sine ipso factum est nihil, quod factum est. In ipso vita erat,’ &c.
This was usually taken with a full stop after ‘nihil,’ and then ‘Quod
factum est in ipso, vita erat.’ It was read so by Augustine, who seems
to suggest the idea which is attributed below to Gregory, viz. that the
‘nothing’ which was made without God was _sin_. ‘Peccatum quidem non
per ipsum factum est; et manifestum est quia peccatum nihil est,’ &c.,
_Joann. Evang._ i. 13. Gregory also held that sin was nothing: ‘Res
quidem aliquid habet esse, peccatum vero esse nullum habet,’ i. _Reg.
Exp._ v. 14, but I do not know whether he founded his opinion specially
on this text. Pierre de Peccham expresses the same idea:
‘Pecché n’est chose ne nature
Ne si n’est la deu creature,
Einz est de nature corrupciun
Et defaute et destructiun,’ &c.
M.S. Bodl. 399, f. 21 v^o.
65. _de les celestieux_, ‘from heaven,’ cp. 27120, and such expressions
as ‘les infernalx’ just below.
74. _tout plein_, ‘a great number’: often written as one word
‘toutplein,’ so, for example, _Bal._ xxxvii. 2, _Mir._ 25276 &c.;
divided as here l. 11021.
83. _au droit divis_, ‘rightly,’ an adverbial expression which is
often used by our author to fill up a line: cp. 872 and Glossary under
‘devis.’
84. _du dame Evein_, ‘in the person of Eve’: ‘du’ for ‘de,’ see
Glossary.
85. For this kind of repetition cp. 473 and _Conf. Am. Prol._ 60, ‘So
as I can, so as I mai.’
89. The sentence is broken off and resumed under another form: cp. 997
ff., 17743, &c., and _Conf. Am._ vi. 1796 ff.
94. _q’estoit perdue_, ‘that which was lost.’ The form _perdue_ is not
influenced by gender but by rhyme.
100. For the position of ‘et’ see note on 415.
115. _avoit_, ‘there was,’ for ‘y avoit’: so used frequently.
116. _luy_, a form of _ly_, _le_, see Glossary.
118. _n’en fuist mangant_, ‘should not eat of them.’ This use of pres.
participle with auxiliary instead of the simple tense is frequent
not only with our author but in old French generally: see Burguy,
_Grammaire_ ii. 258.
131. _a qui constance_ &c., because of her nature as a woman.
135. _u que_, ‘where’: sometimes combined into ‘uque,’ ‘uqe,’ e.g.
_Bal._ xv. 3, but usually separate.
136. _deable_, also written ‘deble,’ and never more than a dissyllable
in the metre.
139. _en ton endroit_, ‘for your part.’ Phrases composed with ‘endroit’
or ‘en droit’ are among the commonest forms of ‘fill up’ employed by
our author: cp. note on l. 83, and see Glossary under ‘endroit.’
163. Cp. _Conf. Am._ i. 1610, ‘For what womman is _so above_.’
168. _le fist ... forsjuger_, ‘condemned him,’ see note on 1135.
170. _serroit_: conditional for subjunctive, cp. l. 25.
190. _Ce dont_, ‘the cause whereby.’
194. Note that the capital letters of ‘Pecché,’ ‘Mort,’ ‘Char,’ ‘Alme,’
‘Siecle,’ indicating that they are spoken of as persons, are due to the
editor.
217 ff. _Tant perservoit ... dont il fuist_ &c. This use of ‘dont’
(instead of ‘que’), after such words as ‘tant,’ ‘si,’ &c., to introduce
the consequence, is very common with our author, see 544, 657, &c., cp.
682. Compare the similar use of the relative in English, e.g. _Conf.
Am._ i. 498. Here there is a second consecutive clause following, which
is introduced by ‘Que’: ‘His daughter so kept him in pleasant mood and
made him such entertainment that he was enamoured of her so much that,’
&c.
218. _en son degré_, ‘for her part’: cp. note on 139.
230. _vont ... engendrant_, equivalent to ‘engendrent,’ another
instance of the use of pres. partic. with auxiliary verbs for the
simple tense, which is common in old French: cp. 118, 440, 500, and the
conclusion of this stanza, where we have ‘serray devisant’ and ‘est
nomant’ for ‘deviserai’ and ‘nomme.’
