228. _Messagerye_ and _Mede_ represents the sending of messages and giving
of bribes. For this sense of _Mede_, see P. Plowman, C. iv. (or B. iii.).
The _other three_ are Audacity (too forward Boldness), Glozings
(Flatteries), and Pimps; all of bad reputation, and therefore not named.
Boccaccio's words are--'il folle Ardire Con Lusinghe e Ruffiani.'
231. _Bras_, brass. Boccaccio has _rame_, i. e. copper, the metal which
symbolised Venus; see Can. Yeom. Tale, G 829. In fact, this temple is the
very temple of Venus which Chaucer again describes in the Knightes Tale,
ll. 1060-1108 (A 1918); which see.