of siege, and soldiers were enlisted to the 
 number of four thousand. This was done with the utmost 
 secrecy, and the poor king unsuspiciously gave notice to 
 the members of his family that the usual dinner should be 
 held on his birthday, when all were expected to be present. 
 The ancient monarchy seemed to be approaching its fall, 
 and the rule of cunning was about to take place of the 
 rule of justice and right : the conspirators were ready and 
 resolute, and all would soon have been over. 
 
 But on the day before the intended outbreak, Sir Fyrapel 
 and his cousin the Panther were troubled with very serious 
 thoughts ; they looked sad and anxious to each other, and 
 each seemed to be thinking the thoughts of the other. The 
 Leopard first spoke : ' Cousin, I am in great trouble of mind 
 about this matter which is in hand ; it seems to me we are 
 engaged in a toil from which there is little hope of good. 
 Why are we so suddenly become traitors to the Lion, who 
 never injured us, and who deserves the love of his subjects 
 better than Reynard, who in truth I suspect to be deceiving 
 us ?' The Panther replied, ' I have had no sleep all night 
 about this very thing; but what is to be done? If we 
 betray the plot to his majesty, he is so wrapped up in 
 Reynard, that we shall get only punishment ; for the Fox 
 hath a tongue so smooth, that he will beguile the king to 
 our certain ruin.' 'You say true, Panther,' replied the 
 Leopard ; ' but it is a risk either way, and better be killed 
 in a good cause than in a bad one. I am resolved to disclose 
 the whole to the king, and to beg his majesty to detain us 
 prisoners until the intended attack be made, but to have
 
 72 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 also a guard secretly in the palace, so as to resist with firm- 
 ness when the traitors come.' 'Ay/ quoth the Panther, 
 ' and then Reynard finding we are absent, will come to the 
 court, and excuse himself by accusing us, and we shall 
 suffer both as false accusers and as traitors.' However in 
 spite of his scruples the Panther was prevailed upon to run 
 the risk, and to trust to the king's mercy; and so away they 
 went to the court together. 
 
 On their arrival they found the king alone ; they bowed 
 themselves in the dust before him, but neither dared to 
 speak. At length the king said, ' What would ye, my 
 lords ? Why do ye look so sad ?' ' My liege,' replied Sir 
 Fyrapel, 'we are come to offer up our lives to your majesty, 
 in expiation of our crimes.' ' What crimes,' said the king, 
 ' have ye been guilty of?' ' We have been acquainted with 
 a most bloody treason; we have not revealed it to your 
 majesty, and worse than all, we have not refused to par- 
 ticipate in it, until our better feelings were awakened by 
 reflecting on all the excellent qualities of your majesty.' 
 
 The king could not speak for a few minutes : the news 
 fell upon him like a thunderbolt, and he felt some alarm at 
 finding himself alone with confessed traitors ; at length he 
 said, 'And what are now your intentions, my lords?' 'To 
 disclose the whole treason, to put your majesty in the way 
 to defend yourself and family, and then to submit to any 
 punishment you may choose to award to us and our lineage.' 
 ' Let me first know the conspiracy and the conspirators/ said 
 the king, ' and I will judge as a king should.' 
 
 Then the repentant lords declared the whole matter 
 from beginning to end, in the presence of the king's eldest 
 son, who was sent for to aid in the conference, at their 
 earnest desire ; for they knew the king's love for Reynard, 
 and feared that he would wish to send for that arch-traitor, 
 who with his subtle speech would have persuaded the king 
 that the whole was a false lie intended to ruin him. ' It was 
 well they did so, for the king was very anxious to see 
 Reynard, and hear his excuses, and nothing but the remon- 
 strances and eloquence of the prince could have prevented 
 him from effecting his wishes. Even with all this, the 
 utmost they could persuade him to do, was to have a strong 
 guard at the palace, and to keep the affair secret until an 
 hour after sunset, when the royal family were to assemble ; 
 at that hour the advanced guard of the Fox's army was 
 to march to a spot in the neighbourhood in order to watch 
 the approaches to the court, and to be ready to take advan- 
 tage of any thing that might turn up. In the course of the 
 day, it was determined that the repentant traitors should be
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. . 73 
 
 liberated, to prevent suspicion, that they might return to 
 the lord Reynard, and get themselves put in command of 
 the advanced guard ; they assured his majesty that the 
 commons about to be used as soldiers, were innocent of 
 treason, and knew not to what they were engaged ; that they 
 would be ready to aid his majesty, and would at his word 
 surrender themselves prisoners, unless under the influence 
 of their lords. They advised also that the loyal guards of 
 the palace should meet the Fox's advanced army, and by 
 pretending a flight, draw them from their ambush to the 
 court, where they would be easily overpowered : that in fact 
 they would not resist when they knew the truth. Messen- 
 gers would then be sent to Reynard, who might be instructed 
 to report to him that his guard had conquered, and it was 
 hoped that he would thus be drawn forth to a premature 
 exposure of his intentions. 
 
 Every thing took place as it was intended. The Leo- 
 pard and Panther returned to Reynard, and deceived him 
 with an account of the king's security, and of the unpre- 
 pared state of the palace; they also expressed their rea- 
 diness to take the command of the advanced guard, which 
 was a post of great danger, and had been refused by Pit- 
 wood, Bruin, and others: and Reynard was so glad to get 
 over this unlooked-for difficulty, that he took less pre- 
 cautions than usual. He merely recommended secrecy to 
 be observed, and directed Tibert the Cat to go with the 
 guard, not as a combatant, but as an observer; and to re- 
 turn and tell him how matters went. 
 
 When the night came, the Leopard and Panther marched 
 at the head of their troops, and took post near the palace, 
 in a dense thicket, where they had not long remained, when 
 the royal guard from the palace made its appearance, under 
 the command of the young Lion. At sight of the conspi- 
 rators, the royal guards pretended to fly, and were pursued 
 to the inner gate of the palace by Sir Fyrapel the Panther, 
 with his troops; then the draw-bridge was let down, and 
 all were shut in except Tibert, who kept at some distance. 
 After a few minutes' pretended fighting, (for the troops had 
 been quietly told by the Leopard and Panther to make 
 no resistance,) all were disarmed, and a herald, known to 
 Tibert, ran to the bridge and called out, ' All's well : the 
 Lion is defeated, and Reynard is king.' Away ran Tibert, 
 to communicate the joyful intelligence to the Fox, who 
 instantly dispatched a body of his troops, under the com- 
 mand of Pitwood, to take their station close by the palace, 
 as he was even yet too wary to venture too near him- 
 self.
 
 74 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 On Pitwood's arrival, he was met by Fyrapel, whom he 
 congratulated on his success, and by whom he was invited 
 into the palace to a feast. At the word feast, Pitwood for- 
 got all caution: he abandoned his troops, rushed into the 
 court, where he was seized and disarmed, and consigned 
 to safe custody. Almost all the other nobles were soon 
 after enticed into the court under one pretence or another, 
 and the only one of any importance that escaped was Bite- 
 las, who had been detained by the Fox at a conference, 
 and one of Tibert's brothers, who had slipped out of the 
 court by jumping over a soldier's head, when the others 
 were taken. The troops who remained outside were then 
 suddenly attacked, and being without officers, all ran away. 
 Many escaped to their own homes, a few made the best 
 of their way to Malepardus, to communicate the unwel- 
 come intelligence to the Fox, and several were brought 
 prisoners into the palace. 
 
 The wicked Fox was astounded at this succession of 
 misfortunes. With the advice of Bitelas he dismissed a great 
 part of his force, and retained only about four hundred 
 of the boldest and most faithful of the body, with whein 
 he resolved to defend his castle of Malepardus to the last 
 extremity. It had already been fortified and victualled as 
 a measure of precaution against such a misadventure as 
 the present, and it was now the only resource the Fox 
 had left, who was too far endangered with the king, to 
 hope any thing more from his cunning speeches, and who 
 had no more confidence in the success of his falsehood. 
 
 CHAPTER III. Of the Capture, Confession, and Execu- 
 tion of the traitor Reynard. 
 
 JjY this time the night was over, and the sun had risen 
 brightly on the king and his cause. His majesty felt very 
 hungry, and he commanded that a plentiful feast should 
 be served up for himself and friends, that they should all 
 make merry together. Not a word was uttered during the 
 banquet; but when it was finished, the king addressed 
 the Leopard and Panther in the following words: 
 
 'My lords, you have disclosed a most vile conspiracy, 
 and have done it with great prudence ; for such was my 
 weakness in favour of that treacherous Reynard, that no 
 course but that which you have followed would have 
 opened my eyes. I thank you both for your return to 
 honour, and all my friends for their good aid and counsel.
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. ' 75 
 
 I now think it advisable that we should proceed to examine 
 the prisoners, and then we will judge what is best to be 
 done with them ; if we find any not guilty, they shall be 
 dismissed at once.' 
 
 'My liege/ said the Leopard, 'if your majesty will 
 permit me to advise, after so recent a participation in 
 treason myself, I would say that all the commons are 
 innocent ; they were led by their lords, and the most pro- 
 found secrecy was maintained by us towards them as to 
 the object of this attack. This your majesty will soon 
 discover by examination.' ' Well then,' said the king, ' let 
 them be called in.' So when they were brought in, his 
 majesty asked them why they took up arms against him. 
 They said they were hired by lord Reynard in his ma- 
 jesty's name, but for what purpose they knew nothing; 
 it was their business to fight, and not to inquire ; they had 
 considered themselves the soldiers of his majesty. The 
 king hearing the simplicity of their answer, dismissed them, 
 and recommended them to be ready to fight against the 
 Fox when called upon. They replied that they were always 
 ready and willing to draw their swords against the king's 
 enemies; and so they went away to their own homes. 
 
 When this was done, the king said, ' Now, my friends, 
 I see Reynard's work in all this, it is managed so craftily ; 
 none of these poor fellows knew they were fighting against 
 me, but all thought themselves acting justly. It is, how- 
 ever, very different with the officers, and we shall take a 
 different course with them. Let Pitwood be first called in.' 
 When Pitwood came in, the king said sternly, ' Tear off 
 the villain's disguise, that we may see him as he is.' 
 
 Then the Panther in a moment tore off the woolly coat 
 of Bellin, and as soon as the company saw that the disguised 
 philosopher was Isgrirri the Wolf, they laughed heartily. 
 When silence was restored, the king said, ' Vile wretch ! 
 what has moved thee to conspire the death of one who hath 
 raised thee from meanness and poverty to honour and 
 wealth ? Is this a sample of the lessons thou teachest ?' 
 The Wolf replied, trembling with fear, ' The Fox gave us 
 many presents, and he persuaded us with his smooth tongue 
 that we should assemble with our soldiers, attack the royal 
 palace, cut off your majesty's head, and crown him king 
 over us.' ' Enough !' cried the king, in a rage which he was 
 unable to conceal ; ' chain the villain to a stake, and feed 
 him with bread and water, until we send for him.' 
 