238 ff. ‘As I will describe to you, (telling) by what names people call
them and of the office in which they are instructed.’
253. _celle d’Avarice_, ‘that which is called Avarice.’ For this
apposition with ‘de’ cp. 84, 14197.
276. _grantment_: corrected here and in 397 from ‘grantement,’ which
would be three syllables. We have ‘grantment’ 8931.
296. _Accidie._ This counts as three syllables only in the metre, and
it is in fact written ‘Accide’ in l. 255. A similar thing is to be
observed in several other words with this ending, as ‘Vituperie’ 2967,
‘familie’ 3916, ‘contumelie’ 4067, ‘perjurie’ 6409, ‘encordie’ 6958,
‘remedie’ 10912, ‘pluvie’ 26716; and in general, when the accent fell
on the antepenultimate, there was a tendency to run the _-ie_ into one
syllable. The accent, however, was variable (at least in Anglo-Norman)
according to the exigences of metre, and in some cases where we should
expect the above rule to apply we find the accent thrown on the
penultimate and all the syllables fully sounded, as 2362,
‘Contumacie l’oi nommer.’
301. _ceos mals_: equivalent to ‘les mals,’ so ‘cel homme’ 305,
‘celle Alme’ 667, ‘celle amorouse peigne’ _Bal._ iii. 1. This use of
demonstrative for definite article is quite common.
305. _pot_, perhaps meant for subjunctive.
307. Cp. _Bal._ v. 3: ‘Si fuisse en paradis ceo beal Manoir.’
322. _serroit_, ‘he might be,’ conditional for subj.; cp. l. 25.
330. ‘And swore it mutually’: see note on 1135.
355. _a son derere_, ‘to his harm.’
364. _porray_, fut. for subj.
373. _de sa partie_, ‘for his part’: like ‘en son endroit,’ ‘en son
degre,’ &c., ll. 139, 218, &c.
397. _grantment_: cp. l. 276.
407. _Q’un messager_ &c. ‘So that he sent a messenger at once after him
in great haste.’ This is better than taking ‘tramist’ as subjunctive
(‘that he should send’ &c.), because of ‘Cil messager’ in the next
stanza. For ‘que’ meaning ‘so that’ cp. 431, 485.
415. _Depar le deable et._ This position of the conjunction is
characteristic of Gower’s English writing, e.g. _Conf. Am. Prol._ 155,
521, 756, &c., and it often occurs also in the present work: cp. 100,
1008, 2955, &c. ‘Depar le deable’ evidently is better taken here with
‘pria’ than with the preceding line. The words thus treated are ‘et,’
‘mais,’ ‘car,’ ‘ainz’ (24646).
416. _hastera_: see note on 1184.
438. _soiez_, for ‘soies,’ 2 pers. singular; so 645.
440. _Je t’en vois loer promettant_, ‘I promise you payment for it’:
‘vois’ is for ‘vais,’ and this is a case of the construction noticed at
l. 230, &c.
442. _ne t’en soietz_: the singular and plural of the second person are
often interchanged by our author: cp. 25839 ff., 27935, 29604, &c.
454. _Et si_, ‘and also’; so 471.
488. _se fist muscer_, ‘hid himself’; see note on 1135.
492. _Du_, as usual for ‘de.’
500. _vas tariant_: cp. 230, 440, &c.
541. The rhyme of ‘scies’ with ‘malvoistés’ should be noted.
575. _te lerra q’une haire_, ‘will leave thee (nothing) but sackcloth.’
The negative is omitted as with ‘but’ in English.
581. Either ‘Makes vain encouragement,’ or ‘Encourages the foolish
person.’
626. _s’estuit_: see note on 997.
637. _si fuissetz avisée_, ‘if you only knew!’
654. _Fuissent ... reconfortant_, ‘should encourage’: cp. 118.
658. _en_, ‘with regard to this.’
667. _celle Alme_, ‘the Soul’: cp. 301.
682. _Par quoy_, used like ‘dont’ to introduce the consequence: cp.
696, 743, and see note on 217, where the consecutive clauses are piled
up much as they are here.
