¶ The viij fable maketh mencion of Juno / of Venus / and of the other wymmen
Efore the goddes and the goddesses
men muste euer preyse chastyte /
for it is a worshipful & an honest
thyng to a woman to hold hyr
contente with a man alone / but
Venus for her desporte & for to dryue aweye the
tyme / wold Interprete the sayenge of the hennes /
wherfore she demaunded a henne whiche was
in her hows / but at this tyme I shal kepe my
tongue / and no ferther I shalle speke therof /
For many wyse men whiche haue sene and
redde alle this book vnderstanden wel alle the
nature of hit / and by cause it is lycyte & honest /
And that we alle ben bounden to kepe the ladyes
in theyre worship and honour / also that in euery
place where hit shalle be possible to vs we ought
to preyse them / We shalle now cesse to enquere
ferther of this matere / and historyye / whiche
we shall leue in latyn for the grete clerkes / & in
especial for them that wylle occupye theyr tyme
to judge and rede the glose of the sayd Esope