 The Wolf was carried off, and Bruin brought in. Bruin 
 said he did not know much about the matter, but that he 
 did as the rest did, because he did not like to be plagued
 
 76 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 about it; so he was sent to keep company with Isgrim. 
 All the rest confessed their guilt, merely alleging the per- 
 suasions of the Fox and his cousin Bitelas. The Cat alone 
 pleaded his heing deputy to lord Bruin, which left him no 
 choice but to follow his master's orders ; but as other pri- 
 soners said that Tibert with his subtlety rather led Bruin 
 than was led by him, his excuse was overruled, and he was 
 dispatched to fare like the rest. 
 
 Then the king arose, and went out with his friends to 
 take a walk through the gardens of his palace, and to 
 deliberate on what steps should be taken. The result of 
 the consultation was, that the king's son should immediately 
 inarch to Malepardus with the largest body of troops that 
 could be assembled at so short a notice, that they should 
 there summon Reynard to come to answer for his crimes, 
 threaten his castle with demolition in case of his refusal, 
 and offer pardon to the deluded troops who still remained 
 in his service, if they would at once forsake him, and return 
 to their duty. All this was done, and so expeditiously, that 
 the prince and his soldiers, accompanied by the Leopard and 
 Panther, reached the castle early next morning. They in- 
 vested it on every side, and carefully watched all the avenues 
 leading to it, many of which were holes in the earth at some 
 distance from the walls, but communicating with the in- 
 terior through underground passages. They soon caught a 
 dozen or more of the Fox's adherents, loaded with provi- 
 sions, who had been sent out to forage early in the night, 
 and who were trying to creep quietly into these holes ; and 
 from them they learned that all the party of Reynard did 
 not consist of more than four hundred, of whom one hun- 
 dred were then out foraging ; but that Reynard and Bitelas 
 were both within, determined not to surrender. 
 
 Sir Fyrapel was ordered to take a small body of sol- 
 diers, and to get as near the gate as he could, and sum- 
 mon the Fox to deliver himself up. . So he took forty men, 
 and advancing as close as he thought prudent, began his 
 dangerous task : ' Sir Reynard,' cried he, ' his majesty, 
 the king of beasts, commands you through me to deliver 
 up your fort and ammunition, or otherwise he is determined 
 to proceed to all extremities against you.' He had hardly 
 got so far, when a shower of heavy stones from the castle 
 walls wounded him and several of his soldiers, and forced 
 him to return to his commander, who immediately issued 
 orders to encamp before the fort, and to place watches on 
 every side, as it was feared that during the night Reynard 
 might make some attempts at an escape. In the mean time 
 messengers were dispatched to the king, requesting him to
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 77 
 
 send such additional troops as had been levied in aid of the 
 determination made to force the castle. 
 
 During this time the Fox was not idle ; he reflected 
 that he had lost a good many soldiers who had been inter- 
 cepted foraging, and he had every reason to suppose that 
 the prince's army would be reinforced by the morning. He 
 therefore determined to make a sally in the night, which 
 should be led by Bitelas, who should creep with all secrecy 
 to the encampment, and endeavour to do as much harm as 
 he could to the royal troops, hoping tha.t he might himself 
 escape in the confusion. Three hundred were selected for 
 this object; they were led on by Bitelas in admirable order 
 and in deep silence, and they reached the enemy without 
 being heard until they were felt. But all was in vain : the 
 Leopard was awake in the rear of the camp, and although 
 wounded by the shower of stones from the castle, he led 
 round a considerable body of his own followers, so as to 
 outflank the attacking party on the right wing, while the 
 Panther under his orders did the same on the left ; so that 
 the Fox's party was completely enveloped, while fighting 
 with the main body. At this attack most of them threw 
 down their arms and attempted flight ; several were taken 
 prisoners, some slain, and the rest returned to carry the 
 fatal news to Reynard. After the fight was done, the pri- 
 soners were counted, and found to amount to one hundred 
 and six : the dead could not be reckoned until day-light, 
 when it was found that although the king had lost but 
 six soldiers, Reynard had lost by death forty-eight, among 
 whom was Bitelas ; so that out of three hundred who left 
 Malepardus, only one hundred and forty-six returned. 
 
 The news of this victory, and of the death of Bitelas, 
 was carried to the court very soon, and the king was rejoiced 
 thereat. He immediately dispatched the same messenger 
 with orders to his son to proclaim, within the hearing of 
 Malepardus, his royal pardon to all in the castle who would 
 forsake the traitor Reynard, and return to their duty. He 
 communicated to him by the same dispatch, that he had 
 sent out his commands to all the country to rise in arms as 
 speedily as possible, and to assemble at Malepardus in aid 
 of the royal forces there. On the receipt of this order, the 
 young Lion proceeded to the gates of the castle with a small 
 party, accompanied by a herald, who proclaimed with a loud 
 voice, that all those who would return to their duty within 
 three hours, should receive the king's pardon, but that any 
 taken in arms after the expiration of that time, would be 
 put to death without mercy. In a very short time, near a 
 hundred of Reynard's soldiers came out, and begged to be
 
 78 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 received into the royal forces, shewing themselves anxious 
 to redeem their treason by assisting to destroy the principal 
 traitor ; and in a very short time the troops were reinforced 
 by large bodies, who came in pursuance of the royal com- 
 mand. 
 
 The king's son thought it now time to blockade the 
 castle ; it was invested on every side : large stones were 
 thrown into all the burrows that could be discovered, so as 
 to prevent escape that way, and strict watch was kept. It 
 was determined to storm the place as soon as scaling ladders 
 could be procured, and every means was put in requisition 
 to forward the preparations. Reynard, in the mean time, 
 had not been idle ; he had dug a wide trench within the 
 walls, which he filled with water, and had constructed false 
 wooden battlements all round at the top of the wall, that 
 the assailants might be deceived ; while the few soldiers that 
 remained with him were determined and desperate, and 
 awaited the coming assault with extraordinary resolution. 
 The storming began early on the following morning : four 
 hundred of the boldest men mounted the ladders, and 
 climbed the false battlements, deceived, as the Fox expected, 
 by their apparent firmness ; but the battlements suddenly 
 gave way, and the assailants fell into the trench, where 
 those who escaped drowning fell by the blows of Reynard's 
 adherents. 
 
 This discomfiture greatly perplexed the young Lion, 
 who immediately summoned a council of war, and called 
 before him two or three soldiers who were of the storming 
 party, but who not having so far advanced as the others, 
 had saved themselves by clinging to the wall when the false 
 battlements gave way. These reported that the trench, 
 which was plainly visible from the wall, was crossed by 
 narrow bridges, communicating with the burrows before 
 alluded to, by which the inhabitants entered the castle. 
 Upon this information orders were given for a new assault 
 on another plan ; six hundred troops were directed to 
 mount the walls, and to annoy the besieged by every means 
 in their power, but by no means to attempt an entrance ; 
 and while this was doing, a strong body was commanded 
 to attempt to creep in through the usual avenues, which 
 were rapidly re-opened and widened for the purpose by 
 their new auxiliaries ; and it was hoped that the soldiers 
 in the castle being few, and occupied in defending them- 
 selves from the assailants on the walls, they would not be 
 able to defend the avenues. This plan succeeded perfectly ; 
 the besieged, it is true, so soon as they perceived the in- 
 tention of the royal army, proceeded to cut down the
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 79 
 
 bridges ; but the missiles from the party on the walls pre- 
 vented them from much dispatch, and in less than an hour 
 six hundred troops were in the castle. 
 
 And now a dreadful carnage ensued. The king's troops 
 were maddened with the excitement of the attack, and 
 they killed all they saw; the foxes received death in 
 every cruel form with the silence of desperate resolution 
 and a courage worthy of a better cause. Reynard himself 
 was knocked down by a battle-axe, and would have been 
 slain, but that a reward had been offered for taking him 
 alive, and at the moment his life was about to be taken, he 
 was recognized by one of his former adherents, and led out 
 of Malepardus alive. The castle was then pillaged of every 
 thing valuable and razed to the ground ; the plunder was 
 divided into three parts ; one of which was taken by the 
 prince, another by the officers, and the remainder divided 
 among all the soldiers. After this all the party returned 
 to the court leading the Fox with them fast bound in heavy 
 chains. 
 
 On the day following this signal victory, the king sat in 
 his court surrounded by a full council of his friends and 
 lineage, and they consulted how they should proceed with 
 the traitors. It was resolved that the Fox should be the 
 first examined, and then the others ; although there was no 
 hesitation in putting them all to death, as taken in the act 
 of treason. Reynard was brought in. The king addressed 
 him with mingled sorrow and rage, ' False traitor, loaded 
 with vice and crime, was it not enough that thou shouldst 
 insinuate thyself into my confidence, creep into the exercise 
 of power, engage me to give high office to thy monstrous 
 and unworthy instruments, Isgrim and Bruin ; was not, I 
 say, all this enough, but thou must basely seek to raise 
 thyself by my death to a dignity for which thou art unfitted 
 by nature as well as education ? What hast thou to answer 
 to this ?' 
 
 Reynard, who at first had looked with defiance at the 
 Lion, now held down his head, and said, ' My life is short, 
 and my words shall be but few. I here declare my- 
 self guilty of treason, and that I would have slain your 
 majesty, if it had been in my power. My words are ended.' 
 ' It is enough, said the king, ' call in the other traitors.' 
 
 When they were brought in, the Lion thus addressed 
 them, ' You have all partaken in the same treason, and you 
 shall all be partakers in the same punishment, except 
 Bitelas, who has met a death too honourable for his merits. 
 Hearken therefore to your sentences. 
 
 'You, Reynard, as the chief traitor and contriver of
 
 80 THE MOST DELECTABLE HISTORY 
 
 mutiny and rebellion, shall be ignominiously dragged from 
 this place to the place of execution, where you shall be 
 hanged until you are dead ; your head and your right hand 
 shall be cut off", and set up in some public place, as a terror 
 to all traitors for future times.' This same sentence was 
 repeated to Bruin and Isgrim ; but in the cases of the other 
 traitors, the decapitation and cutting off the hands were 
 omitted. The council now broke up, after having resolved 
 that the execution should take place on the morrow. 
 
 Early on the following morning the king and his friends 
 took their station on the skirt of a forest, at some distance 
 from the palace, where every thing was prepared for the 
 execution. Ladders were raised against as many trees as 
 there were traitors, and an executioner was ready at each 
 ladder. Presently the culprits arrived, all fast bound with 
 chains, accompanied by a good guard, and followed by a 
 dense multitude, shouting and hooting in contempt of the 
 traitors, and satisfaction at seeing an end put to the wicked 
 designs of the Fox, which had so nearly brought the 
 monarchy to destruction. 
 
