e may lerne to perceyue, that it is no wysedome for a man
to be couetous of wynnynge of any wager to put in ieopardye a thynge,
that maye turne him to greatter displeasure.

+ _Of the scoler of Oxforde that proued by souestry ii chykens iii._
lxvii.

+ A ryche Frankelyn in the contrey hauynge by his wyfe but one chylde
and no mo, for the great affeccyon that he had to his sayd chylde founde
hym at Oxforde to schole by the space of ii or iii yere. Thys yonge
scoler, in a vacacyon[112] tyme, for his disporte came home to his
father. It fortuned afterwarde on a nyght, the father, the mother and
the sayd yonge scoler

_5 lines wanting._

_I_ haue studyed souestry, and by that scyence I can proue, that these
ii chekyns in the dysshe be thre chekyns.[113] Mary, sayde the father,
that wolde I fayne se. The scoller toke one of the chekyns in his hande
and said: lo! here is one chekyn, and incontynente he toke bothe the
chekyns in his hande iointely and sayd: here is ii chekyns; and one and
ii maketh iii: ergo here is iii chekyns. Than the father toke one of the
chekyns to him selfe, and gaue another to his wyfe, and sayd thus: lo! I
wyll haue one of the chekyns to my parte, and thy mother shal haue a
nother, and because of thy good argumente thou shalte haue the thyrde to
thy supper: for thou gettyst no more meate here at this tyme; whyche
promyse the father kepte, and so the scoller wente without his supper.

By this tale men may se, that it is great foly to put one to scole to
lerne any subtyll scyence, whiche hathe no naturall wytte.

FOOTNOTES:

[111] orig. reads _I am here John Dawe_.

[112] orig. reads _vocacyon_.

[113] The same story is to be found in _Scogin's Jests_, with a trifling
variation. _Scogin's Jests_ were published before 1565. Several of the
anecdotes, here narrated, were re-produced in that and other
collections. See also _Joake upon Joake_, 1721, where the present story
is told of King Charles the Second, Nell Gwynne, and the Duchess of
Portsmouth. In this version the Duchess is the sufferer.

+ _Of the frere that stale the podynge._[114] lxviii.

+ A frere of London there was that on a Sonday in the mornynge
yerly[115] in the somer season came fro London to Barnette to make a
colacyon,[116] and was there an houre before hye masse began: and
bycause he wolde come to the churche honestly, he wente fyrst to an ale
house there to wype his shoes and to make him selfe clenly. In