688. _lessera_, future used as in 416.
740. _Du Char folie_, ‘by reason of the wantonness of the Flesh’: ‘du’
belongs to ‘folie.’
761. _de ton honour_, ‘by means of the honour which you have to bestow.’
780. ‘So that you may have Man back again’: for this use of ‘dois’ see
note on 1193.
799. _c’il_, for ‘s’il’: so ‘ce’ for ‘se’ 1147, ‘Ciriens’ for ‘Siriens’
10314.
815. _qui_, ‘whom’: this form is quite freely used as an object of the
verb; see Glossary.
865. _en son degré_: cp. l. 139, &c.
912. _le_: this is used (side by side with ‘luy,’ e.g. 921) as indirect
object masculine or feminine, though ‘la’ is also found.
940. We must take ‘deesce’ as a dissyllable. The usual form is ‘duesse’
(‘dieuesce’ _Bal._ xx. 4).
943. _ce buisson_, i.e. ‘le buisson.’
948. This line occurs again 9453, and is practically reproduced _Bal._
xiii. 1:
‘Quelle est sanz point, sanz reule et sanz mesure.’
It means here that the feasting was without limit. For the form of
expression cp. 984.
987. _As grans hanaps_ &c., i.e. ‘a emplir les grans hanaps.’ This kind
of combination is not uncommon, e.g. 5492, ‘des perils ymaginer.’
988. _par envoisure_, ‘in gaiety’: ‘envoisure’ means properly ‘trick,’
‘device,’ connected with such words as ‘voisdie,’ hence ‘pleasantry,’
‘gaiety.’
992. _les firont rejoïr_, ‘delighted them’: see note on 1135.
997. _s’estuit._ In 613 and 15144 this means ‘was silent,’ from
‘s’esteire,’ and that sense will perhaps do for it here. However, the
form ‘restuit’ below suggests ‘esteir,’ which presumably might be used
reflexively, and ‘s’estuit’ would then mean ‘stood.’ This may be the
sense also in 626.
1008. Cp. 415.
1015. _luy_, used for ‘ly,’ the def. article: see Glossary under ‘ly.’
1016. ‘Much resembled one another’: cp. such compounds as
‘s’entrecontrer,’ ‘s’entrasseurer,’ &c.
1027. _le livre._ What ‘book’ is our author following in his statement
that the Deadly Sins are ‘hermafodrite,’ as he calls it? Or does this
reference only apply to what follows about the meaning of the word?
1030. ‘If I lay upon them female names,’ but ‘enditer’ is employed in
an unusual sense.
1061. _au seinte ... quideroit_, ‘should believe her to be a saint.’
1066. _Tant plus come_, ‘The more that,’ answered by ‘Tant plus’ in the
next line.
1069. Apparently the meaning is that Hypocrisy in public separates
herself from others and stands apart: for ‘singulere’ cp. 1513.
1081. 2 Kings xx. 12 ff.
1085. ‘According to the divination of the prophet,’ taking ‘devinant’
as a substantive, like ‘vivant,’ ‘pensant,’ &c.
1094. For this use of the verb cp. _Trait._ iv. 1, ‘qant plus
resemblont amorouses.’
1100 ff. Cp. _Conf. Am._ i. 604 f.,
‘And he that was a lomb beforn
Is thanne a wolf.’
1117. Matt. xxiii. 27.
1127. Probably Is. ix. 17.
1135. _q’om fait despire_, ‘which one abhors,’ the auxiliary use of
‘faire,’ which is very common in our author, like ‘do,’ ‘doth,’ in
English: cp. 39, 168, 368, 488, 992, 1320, _Bal._ iv. 1, &c. In some
places this auxiliary (again like the English ‘do’) takes the place of
the principal verb, which is understood from a preceding clause, e.g.
3180, 10649. These uses are common in Old French generally, but perhaps
more so in Anglo-Norman than in the Continental dialects.
1146. Bern. _Serm. in Cant._ xvi. 10.
1147. _ce_ for ‘se’: see note on 799.
1180. _boit_: indicative for subjunctive to suit the rhyme; so ‘voit’
1185, ‘fait’ 1401.