 When all were come, each prisoner was led to the tree 
 prepared for him ; and the king caused it to be proclaimed, 
 that if any desired to ease their minds before execution, 
 time should be allowed them to do so. The Fox at these 
 words spoke, 'Dread sovereign, I am much comforted at 
 the liberty afforded me to say a few words of confession 
 before my death, which is no more than I deserve. I have 
 been wicked all my days ; and though I have often pre- 
 tended to a better life, yet it hath never been any thing but 
 hypocrisy. I killed Kayward the Hare, though Bellin died 
 for it. I killed Sharpbeak the Rook, and attacked Laprel 
 the Rabbit, though 1 basely denied both these accusations. 
 I persuaded your majesty to advance Isgrim and Bruin to 
 high places only for my own ends. I always sought my 
 own interest, without regard to justice, and I took bribes 
 in my office, and thus was enabled to amass much wealth. 
 This gave me the power to make those presents and gifts 
 which have led to my own destruction, and to that of so 
 many others, less criminal than myself, and would have 
 conducted your majesty to an untimely end, but for the 
 happy discovery by the Leopard and Panther, at which I 
 now rejoice.' Here the Fox ceased, and neither of the 
 other traitors shewing a desire to say any thing, the king 
 ordered the execution to proceed. 
 
 After all was over, the heads and right hands of Rey- 
 nard, Isgrim, and Bruin were carried to the palace, and 
 there set on poles, and fixed upon the highest tower of the
 
 OF REYNARD THE FOX. 81 
 
 building, so that they might be seen by all that passed by. 
 The bodies were then buried in one pit together; and it 
 was remarked that the body of Tibert the Cat stirred a 
 little, as though he were not quite dead ; but the earth was 
 thrown in upon him as upon the others, and he was soon 
 gone. 
 
 After the well-deserved death of these traitors, the king 
 sought diligently for any remains of Bellin's kindred who 
 might have escaped the massacre made of them by the insti- 
 gation of the Fox. Three were found of great innocence 
 and simplicity ; one of whom, Bellin's grandson, his ma- 
 jesty promoted to the office of privy-counsellor, and made 
 him his most intimate friend. Others were found after- 
 wards in different places, and several of the highest dig- 
 nitaries of the kingdom, following the king's example, took 
 much notice of them, and admitted them into their houses 
 and at their tables; so that in time the meekness and 
 temperance of their new associates wrought a desirable- 
 change in the habits of themselves ; they became less hasty 
 and choleric, less greedy and gluttonous; and the king, 
 seeing the great benefit of the change, issued an edict com- 
 manding all his subjects, high and low, to hold familiarity 
 with Bellin's kindred, to imitate their example, and to profit 
 by their instructions. This edict was obeyed with punctu- 
 ality by the commons, who ever after lived in such peace 
 and love, that the like had never been heard of since the 
 beginning of the Lion's kingdom. 
 
 END OF THE SECOND PART OF THE HISTORY OF 
 REYNARD THE FOX. 
 
 REYNARD.
 
 THE HISTORY OF REYNARDINE, 
 SON OF REYNARD THE FOX.
 
 THE 
 
 HISTOEY OF KEYNARDINE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. How Reynardine left Malepardus, lost all his 
 patrimony, and became Doctor of Physic. 
 
 W E have related in the history of Reynard the Fox how 
 that traitor was deservedly hanged for conspiring the death 
 of the noble Lion ; we are now to narrate the events of the 
 life of his favourite son, Reynardine, who with his brother 
 Rossel, were the only members of Reynard's family that 
 escaped the ruin which fell upon him. 
 
 These two whelps, who had been early disciplined in 
 the treacherous arts of their father, had left Malepardus 
 before the siege began ; having been sent away by him to 
 a distant forest, with great store of his wealth, and mxich 
 evil advice as to their future conduct ; the chief of which 
 was that they should cheat all they could, and that they 
 should seek every means in their power to be revenged on 
 the Leopard and Panther, who had discovered his treason 
 to the Lion. Reynard hoped that he might perhaps escape 
 from his toils, and rejoin his sons in their distant dwelling; 
 but in this, as we have seen, he was disappointed. 
 
 When the cubs heard of their father's death, instead of 
 making lamentation, they began like wicked sons to quarrel 
 about dividing his riches. They made so much noise that 
 they were overheard by Corbant the Rook, the old enemy 
 of Reynard, who immediately flew to a wood which he 
 knew was frequented by the outlawed beasts, the sons of 
 the traitors who had died for their participation in the 
 treason of the Fox. There he found the Wolf, the Tiger, 
 and the Bear, all conversing together. He was glad, and 
 he accosted them, saying, 'Noble sirs, I bring you good 
 tidings. The two surviving sons of the traitor Reynard are 
 now in this forest, dividing their father's treasure, which 
 they have brought with them from Malepardus.' 'How 
 say you?' replied the Bear, 'that is indeed good news; 
 for he was very rich ; and if it be true, as I heard, that his 
 castle was found almost empty, they must have a vast 
 treasure ; all this, my friends, may become ours if we be 
 brave and prudent.' The others fell at once into the views 
 of the Bear, and they concerted a plan to rob the two Foxes 
 as soon as it should be dark. Corbant readily agreed to be
 
 86 HISTORY OF REYNARDINE, 
 
 their guide to the spot, and he was promised his share of 
 the spoil. 
 
 When night came on, the three thieves were guided by 
 the Rook to the hiding places of Reynardine and Rosse'l, 
 whom they found watching over their treasures. The 
 strength of the assailants rendered precaution unnecessary ; 
 the attack was made upon both at the same instant ; and in 
 less time than would take in telling, Rossel, who had more 
 courage than prudence, was slain upon his treasure ; and 
 Reynardine, who was never known to resist a foe more 
 powerful than himself, was already far away in flight. The 
 three robbers rejoiced mightily over their ill-gotten spoil, say- 
 ing they cared not now for their outlawry, that they were as 
 rich as any lord about the king's court, and that they could 
 do as they pleased, and eat daily of the best in the land. 
 They then proceeded to the division of the booty, which 
 was in their case a still more difficult matter than it was 
 found to be by the two Foxes ; for they were three instead 
 of two, aud more savage in their tempers ; besides having 
 made a promise to Corbant to give him a share, which 
 promise they had no mind to keep. 
 
 They began by placing their spoil in a great heap, 
 which they agreed should be assorted in small lots, and that 
 each party should choose what pleased him best, taking 
 only one lot at a time. But they could not agree upon the 
 party who should take the first choice. The Tiger claimed 
 the preference, on the plea of the antiquity and nobility of 
 his family, and the beauty of his person ; the Bear alleged 
 equal antiquity with the Tiger, said that beauty was merely 
 a matter of taste, and that he thought himself at least as 
 handsome as the Tiger ; but the Wolf seized upon the first 
 lot, and said that he cared neither for antiquity nor beauty, 
 that he had got it, and would keep it in spite of both. At 
 this the Bear and Tiger fell upon the Wolf in a great rage, 
 and a fierce battle began between them, which was continued 
 with much noise and tumult. In the mean time the young 
 prince, the son of the royal Lion, who was returning from 
 the chase with his attendants, came near that part of the 
 forest, and hearing the affray, approached the place where 
 the battle raged. Seeing the combatants, he said in an 
 angry tone, ' What means this outrage and tumult at such 
 an unseasonable hour ? If this uproar should reach my 
 father's ears, it will tend but little to your benefit.' At this 
 the robbers ceased their fighting, and approaching the young 
 Lion, they humbly demanded pardon, and offered him a 
 large share of their spoil; but the young prince ordered his 
 attendants to drive them away, and carry all the treasure to
 
 SOX OF UEYNARD THE FOX. 87 
 
 his father's palace. How the disappointed robbers fared 
 after this, our history does not say ; our further business is 
 with the fortunes of Reynardine. 
 
 Although Reynardine fled with great speed from the 
 spoilers who had killed his brother, he did not fail to avoid 
 all traces of any beast more powerful than himself. He kept 
 on his course for a great part of the night, without seeing 
 any one whom he thought of accosting, until early the next 
 morning, when to his great delight he saw at the mouth of 
 a hole near a pond, Brocket, the son of his father's fast 
 friend Grimbard. Both parties were equally pleased at 
 this meeting ; for Brocket was good natured, and happy to 
 help a friend in need, and Reynardine was almost dead with 
 fatigue and hunger. Brocket soon brought out something 
 to eat, and after the Fox had well rested, the two friends 
 had some discourse together on the best course that Rey- 
 nardine could adopt in his unlucky circumstances. After a 
 great many pros and cons, it was resolved that Brocket 
 should accompany Reynardine to a quiet lodging-house, 
 where he could be accommodated with a frugal meal every 
 day, and shelter at night, on the. simple condition of helping 
 in the kitchen, or in any other way that he might be found 
 capable. Reynai'dine was very glad to get such a good 
 offer ; he liked it all very well except the frugal meal ; 
 and he secretly promised to indemnify himself for his forced 
 temperance, by creeping out at night and robbing some 
 poultry-yard, or dove-cot ; or perhaps by occasionally steal- 
 ing a sly bit by day, when unobserved by the people of the 
 house. He therefore set out for this charitable ab6de, in 
 company with Brocket, who introduced him to the principal 
 people of the house, and advised him to keep on good terms 
 with Grimlook the Mastiff, who acted as porter at the gate. 
 When Brocket saw his friend settled in his new lodging, he 
 took his leave of him with many protestations of friendship, 
 and returned home. 
 
 Reynardine went on very well for some weeks. He 
 managed to get out very often at night, and seldom without 
 taking a fowl or a duck ; and as he was cunning enough to 
 give Grimlook the Mastiff a share of his spoils, and made 
 him thus his friend, he had never any difficulty in getting 
 out. Then his work in the kitchen gave him many an 
 opportunity of pilfering, by which he did not fail to profit ; 
 and that at length so largely, that he excited some suspicion 
 among the servants, who could not help remarking that 
 their victuals disappeared much more rapidly than they 
 ought. These suspicions were communicated to the chief 
 cook, who set a watch upon the Fox ; and after some days
 
 88 HISTORY OF REYNARDINE, 
 
 Reynardine was seen to walk off slily with the leg of a fat 
 capon, which was being cooked for the master of the house. 
 At this discovery he was seized, reproached with his ingrati- 
 tude, and turned out of the house with disgrace. 
 
 Reynardine quitted the house with a sorrowful heart, 
 and now regretted his greediness and imprudence ; he 
 travelled for some time without knowing which way to go, 
 and night found him hungry and weary, without food or 
 shelter. At length he stretched himself out under a thick 
 hedge, and fell asleep. Early the next morning he was 
 awakened by the crowing of a Cock, a most pleasing sound 
 to the Fox, and indicative of a good breakfast, if he could 
 but find out the way to catch it. Luckily for him, this 
 proved an easy matter ; for the Cock was straying carelessly 
 at a considerable distance from his place of abode, picking 
 up his own breakfast in a field of ripe corn, when he be- 
 came a breakfast to the hungry Reynardine, who, refreshed 
 by so good a meal, proceeded merrily on his journey. The 
 Fox now resolved to go back to the neighbourhood of his 
 old residence, hoping that by this time his enemies would 
 have forgotten him, and that he might light upon some 
 friend who would advise him what to do. He pursued this 
 course ; in a short time he found himself among scenes 
 familiar to his early days; and wept for joy as he crept 
 through the holes and burrows, and traversed the lanes and 
 fields that he had known in his youth. 
 
