The Avaricious and the Envious

7.17. De Phoebo, avaro et invido
Caxton: Of Phebus / of the Auarycious / and of the enuyous
None oughte to doo harme or dommage to somme other for to receyue or doo his owne dommage / As hit appereth by this fable / Of Iupiter whiche sent phebus in to therthe for to haue al the knowledge of the thought of men This phebus thenne mette with two men / of whiche the one was moche enuyous / And the other ryght couetous / Phebus demaunded of them what theyr thought was / we thynke said they to demaund and aske of the grete yeftes / To the which Phebus ansuerd / Now demaunde what ye wylle / For al that that ye shalle demaunde of me / I shalle graunte hit / And of that / that the fyrst of yow shalle aske / the second shal haue the dowble parte / or as moche more ageyne / And thenne the auarycious sayd / I wyl that my felawe aske what he wyll fyrst wherof the enuyous was wel content / whiche sayd to Phebus Fayre syre I praye the that I maye lese one of myn eyen / to thende that my felawe may lese al bothe his eyen / wherfor phebus beganne to lawhe whiche departed and wente ageyne vnto Iupiter / and told hym the grete malyce of the enuyous / whiche was Ioyeful and glad of the harme and dommage of an other / & how he was wel content to suffre payne for to haue addomaged somme other
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Covetous and Envious

083. THE COVETOUS AND ENVIOUS MAN. You will find the fable in English on this page; scroll down to see if there are multiple English versions. [more info]

The Envious Man and the Covetous

135. THE ENVIOUS MAN AND THE COVETOUS. An envious man happened to be offering up his prayers to Jupiter just in the same time and place with a covetous miserable fellow. Jupiter, not caring to be troubled with their impertinences himself, sent Apollo to examine the merits of their petitions, and to give them such relief as he should think proper. Apollo therefore opened his commission, and withal told them, that to make short of the matter, whatever the one asked the other should have it double.
Upon this the covetous man, though he had a thousand things to request, yet forbore to ask first, hoping to receive a double quantity, for he concluded that all men's wishes sympathized with his.
By this means the envious man had an opportunity of preferring his petition first, which was the thing he aimed at; so, without much hesitation, he prayed to be relieved, by having one of his eyes put out, knowing that, of consequence, his companion would be deprived of both. [more info]

The Envious Man and the Covetous

083. THE ENVIOUS MAN AND THE COVETOUS. An envious man happened to be offering up his prayers to Jupiter just in the same time and place with a covetous miserable fellow. Jupiter, not caring to be troubled with their impertinences himself, sent Apollo to examine the merits of their petitions, and to give them such relief as he should think proper. Apollo therefore opened his commission, and withal told them, that to make short of the matter, whatever the one asked the other should have it double.
Upon this the covetous man, though he had a thousand things to request, yet forbore to ask first, hoping to receive a double quantity, for he concluded that all men's wishes sympathized with his.
By this means the envious man had an opportunity of preferring his petition first, which was the thing he aimed at; so, without much hesitation, he prayed to be relieved, by having one of his eyes put out, knowing that, of consequence, his companion would be deprived of both. [more info]

Avaricious and Envious

54. AVARICIOUS AND ENVIOUS. Two neighbours came before Jupiter and prayed him to grant their hearts' desire. Now the one was full of avarice, and the other eaten up with envy. So to punish them both, Jupiter granted that each might have whatever he wished for himself, but only on condition that his neighbour had twice as much.
The Avaricious man prayed to have a room full of gold. No sooner said than done; but all his joy was turned to grief when he found that his neighbour had two rooms full of the precious metal.
Then came the turn of the Envious man, who could not bear to think that his neighbour had any joy at all. So he prayed that he might have one of his own eyes put out, by which means his companion would become totally blind.
Vices are their own punishment. [more info]