XX REYNARD THE FOX 167

then said your Majesty, “ Reyxard, what judg-
ment will you now give?” and he replied,
“They are now, my Lord, in the same state
they were before at their first encounter:
they have neither won nor lost; therefore this
is my censure, if it be your Majesty’s pleasure.
If the man will now loose and unbind the
serpent upon the same promise and oath made
formerly unto him, he may at his pleasure; but
if he think that hunger or other inconvenience
will make him break his faith, then may the
man go freely whither he will, and leave the
serpent bound and enthralled as he first found
him ; for it is fit that ingratitude be so repaid.”
‘This judgment your Majesty then ap-
plauded for most excellent, and held the
wisdom of the fox unlimitable, terming him
the preserver of your honour. When did
ever the bear or wolf the like? They can howl
or scold, steal, rob, and eat fat morsels, make
their sides crack with others’ ruin, and con-
demn him to death who takes a chicken; but
themselves which kill kine, oxen, and horses,
oh, they go safe and be accounted as wise as
Solomon, Avicenna, or Aristotle, and their deeds
and statutes must be read for monuments.
But if they come where virtue is to be exer-