 In one of his old haunts he met with Fairlimb, son of 
 dame Rukenaw the Ape, who once delivered his father 
 from great peril. As soon as Fairlimb saw him, he cried 
 out, ' Cousin, I am heartily glad to see you alive and in 
 good health, but am troubled at the danger you are ex- 
 posed to from the proscription you lie under ; tell me what 
 course you intend to follow, and how I can serve you.' 
 Reynardine gave a thousand thanks to his kind friend 
 Fairlimb, told him all his adventures, expatiated upon his 
 poverty, and his willingness to do any thing to gain a live- 
 lihood, but protested that he should die with grief, if he 
 could not stay in his native place. As he was speaking, 
 there passed by Baldwin the Ass, in great state, clad in 
 velvet, with a lacquey at his heels. 'Look you there,' said 
 Fairlimb, ' there is one who shall teach you how to live ; 
 that Ass is a doctor of physic.' ' How,' replied Reynardine, 
 ' that Ass, so often the jest and laughing-stock of all the 
 beasts of the field !' ' No less,' answered the Ape, 'and he 
 is now on his way to visit lord Fyrapel, who is ill of the 
 gout, and who is so persuaded of Baldwin's skill, that he 
 hath recommended him as physician to several of his friends,
 
 SOX OF REYNARD THE FOX. 89 
 
 so that the once foolish Ass hath proved himself wise and 
 prudent.' ' But who was his master, and what is his secret 
 for success?' 'Confidence/ replied Fairlimb, 'and a few 
 hard words ; he had but to repeat a tho^and times that he 
 was the most skilful physician in the world, to make all the 
 fools in the world believe him. I once practised physic 
 myself, and I flatter myself with no little skill. I obtained 
 all the wise patients, and Baldwin the foolish ones ; and if 
 you consider how few are the wise, and how many the 
 foolish ; and moreover that the foolish often conceit them- 
 selves ill when nothing ails them, you will not wonder that 
 I starved while he grew rich. Fools want something new 
 and strange ; of wisdom and ' skill they know nothing.' 
 ' Would I were an ass,' said Reynardine, thoughtfully ; ' I 
 should be skilful as Baldwin, and the favourite of the rich.' 
 ' Listen to me,' said Fairlimb, ' I have a lucky thought. I 
 am owner of a good store of lancets, cupping-glasses, combs, 
 razors, scissors, and other implements of the surgeon's art ; 
 by the help of these I will shave your tail, dye your coat 
 black, put you on a handsome wig of sheep's wool, and 
 disguise you in such a way, that Reynard himself, if he 
 should come to life, would not know you. You shall then 
 give out that you are a rare leech from foreign parts, able to 
 ure all diseases, and I will be your servant and assistant. 
 The want of a bold face and ready tongue hath been my 
 bane; but with your wit and my skill, it shall be hard if 
 we do not drive as good a trade as our friend Baldwin.' 
 ' Agreed/ said the Fox, with joy ; 'the plan is excellent, and 
 must succeed ; we will be partners, and divide profits. But 
 when shall we begin?' 'Immediately/ replied Fairlimb; so 
 to it they went. In a few days the Ape had shaved Reynard- 
 ine's tail, dyed his coat black, and made him a bushy black 
 wig that covered his head and ears completely. They then 
 sat down together to consult about future proceedings. 
 
 The result of their conference was, that Reynardine 
 should be dubbed Dr Pedanto, and that he should take up 
 his residence in one of the most public places, publish great 
 accounts of his skill, and of his success in foreign parts; 
 profess to have been physician to three emperors, seventeen 
 kings, thirty-nine royal princes, and an infinite number 
 of nobles of inferior rank ; and that he had travelled all 
 over the world and could speak thirty-four languages. He 
 was further to state, that he came to this place only out of 
 kindness to the inhabitants, and would cure all diseases of 
 every nature, internal or external, for the most moderate 
 recompense. All this was done speedily, and advertisements 
 to that effect stuck up on all the trees in the forest. In the
 
 90 HISTORY OP REYNARDINE, 
 
 mean time Fairlimb was not idle, but went about expati- 
 ating on the wonderful cures that had been performed by 
 the learned Dr Pedanto, all of which he was ready to 
 avouch, until he had created a degree of curiosity among 
 those who could not read, quite equal to what had been 
 produced on the more educated body by the doctor's own 
 bills. 
 
 CHAPTER II. How Reynardine poisoned the Leopard, and 
 became servant to the Panther. 
 
 1 HE success of their schemes fully answered the expecta- 
 tions of the contrivers ; patients nocked on them from all 
 sides, most of whom suffered from their confidence in the 
 new doctor; but his glib tongue carried every thing before 
 him, and poor Baldwin was left almost without a patient. 
 The fame of Reynardine increased daily ; his rumoured suc- 
 cess among the commons brought him into notice among 
 those of higher degree, and at last he left the care of the 
 low to Fairlimb, and himself attended to the great. 
 
 This happy course would have lasted a long time, had 
 he not one day been sent for to Fyrapcl the Leopard, 
 who, deriving no benefit from the remedies of Baldwin, 
 had determined to try the skill of Dr Pedanto. Reynard- 
 ine, upon this application, called to mind the discovery of 
 his father's treason by this very Fyrapel, and resolved to 
 seize the opportunity of taking revenge. He went to the 
 Leopard's house, where he found the young lord Fyrapel, 
 who besought him to give his father a sleeping draught, as 
 the whole household had hardly been able to get a nap for 
 above a week, in consequence of the watchfulness of their 
 master. Now Reynardine saw that the time for revenge 
 was come. He gave old Fyrapel a large dose of opium, and 
 told his son to allow his father to sleep but four hours only, 
 and then to awaken him, or else he said that his sleep would 
 inevitably end in death. He said he would himself stay 
 with them until the sleep came on ; but that his care for 
 his other patients would not allow him to remain during the 
 four hours' sleep ; he knew, however, that he might trust 
 so excellent a son with the duty of awakening his father at 
 the proper time. While Reynardine was awaiting the effect 
 of the medicine, the young Leopard invited him to partake 
 of some refreshment which was provided for himself ; to 
 this he gladly'consented, and while they were eating, he 
 slily put a small dose of opium into Fyrapel's dish, which.
 
 SON OF REYNARD THE FOX. 91 
 
 would produce sleep long enough to prevent him from 
 awakening the old Leopard at the time he stated. By the 
 time they had eaten, old Fyrapel was sound asleep, and 
 snoring loudly. Reynardine was now handsomely rewarded 
 by the young lord, to whom he again repeated his injunc- 
 tions of awakening his patient at the end of four hours. 
 He then went away. 
 
 In a short time after Reynardine's departure, the young 
 Fyrapel began to feel the effects of his long watchings by his 
 father's side, and his drowsiness was much increased by the 
 dose of opium slily administered by the Fox. He resisted 
 the approach of sleep for more than two hours, but at last 
 he dropped off. All the servants of the family were already 
 asleep, as strict orders had been given not to allow the least 
 noise, for fear of disturbing the repose of the patient. The 
 old Leopard, as may be supposed, never awoke more. The 
 young Fyrapel, on his awaking, found him dead and cold. 
 He secretly blamed himself for this catastrophe, which he 
 attributed wholly to his own want of wakefulness, not even 
 suspecting Dr Pedanto, whom he rewarded very liberally 
 for his attendance. He buried his deceased father with great 
 magnificence, and succeeded quietly to his estates, no one 
 having the smallest suspicion of the truth. 
 
 Reynardine secretly exulted in the success of his villany ; 
 though, as is generally the case, it turned out to be the chief 
 cause of his own downfal. His success among the great had 
 made him proud and ungrateful to his good friend Fairlimb, 
 by whose aid and advice he had risen to his present state ; 
 he had for some time been thinking that he could do with- 
 out him ; and now, on the receipt of so large a reward from 
 the young Leopard, he refused to give him his fair share. 
 This produced a quarrel, which led to a dissolution of the 
 partnership between the friends, and subsequently to the 
 ruin of Reynardine, who in his folly had forgotten that it 
 was in the power of Fairlimb to put his life in danger at 
 any time, by merely naming him as the proscribed son of 
 the traitor Reynard. This the Ape did not fail to do, 
 though merely by hints and whispers ; but these hints grew 
 to more open reports, and the Fox soon saw himself first an 
 object of suspicion, and then a criminal, sought after for the 
 purpose of punishment. He therefore made his escape by 
 night, son-owing for his folly, and regretting the loss of so 
 easy a life, and departed once more on his travels, as poor 
 and miserable as when he first returned to his native place. 
 
 Reynardine travelled for some time in a state of great 
 misery, proceeding only by night, and lying close by day, 
 until he had got to a good distance from the scene of his
 
 92 HISTORY OF REYNARDINE, 
 
 villanies. About the seventh day, he thought he might 
 venture out by daylight, and at the first village he came to, 
 he heard a mountebank in the middle of the place loudly 
 vaunting his wonderful powers in physic and surgery, 
 offering to cure every disease by one dose of physic only, 
 and to perform any operation, however severe it might be, 
 without putting the patient to any pain whatever. This 
 the Fox thought an excellent opportunity for disguising 
 himself so as not to be known again by his most intimate 
 acquaintances. He approached the mountebank, and told 
 him he wished to have his tail and ears cut off, but as he 
 was unable to pay him for performing the operation, he was 
 ready to serve him for a time in any way he might desire, 
 as a compensation for his trouble. The mountebank, who 
 was quite as glad to find a patient, as the Fox was to find a 
 doctor, told himthat if he would allow the operation to be 
 performed in the open place, and then would publicly de- 
 clare that he had felt no pain while it was being performed, 
 he would not only charge him nothing for his trouble, but 
 would even reward him handsomely. When this was agreed 
 to, the mountebank set to work, and very speedily deprived 
 Reynardine of his ears and tail, who bore the pain without 
 so much as a wink, being resolved to earn his promised 
 reward. When the blood was stanched, the Fox made the 
 public declaration required of him, and every day after- 
 wards, until his wounds were quite healed, he appeared on 
 the mountebank's stage, and applauded the great skill and 
 dexterity of his operator. 
 