1184. _qu’il serra poy mangant_, ‘that he shall eat little,’ the future
being used in command as in 416, 688. For the participle with auxiliary
see note on l. 118.
1193. _l’en doit loer_: ‘should praise him’: an auxiliary use of
‘doit,’ which stands for ‘may’ in all senses: cp. 780, 3294, 6672,
17041, &c.
1194. Similar sayings of Augustine are quoted elsewhere by our author,
e.g. 10411, 20547.
1244. _qui lors prise_, &c., ‘when one praises her, she thinks not that
God can undo her by any means.’ This is probably the meaning: cp. such
expressions as ‘qui bien guarde en son purpens’ 9055, ‘qui bien se
cure’ 16541, &c. Compare the use of ‘who that’ in Gower’s English, e.g.
_Conf. Am. Prol._ 460.
1261. _laisse nient que_, &c., ‘fails not to keep with him,’ &c.
1273. Job xxi. 12, 13: ‘Tenent tympanum et citharam, et gaudent ad
sonitum organi. Ducunt in bonis dies suos, et in puncto ad inferna
descendunt.’
1280. Perhaps Is. v. 14.
1285. The passage is Jeremiah xlv. 5. ‘Ysaïe’ is a mistake for
‘Jeremie,’ which would suit the metre equally well and perhaps was
intended by the author.
1291. There is nothing exactly corresponding to this in the book of
Joel, but perhaps it is a general reference to the first chapter.
1317. Ecclus. xxv. 3. This book is sometimes referred to as ‘Salomon,’
and sometimes more properly as ‘Sidrac’: cp. 2509.
1326. Ps. li. 3, ‘Quid gloriaris in malitia, qui potens es in
iniquitate?’
1335. Job xx. 6, 7.
1365. _frise_: a puzzling word. It ought to mean here ‘blows,’ or
‘blows cold,’ of the wind.
1375. ‘It is she who causes a man to be raised from a foot-page to
great lordship.’
1389. ‘He plays them so false a turn’: ‘tresgeter’ came to be used
especially of cheating or juggling, hence ‘tregetour.’
1400. Cp. 14473.
1401. _fait_: indic. for subj. in rhyme.
1416. Cp. 12780, ‘N’ad pas la langue au fil pendant.’
1446. Perhaps ‘pareill’ is here a substantive and means ‘equality.’
1447. _qui_, ‘whom.’
1460. _est plus amant_, i.e. ‘aime.’
1495 ff. Cp. _Conf. Am._ i. 2409-2415, where the same idea of a wind
of pride blowing away a man’s virtue is suggested under the head of
‘Avantance.’
1518. ‘Noli me tangere’ is perhaps originally from John xx. 17, but it
has received a very different application.
1563. The story was that the hunter, having carried off the tiger’s
cubs and being pursued, would throw behind him in the path of the
animal a sphere of glass, the reflection in which was supposed by the
tiger to be one of her lost cubs. This would delay her for a time, and
by repeating the process the man would be able to ride away in safety
with his booty: see Ambrose, _Hex._ vi. 4. The story is founded on that
told by Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ viii. 25.
1575. Perhaps an inaccurate reminiscence of John viii. 49.
1585. The reference is to Job xi. 12, ‘Vir vanus in superbiam erigitur,
et tanquam pullum onagri se liberum natum putat.’ The rest is due to
our author.
1597. Ecclus. xxxvii. 3. ‘O praesumptio nequissima, unde creata es...?’
The rest is added by our author.
1618. Perhaps Bern. _de Hum. Cond._ 5, ‘Stude cognoscere te: quam
multo melior et laudabilior es, si te cognoscis, quam si te neglecto
cognosceres cursum siderum,’ &c.
1624. Matt. vii. 1, 2.
1627. Probably Is. xxix. 14, but it is not an exact quotation.
1645. Job xxx. 1, ‘Nunc autem derident me iuniores tempore.’
1648. Job xii. 4, ‘deridetur enim iusti simplicitas.’
1653. The reference is no doubt intended for the Elegies of Maximianus,
but I think no such passage occurs in them. Perhaps our author was
thinking of Cato, _Distich._ iii. 7,
Alterius dictum aut factum nec carpseris unquam,
Exemplo simili ne te derideat alter.
