The Fox and the Wolf

A vox gon out of þe wode go,
Afingret so þat him wes wo -
He nes neuere in none wise
Afingret erour half so swiþe.
He ne hoeld nouþer wey ne strete,
For him wes loþ men to mete;
Him were leuere meten one hen
þen half an oundred wimmen!
He strok swiþe oueral
So þat he ofsei ane wal.
Wiþinne þe walle wes an hous:
The wox wes þider swiþe wous,
[...]
At þe furmeste bruche þat he fond
He lep in, and ouer he wond.
þo he wes inne, smere he lou
And þerof he hadde gome inou

Geoffrey Chaucer
The Nun's Priest's Tale

A povre widwe, somdeel stape in age
Was whilom dwelling in a narwe cotage,
Biside a grove, stondinge in a dale.
[...]
A yeerd she hadde, enclosed al aboute
With stikkes, and a drye dich withoute
In which she hadde a cok, hight Chauntecleer.
In al the land, of crowing nas his peer.
[...]
'Me mette how I romed up and doun
Withinne our yeerd, wheer as I saugh a beest
Was lyk an hound, and wolde han maad areest
Upon my body, and wolde han had me deed.
His colour was bitwixe yelow and reed,
And tipped was his tail and bothe his eeris
With blak, unlyk the remenant of his heeris;
His snoute smal, with glowinge eyen tweye ...

Specimen: Beast Tales
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