 Reynardine now received his reward, with the assur- 
 ances of the mountebank that his disguise was such, that 
 his best friend could not by any possibility recognise him. 
 Reynardine then resolved to return once more to his native 
 place. He set out briskly, and soon reached his old haunts 
 again, where he had a practical proof of the truth of the 
 mountebank's assurance ; for the first he met was his old 
 acquaintance Brocket, who accosted him as a stranger, and 
 was very desirous of knowing the country and parentage of 
 so extraordinary an animal. Reynardine was much pleased 
 at the success of his disguise, and after a few words, dis- 
 covered himself to Brocket, who could hardly believe his 
 eyes at the strange look of his old friend, related all his 
 adventures from the time he had last seen Brocket, until 
 the day of their meeting, and begged him to think of some 
 way by which he might earn a livelihood, without exposing 
 himself to the temptations he had yielded to on former 
 occasions. 
 
 After a long consultation on the prospects of Reynardine
 
 SON OF REYNARD THE FOX. 93 
 
 in his new shape, Brocket delivered his advice in these 
 terms. 'As you have succeeded so ill, my friend, in your 
 profession of a learned doctor, 1 would recommend you to 
 try a contrary course. Shew yourself simple-hearted, and 
 resolve to know nothing ; change your name, and enter into 
 the service of some eminent man ; pretend a great love for 
 him, and humour him in all his whims, and you will as- 
 suredly rise to good fortune. For the simple excite no 
 envy, while the clever and witty starve for want of bread. 
 Come and see me sometimes in the forest, but if you meet 
 me in the crowd of other beasts, look as though you knew 
 me not, for in this way we can be better friends; the friend- 
 ship of my family for Reynard, renders an acquaintance 
 with me dangerous to all who bear his name.' Here the 
 friends parted ; Brocket returned to his hole, and Rey- 
 nardine advanced to the more inhabited part of the forest, 
 ruminating on the advice of his old acquaintance, which he 
 determined to improve upon by making it subservient to 
 his revenge against the surviving discoverer of his father's 
 treason. The Leopard he had already destroyed, and he 
 now resolved to proceed to the dwelling of the Panther, and 
 try to enter into his service. 
 
 When he reached the spot, he was regarded with much 
 curiosity by all who saw him, and treated with great respect 
 by the household of the Panther, who looked upon him as 
 a foreign traveller, a character much esteemed by their 
 master. He inquired of the porter if he might be admitted 
 to see his lordship; and the porter at once went to his 
 master, and told him that there was at his door a foreigner of 
 extraordinary appearance, who wished to have an audience 
 with him. The Panther immediately directed that he 
 should be introduced, and Reynardine was brought in. As 
 soon as he saw the Panther he made a very low bow, and 
 began : ' I am come, my lord, a long journey of eighteen 
 months' rapid travelling, excited by the desire of seeing 
 this happy kingdom, and enjoying an intercourse with its 
 enlightened inhabitants ; among whom your lordship has 
 the greatest name. I am ignorant, but desirous of learning, 
 and for this purpose was I sent by my parents from a 
 country where all are ignorant, to one where knowledge 
 may be found. My parents sent much wealth with me, 
 and a sufficient retinue; but we were attacked by plur- 
 derers on our road; my servants stood stoutly against the 
 villains, and all alas! were cruelly slain; I alone escaped, 
 but poor, friendless, and broken hearted. On my arrival 
 in this place, I knew of none to whom I could have re- 
 course before your lordship, of whose nobility, wisdom, and
 
 9* HISTORY OF REYNARDINE, 
 
 generosity I had heard so much in my own country: to 
 you, then, I make my humble petition that I may be your 
 servant, ready as I am to perform any office, however low 
 and mean it may be reckoned, for one whose service cannot 
 but do honour to all who are employed in it.' 
 
 The Panther, Wondering at the uncommon shape of the 
 stranger, and pleased at his flattery, replied, ' It is the wish 
 of our most gracious king and of all his servants, to shew 
 courtesy to strangers, more especially to such as are of good 
 parts and honourable conduct ; therefore your request shall 
 not be denied : I am sorry that I cannot prefer you to the 
 state that your education and abilities deserve, but in the 
 mean time stay in my house, stir yourself in my service, in 
 such matters as may be wanting, and if 1 see you deserv- 
 ing, I will promote you as soon as I find an opportunity.' 
 ' Honourable sir,' replied the Fox with all submission, ' I 
 do not want greatness ; all I ask is a poor living under the 
 favour of your protection, of whose virtues I have heard so 
 much, that the meanest office in your kitchen shall be -to 
 me an honour.' 'What is thy name?' said the Panther. 
 ' Crabron is the name of my family,' said the Fox ; ' this 
 name hath descended to me through an unbroken line for 
 five hundred years, and by none hath it been dishonoured 
 or disgraced.' 'Jt is well,' replied the Panther: f be my 
 servant, obey my commands, which shall be few and light, 
 and live in my house ; and you shall be advanced, as your 
 deserts and opportunity shall suit.' 
 
 CHAPTER III. How Reynardine contrived the Panther's 
 death. 
 
 JttEYNARDINE was delighted at his success ; he was 
 now well found in bed and board, and he had nothing to 
 do, but to obey a few trifling commands, which required 
 but little care or time ; but in these he shewed such a zeal 
 and earnestness, and pretended such a kindness towards 
 the old Panther, that he became quite a favourite. When 
 he had been in this situation about four months, the Pan- 
 ther's confidential servant and secretary was preferred to 
 the service of the king himself, and the Panther was re- 
 solved to give the office to Reynardine, whom he called 
 before him. ' Crabron,' said he, ' my head servant, who was 
 next my own person, is removed from my service to a more 
 honourable office at court. Since you have been with me, 
 I have had every reason to be satisfied with your attentions;
 
 SON OF REYNARD THE FOX. 95 
 
 and according to my promise, I now give the vacant office 
 to you: be faithful and diligent as he was, and on some 
 future occasion I may advance you, as I have done him.' 
 'My lord/ replied the Fox humbly, 'I trust you shall never 
 have reason to think your favour ill bestowed on me.' 
 Thus the Fox became close attendant on the unhappy 
 Panther, whose death he was so desirous to bring about, 
 and whom he was determined to destroy as soon he could 
 do it with safety to himself. 
 
 It was not long before an opportunity presented itself of 
 carrying his wicked intentions into effect. The Panther 
 had been invited to a feast at court, where he ate so heartily 
 that he got a surfeit, and returned home very unwell. He 
 sent immediately for Baldwin the Ass, who had regained his 
 lost favour when Dr Pedanto ran away. Baldwin ordered 
 a warm bath, gave a strong dose of physic, and left a gallon 
 of what he called a diet-drink, of which his patient was 
 ordered to swallow one sixth part every four hours. The 
 Panther was desirous that no one should come near him but 
 Crabron, who was directed by the Ass in what way the 
 draught should be administered. As soon as Baldwin was 
 gone, the Fox went to the garden, where he gathered the 
 plants which he knew were most poisonous to be eaten : 
 such as monkshood, wolfsbane, and aconite ; of these he 
 pressed out the juices, and mixed them up in large quantity 
 with the draught about to be taken by his sick master, 
 most of which he threw away to make room for the deadly 
 infusion. When the hour came for the administration of 
 the first dose, the hypocritical Fox, with looks of infinite 
 concern, approached the bed of the Panther, and speaking 
 as softly as he could, ' Here my lord,' said he, ' take the 
 good mixture, which will restore an excellent subject to his 
 king, and the best of masters to his unworthy servants.' 
 The Panther took the draught with a sorrowful countenence 
 and swallowed it all. Now was the Fox glad ; he saw his 
 victim before him at the point of death, and he rejoiced 
 with a malignant joy at the accomplishment of his wicked 
 designs. Very soon the Panther grew worse : violent pains 
 came on, and in a few hours he breathed his last in the 
 presence of Baldwin, who had been sent for in the hope of 
 procuring him relief. Then the Fox, in the presence of 
 the household of the Panther, began to weep and howl, and 
 shew all the outward signs of grief : ' Oh ! my good mas- 
 ter,' cried he, ' that I were dead in thy stead ! then would 
 not a whole house be afflicted with despair, nor a nation 
 with just grief. Suddenly hast thou departed, my dear 
 lord, so suddenly, that had I not watched by thy bedside
 
 96 HISTORY OF REYNARDIXE, 
 
 without remission since thy first sickness, had I not care- 
 fully seen to the administration of every remedy ordered by 
 the learned physician. I should have my suspicions of foul 
 play. But we have the satisfaction of having done all that 
 art could do : a body weakened by long service in the cause 
 of the king could not resist the attack of disease, however 
 great the skill, and unremitting the attention of Dr Baldwin, 
 as I can most truly affirm/ Baldwin, hearing this, and 
 glad to find he was not blamed for the Panther's death, now 
 chimed in : ' There is no antidote against death : and the 
 patient's time was come: there can be no doubt that he died 
 according to the rules of physic ; yet my cares were in- 
 cessant for his welfare, and in Crabron he hath had every 
 service that the most faithful friend could supply : but all 
 must have an end.' The servants of the Panther, and the 
 young lord also, expressed their satisfaction with what had 
 been done. All now left the apartment except the Fox, who 
 would not leave the body, but staid by it until they buried 
 it; and then he -lay down upon the grave, and howled 
 piteously over it, both to conceal his pleasure at the gratifi- 
 cation of his revenge, and to attract notice by the loudness 
 of his grief. He continued this course of hypocrisy for 
 many days, during which nearly all the beasts of the forest 
 came to see him, admiring and praising his great love for 
 liis deceased master. The report of this behaviour at length 
 reached the ears of the Lion, w r ho was much pleased to hear 
 of such an attachment, and very desirous to secure such a 
 servant for himself. He therefore sent for the Fox, greatly 
 commended his fidelity, and offered him a place among his 
 own servants, which Reynardine accepted with the humblest 
 expressions of gratitude. 
 
 Reynardine was now at the height of his glory ; he had 
 revenged his fancied wrongs on the Leopard and the Pan- 
 ther, and he was in a place of high honour and profit, in 
 which he had nothing to do but to enjoy himself and eat 
 whatever he desired. After he had been some time in his 
 new state, he thought of paying a visit to his old friend 
 Brocket, and in consequence he took advantage of the first 
 fine day, to take a stroll into the forest, where he soon found 
 him, loitering about his old haunts. 
 
 These two worthies had much talk together about Rey- 
 nardine's success in his last shape, at the recital of which 
 Brocket was very much astonished ; he protested that, with 
 all his admiration of Reynardine's great talents, and with 
 all his knowledge of the ease with which people, are led by 
 those who pretend an affection for them, he had not thought 
 the Fox's flattery would have raised him to so high a- pitch.
 
 SON OF REYNARD THE FOX. 97 
 
 He could not help making Reynardine again repeat to him 
 the account of Baldwin's visit to the Panther, of his sur- 
 prise when he found that his patient was dead, and of the 
 success of his own loud lamentations ; and he declared that 
 he would not wish to have a better teacher hi the ways of 
 the world than the son of Reynard. The two friends were 
 long very merry upon all these matters, and at last parted 
 with assurances of seeing each other again soon : Brocket to 
 his hole, and Reynardine to court. 
 