1662. _faisoit_, singular for the rhyme, with the excuse of ‘chascun’
to follow.
1669. Perhaps Prov. xxiv. 9, ‘abominatio hominum detractor,’ or xvi. 5,
‘Abominatio Domini est omnis arrogans.’
1678. Ps. lix. (_Vulg._ lviii.) 8 (9), ‘Et tu, Domine, deridebis eos.’
1684 ff. It is suggested here that Malapert gets his name from
discovering things which should be concealed, saying them ‘en apert’;
but the word is rather from ‘apert’ in the sense of ‘bold’ ‘impudent,’
whence the modern English ‘pert.’
1688. _serroit_, ‘ought to be,’ a common use of the conditional: cp.
6915, 8941, &c., and _Vox Clam._ iii. 1052 and elsewhere, where the
Latin imp. subj. is used in the same way.
1709 f. ‘All set themselves to listen what he will say.’
1711. _si nuls soit_, ‘if there be any.’
1717. Prov. ix. 7, ‘Qui erudit derisorem, ipse iniuriam sibi facit.’
1740. _n’en dirroit plus avant_, ‘would not go further in speaking of
it,’ ‘avant’ being probably an adverb: cp. 1762.
1758. Boeth. _de Cons._ iii. Pr. 8. ‘Igitur te pulcrum videri non tua
natura sed oculorum spectantium reddit infirmitas.’
1762 f. _si par tout avant_, &c., ‘if he could go on further and see
the rest.’
1776. _volt_, used apparently for pret. subj., as 327; here in
conditional sense.
1784. Aug. _in Joann. Ev._ i. 15, ‘Quid est quod te inflas, humana
superbia?... Pulicibus resiste, ut dormias: cognosce qui sis.’
1790. Boeth. _de Cons._ iii. Pr. 3 ff.
1795. _de nounstable_, ‘instead of transient.’
1824. ‘Often you see evil come (upon him).’ The reference may be to
Prov. xvi. 18, or to some similar saying.
1825. Zephaniah iii. 11.
1828. Perhaps Jer. xlviii. 29 ff.
1837. Luke xviii. 9 ff.
1848. _par soy despisant_: a characteristic use of the gerund for
infinitive: cp. 6093.
1849. The references to Solinus in this book are mostly false. Many
of the anecdotes may be found in Pliny, but not this. Isidore gives
the etymology, but the original of the story here is perhaps Albertus
Magnus _de Animalibus_ (quoted by the Delphin editor on Plin. _N. H._
x. 3).
1868. Perhaps Ps. ci. 5. In any case the last lines of the stanza are
an addition by our author to the quotation.
1883. _fait a reprendre_, ‘deserves to be blamed’: cp. 5055, 9687,
12238, &c., and see the examples quoted by Burguy, _Grammaire_, ii. 167
f.
1887. The story is told at length in _Conf. Am._ i. 2785 ff.
1912 ff. Cp. _Conf. Am._ i. 2416 ff., but the parallel is not very
close.
1942. _parferroit._ The contraction is thus written out in all parts
of this verb, because ‘parfaire,’ ‘parfait,’ occur in full, e.g. 4413.
Probably, however, there was fluctuation between ‘par’ and ‘per,’ as in
‘parfit,’ ‘parigal.’
1944. It would perhaps be difficult to say why Montpelliers should
be a proverbially rich place, but Mr. Archer points out to me that
such expressions as this are common in the _chansons de geste_, e.g.
_Chanson d’Antioche_ ii. 628, ‘Il n’y vousist mie estre pour l’or de
Montpellier.’ Pavia is referred to in _Mir._ 7319 in the same way.
2022. _frocke et haire_, i.e. the outer and the inner garment of a monk
or friar.
2037. Perhaps rather ‘Tout mal dirra’; but the text may be translated
‘he will curse continually.’
2067. _l’en chastie_, ‘may correct him for it’: but perhaps we should
read ‘l’enchastie’ without separation; cp. 7917.
2090. Rom. v. 19.
2095. _Moises_: a dissyllable here, but elsewhere ‘Moïses,’ &c.
2101. Sol. _Collect._ 52, ‘[Monoceros] vivus non venit in hominum
potestatem, et interimi quidem potest, capi non potest.’
