1. “The fable of ‘The Crow,’ says Tyrwhitt, “which is the
subject of the Manciple’s Tale, has been related by so many
authors, from Ovid down to Gower, that it is impossible to
say whom Chaucer principally followed. His skill in new
dressing an old story was never, perhaps, more successfully
exerted.”
2. See the parallel to this passage in the Squire’s Tale, and
note 34 to that tale.
3. Wantrust: distrust — want of trust; so “wanhope,” despair -
- want of hope.
4. This is quoted in the French “Romance of the Rose,” from
Cato “De Moribus,” 1. i., dist. 3: “Virtutem primam esse puta
compescere linguam.” (“The first virtue is to be able to
control the tongue”)
5. “Semel emissum volat irrevocabile verbum.” (“A word once
uttered flies away and cannot be called back”) — Horace,
Epist. 1., 18, 71.
6. This caution is also from Cato “De Moribus,” 1. i., dist.
12: “Rumoris fuge ne incipias novus auctor haberi.” (“Do not
pass on rumours or be the author of new ones”)