 But the Fox was not aware how near was the discovery 
 of all his wickedness, and how, when he was exulting in his 
 elevation, his lowest downfal was preparing. All the while 
 that he was relating the story of his adventures, when 
 he was dilating upon the good nature of the Panther, 
 and the foolish kindness of the long, he did not know 
 that very near him, just behind a hedge of tangled briars, 
 there lay Quickscent, the king's favourite Lurcher, who 
 was daily admitted to the familiar conversation of the royal 
 Lion. 
 
 Quickscent had been hunting that morning from the 
 break of day ; he was tired with the chase and the heat of 
 the weather, and he had lain down for a little repose. He 
 lost not a word of all that passed, though he moved not, 
 being anxious to hear to an end. He was not afraid of 
 bursting out and facing the villains, but he thought it better 
 to proceed as secretly as possible, that he might warn the 
 king, and secure Reynardine before he had time to run 
 away. He therefore waited until both were far out of sight, 
 and then made the best of his way to the court, where he 
 took the earliest opportunity to see the king, and to dis- 
 close to him what a murderer and traitor he had been 
 cherishing and advancing. The Lion was alarmed and 
 shocked at this news, which he hardly believed ; but he 
 gave instant orders that the Fox should be arrested. Here 
 again Reynardine's cunning saved him from his merited 
 punishment; he had seen Quickscent as he was running 
 back from the forest, and with that suspicion which haunts 
 the guilty, he feared some discovery, he knew not what 
 nor whence. With this view he had lurked near Quick- 
 scent, watched his eagerness to be admitted into the Lion's 
 presence, and when there, had listened to their conversa- 
 tion through a cranny hi the door. The first words in- 
 formed him of the fatal truth, that all his villany was dis- 
 covered ; he instantly departed from the court, and before 
 the order was given for his arrest, he was already far away 
 and journeying towards Pit wood, formerly the domain of 
 Isgrim the Wolf, but now the abode of Chanticleer and his 
 
 REYNARD. H
 
 HISTORY OF REYNAUU1NE, 
 
 family, to whom the king had given it when the treason of 
 Isgrim was discovered. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. The capture, condemnation, and execution 
 of Reynardine. 
 
 W HEN Reynardine found himself safe in Pitwood, he was 
 not a little glad ; for he knew that when the Lion gave the 
 domain to old Chanticleer, he issued a proclamation forbid- 
 ding all the beasts of the forest from entering the grounds, 
 or molesting any of the dwellers therein. The Fox took up 
 his abode in Isgrim's dwelling, which was abandoned, and 
 partly in ruins. All the day after his arrival here he was 
 compelled to fast, but as soon as the night came he sallied 
 forth, found out the roosting places of the chickens, and 
 made a plentiful meal of them ; when he was satisfied, he 
 ran about the fields, and picked up a good bag full of barley, 
 oats, and other grain, and carried it to his hiding place. 
 Early the next morning he scattered some of this gram in 
 spots near the place, as a bait to Chanticleer's family, who 
 did not fail to pick them up, and thus became a prey to the 
 
 fluttony of Reynardine, who kept a good look out for them, 
 n this way he lived in plenty for about a fortnight, when 
 old Chanticleer, who had with grief and surprise observed 
 the gradual diminution of his offspring, determined to watch 
 them closely, and count their numbers every evening at 
 roosting time. He thus found out that the cause of their de- 
 struction lay hid somewhere about Isgrim's dwelling, and 
 he consequently resolved to hover about the entrance of the 
 place by night and day, until he should see the destroyer. 
 This plan succeeded. Reynardine was soon discovered 
 creeping slily out by moonlight, and anxiously looking for 
 the approach of his victims, who had been far less plenty 
 from the moment when old Chanticleer's suspicions were . 
 roused. The odd shape of the unknown depredator struck 
 Chanticleer with alarm ; such a strange beast, without ears 
 or tail, he had never seen ; and he resolved at once to give 
 information to the king of all that had occurred. 
 
 Chanticleer, as soon as it was daylight, set out on his 
 mission, and had not gone far when he luckily met wkh 
 young Fyrapel, who .was going a hunting with a long train 
 'of attendants. He instantly flew to him, and began a set 
 speech, which he had prepared for the king. ' My honoured 
 lord,' said he, ' I am compelled by distress of mind, and 
 danger to myself and family, to address your lordship, and
 
 SON OF REYNARD THE FOX. 9.9 
 
 beg your powerful aid. A strange beast, without ears or 
 tafl hath for these three weeks haunted our neighbourhood, 
 and killed a hundred of my grand-children, and great-grand- 
 children. I have never seen a beast like him, so uncouth is 
 he.' Here he was interrupted by the Leopard, who at once 
 guessed that it was the murderer of his father, whose es- 
 cape from the court had been very much talked of all over 
 the forest. 'How big was this strange beast ?' he asked. 'About 
 as big as a fox,' replied Chanticleer. 'Enough,' said the 
 Leopard, ' I know him, and he shall not escape. You, 
 Chanticleer, keep all quiet, and say not a word of what you 
 have now told me, that he may not be alarmed and take 
 flight. This night, or early to-morrow, I will be here with 
 a large party, and it shall go hard but we will take the 
 traitor alive, and bring him to public punishment for his 
 villanies. He is well known, and has been for these three 
 weeks diligently sought after, but all in vain. Say no more, 
 but expect me shortly.' 
 
 On his return to the court, Fyrapel immediately obtained 
 an audience of the Lion, to whom he disclosed the news he 
 had heard from Chanticleer. The king was much pleased 
 to hear it, and he commanded the Leopard to get together 
 a large party, and to be sure to take Quickscent with him ; 
 then to advance to Pitwood with all possible haste, and to 
 bring away Reynardine alive. The Leopard obeyed this 
 summons with joy ; and in less than twelve hours a suffi- 
 cient troop was assembled, and on their way to the place. 
 They arrived on the spot just as the day began, and com- 
 pletely surrounded the castle of Isgrim, which they searched 
 through and through in every nook and corner, but could 
 not find their fugitive. In fact, Reynardine, always watch- 
 ful, had heard their approach, had taken flight on the first 
 alarm, and was already at some distance from the troop. 
 Without the aid of Quickscent, he would certainly have got 
 off scatheless; but the sagacious beast perceived his de- 
 parture almost on the instant, and had followed the scent 
 with that persevering diligence which nothing could escape. 
 In the mean time, Sir Fyrapel was in despair at the flight of 
 Reynardine, and was about to take a cruel vengeance on 
 Chanticleer for his disappointment, when he missed Quick- 
 scent. On making inquiries, he was told by one of the 
 party, that Quickscent had been seen to start off suddenly in 
 a straight line in a certain direction, which he pointed out. 
 The Leopard now guessed at the truth, and was much 
 pleased at having bfought the Lurcher with him. He then 
 drew off all the party from the castle, and followed the 
 direction which Quickscent had taken; observing also to
 
 100 HISTORY OF REYNAUDINE, 
 
 detach little parties on both sides of the line of march, to 
 give any assistance that might be required by Quickscent, or 
 perhaps to intercept Reynardine, in case the Lurcher should 
 miss him. About noon, when the mam body was resting 
 under a thicket, Fyrapel had the satisfaction of seeing one 
 of his little detachments come in with Reynardine close 
 prisoner, followed by Quickscent, who had caught the Fox 
 after a long and intricate chase, in which all the resources of 
 cunning and skill had been used by both parties. 
 
 When the whole body was sufficiently rested, Sir Fy- 
 rapel began to march towards home, guarding the Fox i'n 
 the middle of a party of his most watchful soldiers, who had 
 strict orders not once to lose sight of him. They reached 
 the palace before night, where they found the Lion at 
 dinner, who invited Fyrapel and Quickscent to eat with 
 him, while, outside the gate, Reynardine was guarded by 
 the soldiers, who had much ado to preserve him from the 
 multitude, who would have torn him in pieces. 
 
 The Leopard related to the king the whole of the 
 events of the day, and his majesty was pleased to express 
 his entire satisfaction. After dinner, he ordered the Fox to 
 be brought before him, and on his appearance he thus 
 addressed him. ' O execrable villain, son of a base traitor, 
 twice was thy false and wicked father pardoned by my 
 royal predecessor for crimes that well deserved death ; and 
 in requital he, and I doubt not thou also, traitorously con- 
 trived his death and mine, and the extirpation of all the 
 royal line. Thou hast shewn thyself a murderer and an 
 ungrateful servant, like thy father, and doubtless only 
 waited an opportunity, to add treason to thy other crimes. 
 Prepare then to meet the due reward of thy misdeeds ; for 
 to-morrow thou shalt die. Take him to prison, and let all 
 be prepared for his public execution.' Reynardine was 
 instantly led off, and the Lion retired without another 
 word. 
 
 During the last night of his life, the Fox had time to 
 reflect upon his crimes, and to repent most bitterly his 
 having misapplied his talents in the gratification of his 
 revenge, instead of employing them in gaining for himself 
 the comfort and good name which he had shewn himself so 
 capable of earning. He was fully persuaded that he had 
 now not a chance of escape, and he resolved to make before 
 the king a full confession of all his crimes. After this he 
 slept, until awakened by the guard who came to take him 
 to the place of execution, where he found a vast multitude 
 assembled to witness his last moments. On the arrival of 
 the Lion, who had expressed a wish to be present at the
 
 SON OF REYNARD THE FOX. 101 
 
 execution, the Fox requested to be allowed to make his 
 dying speech and confession, which was granted him. He 
 spoke as follows : 
 
 ' I, Reynardine, son of Reynard the Fox, declare myself 
 worthy of the death which I am about to suffer, for the 
 many crimes which I have committed, and the opportunities 
 of amendment that I have neglected. One only crime of 
 those alleged against me I can deny, which is any parti- 
 cipation in my father's treason ; of that I knew nothing, 
 until the morning when he returned with his soldiers to 
 Malepardus; he then told me that he had hoped to be king, 
 but that he was prevented by the Panther and Leopard, 
 whom he charged me to lose no opportunity of putting to 
 death, if ever I should have the power to do so ; a charge 
 which I have too fatally followed, and which is the cause of 
 my disgrace and death. On that same day he sent me and 
 my brother Rossel to a distant place, with a large quantity 
 of treasure, hoping to join us when his danger should be 
 past; but in this he was disappointed, and his death is 
 well known to all. In a few days after our leaving Male- 
 pardus, we were robbed of all our treasure by the Bear, the 
 Wolf, and the Tiger ; my brother was killed by the same 
 beasts ; but I escaped. 
 