2135 f. Cp. _Conf. Am._ i. 1240 ff.
2142. France is looked upon simply as a land which has revolted from
its lawful sovereign, Edward III, who has the right ‘from his mother,’
2148. This passage was apparently written before the death of Edward
III.
2169. ‘Is delivered up in slavery to him.’
2184. _Du permanable vilenie_, to be taken with ‘mort,’ ‘death comes
suddenly upon him bringing him to everlasting shame.’
2185. Is. xxxiii. 1. ‘Vae qui praedaris, nonne et ipse praedaberis? et
qui spernis, nonne et ipse sperneris?’ &c.
2197. Deut. xxviii. 38 ff.
2209. Ezek. xvii. 19 ff.
2221. Prov. xvii. 5.
2224. Mal. ii. 10, ‘Numquid non pater unus omnium nostrum? numquid non
Deus unus creavit nos? Quare ergo despicit unusquisque nostrum fratrem
suum?’
2242. Greg. _Moral._ xxiii. 31, ‘Obstaculum namque veritatis est tumor
mentis.’
2275. Luke xiii. 14. The person who protested was the ‘ruler of the
synagogue,’ whom our author calls ‘un archeprestre,’ and the miracle
was done upon a woman.
2281. Prov. xxix. 22, ‘qui ad indignandum facilis est, erit ad
peccandum proclivior.’
2293. Prov. xxx. 13.
2301. Is. ii. 11, or v. 15.
2305. _Danger_: see note on _Bal._ xii. l. 8. Here Danger represents
the spirit which rejects advances of friendship from motives of pride.
2323. _fait ... appeller_: see note on 1135.
2326. Cp. 2362, where we have ‘oi’ (monosyllable), as also 410.
2330. Numbers xiv. 30.
2341 ff. Numbers xvi.
2348. _Que_, ‘For.’
2351 f. _que plus avant_, &c., ‘so that by this he gave warning to the
rest for the future’ (‘plus avant’).
2353 ff. Acts ix. 5. In this stanza the word ‘point’ occurs no less
than six times in the rhyme. This is an extreme instance of a common
case, any difference in the meaning or manner of employment being held
both in French and English verse to justify the repetition of the same
word as a rhyme. Here ‘point’ is the past participle of a verb in 2357
and is used as an adverb in 2356: in the other four cases it is simply
the same substantive with differences of meaning.
2377. 1 Macc. iii. 13-24.
2384. 1 Macc. vi. 1-16.
2389. Deut. xxi. 18-21.
2405. Exod. xvii. 1-7.
2413. Deut. xxxii.
2425. 1 Macc. vii. 26-47.
2441. Perhaps Is. v. 20.
2443. 2 Kings xix (Is. xxxvii).
2449. Levit. xxiv. 16.
2452. Luke xxiii. 39 ff., but our author has characteristically
reversed the story, giving us the supposed punishment of the blasphemer
instead of the mercy shown to the penitent.
2462. _C’est un des tous_, &c. Cp. the expression in fourteenth-century
English, ‘oon the beste’ &c.
2463. Rev. xiii. 1, 6 f.
2509. Ecclus. x. 12 (14). The references of our author to ‘Sidrac’ are
to this book, ‘The wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach,’ but he also
quotes from it under the name of Solomon, cp. 1317, and curiously
enough the very next quotation, taken from the same chapter, is a case
of this kind.
2513. Ecclus. x. 7, ‘Odibilis coram Deo est et hominibus superbia.’
2534. _fait plus a redoubter_: see note on l. 1883.
2538. _a son passage_, ‘at his death.’
2548. Ecclus. x. 17, ‘Sedes ducum superborum destruxit Deus, et sedere
fecit mites pro eis.’
2587. Mal. i. 6.
2629. _Haymo_: Bishop of Halberstadt, ninth century. The reference is
to his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, i. 10, ‘Detractio est
aliorum bene gesta opera vel in malum malitiose mutare, vel invidendo
fallaci fraude diminuere,’ &c. (Migne. _Patrol._ cxvii. 377).
2653. Numbers xii. 1.
2665. Probably the reference is to Is. xiv. 13-15, but the beginning is
loosely quoted: the latter part is closer, see verse 15, ‘ad infernum
detraheris in profundum laci.’
