288. Comp. generally 32/39-65; 29/20-24. Perhaps the allusion is to ‘In
timore Domini esto [tuum cor] tota die: Quia habebis spem in novissimo,
et praestolatio tua non auferetur,’ Prov. xxiii. 17, 18.
289. #lyen#: comp. ‘ꝥ sind þa gecostan cempan þa þam cyninge þeowað | se
næfre þa lean alegeð þam þe his lufan adreogeð,’ Exeter Book, ed.
Gollancz, 108/91. See 32/64 note.
293. #gabbe#, talk mockingly or derisively: the meaning of Fr. _gaber_,
to talk boastingly, would suit well here, but it lacks support.
#schotte# is difficult: the obvious sense is, to pay scot, to take part
in convivial assemblies, but this does not go well with #gabbe#.
Borgström thinks that it may be _schoute_, to shout, or possibly to
scout, sneer, modified for the sake of the rhyme. If that principle may
be admitted, _stroute_, to swagger (Havelok, 1779), would be preferable.
294. #chid#, wrangle, engage in a ‘flyting,’ or scolding match: ‘Ne
respondeas stulto iuxta stultitiam suam,’ Prov. xxvi. 4. Whether #tales#
be taken with the preceding or the following line, it is equally
unsuitable, unless it may mean reproaches, charges, after OE. #talian#.
It goes best with l. 296; _ne_ should be omitted before _chid_.
#dwales#, not ‘fools’ in the general sense, but erring ones; _dwall_ in
mod. dialects means to wander in mind, to talk incoherently. With
#cunnes# comp. 81/80.
298. ‘Rumores fuge, neu studeas novus auctor haberi,’ Cato 218/12. With
299 comp. ‘Pauca in convivio loquere’, id. 217/51. ‘Inter convivas fac
sis sermone modestus,’ Columbanus 92; ‘Contra verbosos noli contendere
verbis: | Sermo datur cunctis, animi sapientia paucis,’ Cato 217/10.
302. #biluken#, enclose, comprehend: the brief utterances of the wise
man are weighty.