 ' After some time I was received into a charitable house, 
 where I staid some time, and was well fed ; but I rewarded 
 the kindness I was treated with, by stealing the property of 
 the owners, and I was in consequence deservedly dismissed. 
 I then began to practise the medical art, as is \vell known ; 
 and in this practice I basely murdered old Sir Fyrapel, 
 under pretence of administering an anodyne draught, which 
 caused him to sleep for ever. After this I entered into the 
 service of the Panther, and for some time I was a faithful 
 servant to him ; but the spirit of vengeance was too strong 
 for me, and I purposely mixed the juices of poisonous herbs 
 in the medicine prepared for him by his physician, and he 
 died like the Leopard. These are my greatest crimes, 
 though many others I have committed, like all our race ; 
 but none of sufficient importance to be repeated in these 
 my last moments. I now take my leave of all, and hope 
 my bad end may be a warning to others from indulging 
 in those wicked feelings which have been my ruin.' 
 
 The king now commanded the executioner to do his 
 office, When Reynardine was dead, he was taken from the 
 gallows, and his head cut off, and set upon the gate of Sir 
 Fyrapel's palace, as a warning to future offenders. The 
 son of the Panther was very desirous to have the head 
 placed over his gate; but the Panther's dwelling was
 
 102 HISTORY OF REYNARDINE. 
 
 too near the court, and in such a place it could not be 
 permitted. 
 
 After this the king issued a very severe edict, prohibit- 
 ing any of the Fox's lineage from approaching the court, 
 within ten miles: but in this case the proclamation was 
 ineffectual ; for no laws, how severe soever, can hinder that 
 artful race from insinuating themselves into all societies, 
 high and low, as experience daily manifests. 
 
 EXD OF THE HISTORY.
 
 Parker's 
 Collections in Popular 
 
 Literature.
 
 Collections in Popular Literature, 
 
 published by 
 
 John W. Parker, London, 
 
 IT has frequently been suggested to the Publisher, that 
 he might render an acceptable service to the friends of 
 Education, and greatly assist those who desire to promote 
 the intellectual amusement of the people, by producing 
 a series of Popular Books, at low prices, calculated, by 
 their unexceptionable tendency, for general use in families ; 
 from which School Libraries might be formed, Reward 
 Books selected, and Lending Libraries supplied ; which, on 
 account of their convenient form and size, would be wel- 
 come as Fireside and Travelling Companions; books, in 
 short, which might be found instructive and entertaining 
 wherever introduced. 
 
 These suggestions he is now carrying out, in compliance 
 with certain conditions, namely, that the works produced 
 shall be unexceptionable in subject and in treatment; that 
 the series be sufficiently varied to meet the requirements 
 of all classes of readers; and that each book shall be 
 complete in itself, and procurable for a small sum. 
 
 The COLLECTIONS IN POPULAR LITERATURE will, there- 
 fore, embrace most of the features of an Encyclopedia, 
 though the subjects will not be divided into fragments, or 
 scattered over many volumes; each subject being treated 
 with fulness and completeness, and its information brought 
 up to the present time. 
 
 The Plan will embrace new and improved Editions of
 
 Parker's Collections 
 
 certain Standard English books, but the majority of the 
 works will be newly written, translated, compiled, or 
 abridged, for the present purpose ; and the volumes will 
 appear from time to time in sufficient variety to extend 
 simultaneously, and in due proportion, the various branches 
 of Popular Literature. The whole will be prepared with 
 an especial view to the diffusion of sound opinions to the 
 promulgation of valuable facts and correct principles and 
 to the due indulgence of general literary taste. 
 
 It is not intended that this series shall form a periodical, 
 according to the strict acceptation of that term. Several 
 works are already published, and others will quickly fol- 
 low; they will all be uniformly bound in cloth and let- 
 tered. There will be no necessary connection between the 
 various works, except as regards general appearance, and 
 each, being complete in itself, may be had separately; 
 nevertheless, the volumes, distinct, yet uniform in their 
 object, will together form a valuable library, and may be 
 collected and classified under the following heads : 
 
 I. Popular History. 
 
 Under the comprehensive title of History, we purpose 
 giving an extensive series of interesting and instructive 
 works. Among these will be carefully-considered narra- 
 tives of some of those moral tempests which have so often 
 agitated the world, when men have continued a long course 
 of disobedience to the laws of God and the recognised laws 
 of man. We shall make it our business to record the 
 change of a dynasty, the rise and career of a monarch, a 
 usurper, or a ruler, whose actions have thrown a new 
 aspect on the political institutions of a country ; we shall 
 trace the rise and progress of great commercial or manu- 
 facturing enterprises, whereby the wealth and prosperity of 
 a nation have been obviously increased ; we shall notice the 
 train of events whereby the prevalent or established reli-
 
 in Popular Literature. 
 
 gion of a country has been changed. These and other sub- 
 jects of a like character will enable us to bring up many 
 stores from a mine peculiarly rich in instructive and enter- 
 taining matter. 
 
 It is of course impossible, in such a notice as this, to 
 include all the features of so important a division of our 
 COLLECTIONS IN POPULAR LITERATURE as History; but 
 some idea may be formed of it from the following list of 
 works which are nearly ready for publication : 
 
 A History of the Invasion of Russia by Napoleon Bona- 
 parte. 2*. 6d. Ready. 
 
 The Lord and the Vassal: a Familiar Exposition of the 
 Feudal System in the Middle Ages ; with its Causes and Conse- 
 quences. 
 
 A History of the French Revolution ; its Causes and Con- 
 sequences. Newly written for this Collection. 
 
 The Ruins of Rome and their Historical Associations; 
 including an Account of the Modern City and its Inhabitants. 
 
 The Private Life, Manners, and Customs of the Ancient 
 Romans. From the French of D'Arnay ; carefully edited, and 
 forming a valuable work for study or amusement. 
 
 Constantinople and its Historical Associations; with some 
 Account of its Institutions and the Manners and Customs of the 
 People. 
 
 History of the Rise and Progress of the Trading Communi- 
 ties of the Middle Ages. 
 
 Trading Communities of Modern Times ; a Popular View 
 of the Origin, Structure, and General Tendency of the Joint- 
 Stock Trading and Commercial Bodies of Modern Times. 
 
 The Ruins of Athens and their Historical Associations; 
 with Notices of the Modern City and its Inhabitants. 
 
 A History of London, Ancient and Modern. 
 
 A History of the Endowed Schools of Great Britain. 
 
 The Incas of Peru, with'some Account of the Ruins of their 
 Greatness. 
 
 A popular History of the British Army. 
 A popular History of the British Navy. 
 The Sicilian Vespers.
 
 6 Parker's Collections 
 
 II. Popular Biography. 
 
 One of the most useful and pleasing forms under which 
 knowledge can be presented to the general reader is that of 
 the Biography of distinguished men, who have contributed 
 to the progress of that knowledge in some one or other of 
 its various departments. But it too frequently happens, 
 that the biographical notices of great men consist rather of 
 personal, trivial, and unimportant details, than of a clear 
 and broad outline of the influence which they exerted 
 upon the pursuit and upon the age in which they were 
 distinguished. The true object of Biography is, .while 
 tracing the progress of an individual, to show not only 
 what result his active life has produced on the well-being 
 of his fellow-men, but also the position which he occupies 
 as one of the "great landmarks in the map of human 
 nature." 
 
 Yet we are not satisfied with a biography which regards 
 its subject in his public capacity alone : we are naturally 
 curious to ascertain whether the same qualities which ren- 
 dered him celebrated in public, followed him likewise into 
 private life, and distinguished him there. We regard with 
 interest, in his private capacity, the man who has been the 
 originator of much public good : we look with an attentive 
 eye on his behaviour when he stands alone, when his 
 native impulses are under no external excitement; when 
 he is, in fact, " in the undress of one who has retired from 
 the stage on which he felt he had a part to sustain." 
 
 But a detail of the public and private events in the life 
 of a distinguished man, do not alone suffice to form a just 
 estimate of his character. The reader requires to be made 
 acquainted with the state of a particular branch of know- 
 ledge, at the time when the individual appeared, whose 
 efforts extended its boundaries. "Without this it is impos- 
 sible to estimate the worth of the man, or the blessings and 
 advantages conferred upon society by his means. 
 
 On the other hand, in tracing the history of any particu-
 
 in Popular Literature. 
 
 iar branch of knowledge, unless connected with Biography, 
 we lose sight of individual efforts ; they are mingled with 
 the labours of others, or are absorbed into the history of 
 the whole, and are consequently no longer individualized : 
 hence we are likely to fail in recognising the obligations 
 due to our distinguished countrymen, or to deprive of their 
 just merit those of our foreign brethren, whose useful lives 
 have influenced distant lands as well as their own. ^ 
 
 With these views it is proposed that each Biography 
 shall consist of three distinct portions : 
 
 1 The history of a particular department of knowledge, 
 up to the time when the individual appeared by whom its 
 boundaries were extended. 
 
 2 A general sketch of the life of such individual, with 
 particular details of the improvements effected by him. 
 
 3 The progress of such branch of knowledge, from the 
 ate of such improvements up to our own times. 
 
 The following subjects will be immediately published : 
 
 Smeaton and Lighthouses ; a Popular Biography, with an 
 Historical Introduction and Sequel. '2s. Ready. 
 
 LinniL'us and Jussieu; or, the Rise and Progress of Syste- 
 matic Botany. 2s. Ready. 
 
 Sir Joseph Banks and the Royal Society. 
 
 Sir Humphrey Davy and the Safety Lamp. 
 
 Cuvier and his Works ; or the Rise and Progress of Zoology. 
 
 Brindley and Canals. 
 
 Watt and the Steam-engine. 
 
 Wedgwood and Pottery. 
 
 Telford and Roads and Bridges. 
 
 Caxton and the Printing Press. 
 
 Galileo and the Telescope. 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton and the Progress of Astronomical Dis- 
 covery. 
 
 Sir Christopher Wren and St. Paul's Cathedral. 
 
 Addison and the English Essayists. 
 
 Jeremy Taylor and some Account of his Times and Works. 
 
 Wilberforce and the Slave Trade. 
 
 Each work being a Popular Biography, with an Histo- 
 rical Introduction and Sequel.
 
 8 Parkers Collections 
 
 III. Popular Science and Art. 
 
 When we contemplate the arts and processes of civilized 
 life, we cannot but be struck with the vast amount of 
 invention and ingenuity required for their gradual develop- 
 ment. Not an article of clothing or of furniture, not an 
 instrument, implement, or machine, could have been 
 brought to the state in which we find it, without many 
 successive steps of invention, due to different minds, sup- 
 plied at different times, and brought to light in different 
 countries. But in devoting several of our volumes to the 
 Useful Arts, we shall not be unmindful of the fact, that 
 Art is the application of Science to a practical end. It 
 is proposed, therefore, under the comprehensive title of 
 Popular Science and Art, to include portions of our know- 
 ledge of animate and inanimate nature. The object will be 
 to assist the general reader to regard with an intelligent 
 eye the varied phenomena of nature, to gratify the laud- 
 able desire of understanding what he sees, and of preparing 
 him in some measure to enter more fully upon the study 
 of a given subject. In this way, it is hoped to effect a 
 useful purpose, by connecting Science and the Useful Arts ; 
 for "is is not, surely, in the country of Arkwright, that 
 the Philosophy of Commerce can be thought independent 
 of Mechanics; and where Davy has delivered lectures on 
 Agriculture, it would be folly to say that the most philo- 
 sophic views of Chemistry were not conducive to the 
 making our valleys laugh with corn," 
 
 The Useful Arts employed in the Production of Food. 2s. 6d. 
 