2677 ff. Cp. _Conf. Am._ ii. 388 ff., where ‘Malebouche’ comes in as
the attendant of ‘Detraccioun.’
2700. _le meinz_, ‘the less,’ cp. ‘ly pire’ 2760, ‘le plus’ 12347, ‘le
meulx’ 14396.
2715. I do not understand this. By comparison with _Conf. Am._ ii.
394 ff. the passage should mean that he praises first, and then ends
up with blame, which overcasts all the praise: cp. Chaucer, _Persones
Tale_, 494 (Skeat). Perhaps we ought to read ‘primerement’ for
‘darreinement.’
2742. For the metre cp. 24625 and see Introduction, p. xlv.
2749. See du Cange under ‘fagolidori’ (Gr. φαγολοίδοροι), where the
passage of Jerome is quoted, but the word is set down as probably a
corruption of φιλολοίδοροι.
2761. Ps. x. 7 (_Vulg._ ix. 28).
2779. Ps. cxl. 3 (_Vulg._ cxxxix. 4).
2790. Ps. xxxviii. 20 (_Vulg._ xxxvii. 21), ‘Qui retribuunt mala pro
bonis, detrahebant mihi, quoniam sequebar bonitatem.’
2799. Jer. xviii. 21 f.
2809. Ps. xxxi. 18 (_Vulg._ xxx. 19), cp. cxix. (_Vulg._ lxviii), 23.
2861. Jer. li. 1, but the passage is misunderstood.
2865. Rom. i. 30, ‘Detractores, Deo odibiles.’
2874. Bern. _Int. Dom._ xxiii. 49, ‘Detrahentes et audientes pari reatu
detinentur.’
2893. The disgusting habits of the hoopoe in nesting are often referred
to.
2894 ff. There is a close parallel to this in _Conf. Am._ ii. 413 ff.,
‘Lich to the Scharnebudes kinde,
Of whos nature this I finde,’ &c.
2908. Perhaps Prov. xxii. 1.
2917 ff. Luke xvii. 1, 2.
2923. Matt. xviii. 8, 9.
2931. Ps. l. (_Vulg._ xlix.) 20, but it is a very much expanded
quotation.
2941. Deut. xxii. 13-19.
2955. See note on 415.
2959. Perhaps a general reference to Ezek. xviii.
2961. _ne tient plait de_, &c., ‘does not hold discourse of example of
holy scripture.’
3109. Acts iv. 1.
3116. This line is too long, no doubt by inadvertence, having five
measures instead of four. So in _Bal._ xxvii. the first line is of six
measures instead of five. Both might easily be amended, if it were
thought desirable: for example, here we might read
‘Q’avoit leur prechement oïe.’
The word ‘prechement’ occurs 18092, and very probably this is what the
author meant to write.
3133. Ps. vii. 16 (17).
3137. The reference is perhaps to Ecclus. xxvii. 25-29.
3145. The reference is Jeremiah xlv. 3.
3158. Cp. _Conf. Am._ ii. 222, ‘A vice revers unto this,’ where the
author is speaking of the same thing as here.
3160. The MS. has ‘male,’ but perhaps the author meant to write ‘mal,’
for disregard of gender is common with him, while formal irregularity
of metre is exceedingly rare. Compare, however, 10623, 10628. For the
form of expression cp. 3467.
3180. _fait_, used here to supply the place of ‘escoulte.’ ‘As the fox
listens for the hounds, so doth he for other men’s loss.’ See note on
1135.
3233. _Par si q’_, ‘provided that,’ cp. 20576.
3234 ff. This is the tale told in illustration of the vice of ‘Gaudium
alterius doloris,’ in _Conf. Am._ ii. 291-364.
3240. ‘When the game was thus set between them.’ From this kind of
expression comes ‘jeu parti,’ ‘jeupartie,’ meaning a set game or match
between two parties, hence a risk or hazardous alternative: Engl.
‘jeopardy.’
3248. Ps. xxxviii. 16 (or xiii. 4).
3253. Ezek. xxv. 3 ff.
3265 ff. John xvi. 20.
3271 ff. This is an addition by our author, who is always unwilling to
overlook the punishment of the wicked.