 The Useful Arts employed in the Production of Clothing. 2s. 6d. 
 
 The Useful Arts employed in the Construction of Dwelling 
 Houses. 2s. Gd. 
 
 The Writing-Desk and its Contents, taken as a Text for the 
 Familiar Illustration of many important Facts in Expe- 
 rimental Science. '2s.
 
 in Popular Literature. 
 
 The above works are already published in this Division, 
 and others on the following subjects are in course of pre- 
 paration: 
 
 Examples of Mechanical Ingenuity. 
 
 The Philosophy of the External Senses. 
 
 Ancient and Modern Modes of Measuring Time, with 
 carious Illustrations of the application of Clockwork. 
 
 The Rise and Progress of Agriculture. 
 
 The Natural History of Birds and Insects injurious to 
 Farming and Gardening. 
 
 The Wonders of the Microscope. 
 
 Mathematical Magic. 
 
 The Fine Arts will also form an interesting portion of 
 this Division. The object will be, in a few popular his- 
 tories, to trace the origin, rise, and progress of Sculpture, 
 Painting, Engraving, Music, &&., and their influence on 
 mankind. 
 
 IV. Popular Voyages and Travels. 
 
 Few subjects are more attractive than the narratives of 
 celebrated travellers. Although they tell us of beings who 
 speak another tongue, inhabit a different clime, differ alto- 
 gether from ourselves in manners, customs, dress, and 
 institutions yet the sympathy which man feels for his 
 fellowB makes us delight in all the details which talent and 
 enterprise procure for us. The personal narrative of the 
 traveller has also a great charm ; we seem to participate in 
 his dangers, excitements, and pleasures; we add to our 
 knowledge in his company; and the truth and sincerity 
 which pervade the narrative, make us feel a personal inte- 
 rest in the narrator. It is intended to reprint some of the 
 narratives of our old English Navigators, especially those of 
 Discoveries, which have had most influence on the progress 
 of Geographical Knowledge. It will not be an objection 
 that these eminent men lived at a period of time distant 
 from our own ; for their Narratives are full of truth, told 
 with plain simplicity.
 
 10 Parker's Collections 
 
 But the important labours of modern travellers will not 
 "be forgotten. In describing several interesting portions of 
 the earth's surface, we shall avail ourselves of the most 
 trustworthy individuals, and by a careful comparison of 
 statements and details, we hope to present graphic descrip- 
 tions of some of the most celebrated countries of the world ; 
 as well as of those which have only of late years been 
 explored. Many voyages of discovery have had their pro- 
 ceedings recorded in large quartos, the price of which 
 places them above the reach of the general reader, while 
 their scientific details render them unfit for popular use : a 
 digest of these works, containing an epitome of the lighter 
 portions, and the results of the scientific discoveries, may 
 prove acceptable. 
 
 The following works are in a forward state for publica- 
 tion: 
 
 The Life, Adventures, and Discoveries of Captain William 
 Dampier; including a History of the Buccaneers of America. 
 Captain Cook and the Circumnavigation of the Globe. 
 An Overland Journey and a Steam Voyage to India. 
 Voyages and Discoveries in the South Polar Regions. 1 
 Voyages and Discoveries in the Northern Polar Regions. 
 Voyages and Discoveries in Australasia and Polynesia. 
 
 To these will be added digests of Travels and Adventures 
 in various Countries of the Old and New Worlds. 
 
 V. Popular Tales and Fiction. 
 
 The design of this Collection embraces many favourite 
 old works, which, though containing much that has in- 
 structed and delighted our predecessors, are, nevertheless, 
 but ill adapted in their original form for general perusal. 
 Among these may be reckoned some works of fiction, the 
 excellencies of which are often obscured by a grossness of 
 style not uncommon at the time when they were composed,
 
 in Popular Literature. 11 
 
 but which justly excludes them from family reading in 
 the present day. Such works would be acceptable if freed 
 from objectionable passages ; and in undertaking to accom- 
 plish this reform, without detriment to the spirit of the 
 original, the Publisher relies on the approbation of a large 
 class of persons, who will thus be enabled to place in the 
 hands of the young, purified editions of those romantic 
 and interesting tales which are naturally sought for by 
 youthful readers, whose hands they might otherwise reach, 
 tainted with their original impurities. Every work will 
 be prepared for this series by a careful editing, in order 
 to suit the general tone of thought, principle, and feeling 
 which will pervade the whole Collection, and no work will 
 be admitted, the name of whose author is associated with 
 considerations painful to Christian feeling, good taste, or 
 propriety. 
 
 Among the new works intended to be included in this 
 Division, may be mentioned a series of tales, illustrative of 
 the manners and customs of the people of different climes. 
 Of these, the following, among others, are ready for early 
 publication: 
 
 The Merchant and the Friar; or, Truths and Fictions of 
 the Middle Ages. A New Edition, revised by the Author. 
 
 The most Delectable History of Reynard the Fox ; an old 
 Romance, thoroughly revised and corrected. 2*. Ready. 
 
 The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins, a Cornish Man. 
 Carefully revised and corrected. 
 
 Norah Toole, a Tale of Ireland; Rob Maxwell, or Life in 
 the Highlands of Scotland ; Felix Jansen, or Life in Norway ; and 
 Leonard Hartmann, or the Swiss Traveller. A Series of Tales 
 illustrative of National and Domestic Manners. In one Volume. 
 Ready. 
 
 Van-ti, or the Chinese Magistrate ; The Leicesters, or Life 
 in Hindostan ; and The Lady of Potosi, or the Silver Mines of 
 Peru. Tales of National and Domestic Life. In one Volume. 
 Ready. 
 
 Stories of Emigrants, or, Life in Canada, the United States, 
 and Australia.
 
 12 Parker's Collections 
 
 Carlo the Courier, or, the Travellers in Italy; Annette 
 Darville, or, the French Market Girl ; and Herman Stult, or, 
 the German Peasant. Tales illustrative of Life on the Con- 
 tinent. In one Volume. 
 
 The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, newly re- 
 vised; with an Introduction, and numerous Illustrations. 
 
 VI. Popular Miscellanies. 
 
 Under this head will be published, works of a miscel- 
 laneous nature which do not fall strictly under any of the 
 foregoing Divisions, or which may include several of those 
 Divisions. Among the former may be mentioned a short 
 series of works on in-door and out-door amusements, the 
 object of which is to furnish young persons with sources of 
 amusement, innocent in their kind, and healthful in their 
 application both to mind and body. Among the in-door 
 amusements may be mentioned a volume which is nearly 
 ready fqr publication on the game of Chess. Experience 
 has shown that where Chess is introduced as an amuse- 
 ment into families and schools, it exerts a highly beneficial 
 influence, by exciting a taste for more exalted sources 
 of recreation than are afforded by games of chance, which 
 so far from producing a beneficial influence on the mind, 
 are apt to disturb the temper, excite animosity, and foster 
 a spirit of gambling. Chess, on the contrary, is an effort 
 of pure skill; it gives healthy exercise to the mental 
 powers ; it requires caution and forbearance on the part 
 of both players ; it leaves the victor satisfied with having 
 won the game without the additional stimulus of * a stake ;' 
 and it entails no humiliation on the vanquished, but rather 
 prompts him to greater exertions. We propose, therefore, 
 to give the history and antiquities of the game of Chess, 
 together with a series of Easy Lessons, the object of whic 
 will be to make the young student acquainted with a few 
 of the leading features of the principal openings, that he
 
 in Popular Literature. 13 
 
 may form some idea of the richness of the territory of 
 Chess, and to add a selection of Chess Problems. Chess 
 Problems form one of the most attractive departments of 
 the game; they enable us, more perhaps than anything 
 else, to appreciate the subtle skill and resources of a first- 
 rate player, and tend to elevate Chess to the rank of 
 mathematical science. 
 
 Among the works which include several of the fore- 
 going divisions, is one in four volumes, illustrating the 
 Progress of the Year, wherein the information given is 
 arranged under the form of Daily Readings. All the varied 
 phenomena of nature; the animals, the plants, the mine- 
 rals, assume different phases, according to the means and 
 acquirements of the observer, the progress of science, and 
 the climate under which the descriptions are given. As 
 science advances, the descriptions of naturalists admit of 
 modification and addition, in order to keep pace with the 
 progress of discovery; hence our Year-books require re- 
 newal from time to time. The present is an attempt to 
 furnish a seasonal account of the natural phenomena of the 
 year, in conformity with the present state of knowledge. 
 The work, however, will not be confined to natural history, 
 but will be varied with notices of the arts, antiquities, 
 manners and customs of our native country ; choice selec- 
 tions from our prose writers and poets; and a series of 
 papers expressly adapted for Sunday reading, so that on 
 whatever day, and at whatever season, the book be taken 
 up, something appropriate of an instructive and amusing 
 nature may be found, calculated either for family reading, 
 or solitary perusal, as a fireside manual, or a travelling 
 pocket companion. 
 
 The following are among the works intended for this 
 portion of the COLLECTIONS: 
 
 Chronicles of the Seasons, or the Progress of the Year; 
 being a Course of Daily Instruction and Amusement from the 
 Popular Details of the Natural History, Science, Art, Antiqui- 
 ties, and Biography of our Father- Land. In Four Books. Book
 
 14 Collections in Popular Literature. 
 
 the First, containing the Months of January, February, and 
 March, is already published, price 3s. 6d. 
 
 The History, Antiquities, and Curiosities of the Game of 
 Chess; including a Selection of Games, illustrative of the 
 Various Openings, Analyzed and Explained for the use of 
 Young Players; together with a Choice Selection of Chess 
 Problems. 
 
 The Sea the Highway of the World; or the History and 
 Practice of Navigation in Ancient and Modern Times, familiarly 
 explained. 
 
 The Houses of all Nations; or some Account, Historical 
 and Descriptive, of the Progress of National and Domestic 
 Architecture in all Parts and Ages of the World. 
 
 The Games and Sports of the Ancients and Moderns. 
 
 An Account of Shipwrecks, Fires, and other Calamities, at 
 Sea.
 
 The works named in this Prospectus are those only which 
 will immediately appear. Other works will from time to 
 time continue to be added to each of the several divisions 
 of the COLLECTIONS IN POPULAR LITERATURE.
 
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