43. #inohreaðe#: a favourite word with our author, comp. 62/41; 143/74,
and not found outside AR and the group associated with it. It means
literally, quite quickly, quite readily, but in AR it is mostly a
sentence adverb meaning, quite possibly, probably; comp. ‘ant so ofte
inouhreðe ne dest tu hit nout i rihte time,’ AR 270/6. inochraðe C;
inohraðe T: ‘parauenture,’ F. #dimluker#: of this comparative,
descending from an OE. *#dimlīce#, there does not appear to be any other
example: for the termination see 125/270. Elsewhere in ME. dim is used
of the voice. ‘min{us} sonare{n}t,’ M; ‘plus coiement son{er}eient lour
busme,’ F.
44. #Jeremie#: sein Jerem’ T; sein Jerome C. #solitarius#: ‘assuetus in
solitudine,’ Jer. ii. 24. M has ‘Onag{er} in desiderio . . . sui ·i·
vane gl{ori}e.’ T omits sui.
45, 46. N, apparently puzzled by seið ABCT, remodels, Of þeo ðet draweð
wind i{n}ward uor luue of hereword · seið ieremie[;] ase ich er seide.
The other MSS. agree with A, but T has prud for wind, and C omits in.
#seið#, means; ‘And seið syon ase muchel on englische leodene ase heh
sihðe,’ HM 5/6. P omits #seið--seide#.
47. #iuglurs#: joculatores, called ‘menestraus,’ AR 84/11; ‘nebulones,’
W. of Malmesbury, ii. 438, were usually a combination of minstrel,
storyteller, tumbler and buffoon, but those in the text are limited in
their means of making mirth.
48. #makien--ehnen#, pull faces, twist their mouths awry, look obliquely
with their eyes: ‘mutare uultu{m}. curuare os. obliq{ua}re oculos,’ M;
‘faire cheres besturner la bouche ⁊ trestourner les eoilȝ delesclent,’
F. #schulen#, #schuleð#, l. 53, are found only in this passage: OE.
#(be) scȳlan#; dialectic sheyle, shyle. T has schuldi (? through
confusion with #scyldan#), but sculeð at l. 53: P, sculleh (for scullen,
scowl); V, staren.
49. #seruið#: comp. with this and the following paragraphs a passage
from an anonymous sermon of the fourteenth century, ‘Nota quam bonos
(servos) habet diabolus qui ad nutum sibi obediunt, imo qui nutum eius
praeveniunt. Habet suos ioculatores, scilicet lascivos; suos traiectores
qui trahunt de sacco plus quam sit in sacco, omnes male iudicantes et
maledicos; suos thesaurarios, omnes avaros; suos gladiatores, omnes
contentiosos; suos advocatos, omnes detractores; suos insidiatores,
omnes invidos; suos latrinarios, omnes gulosos; et sic de aliis. Certe
periculosum est servire tali domino,’ Hauréau, Notices, iv. 101.
#bringen o lahtre#, induce to laugh; a curious expression, which seems
to be without parallel: ‘ut ad risu{m} prouocet,’ M, ‘p{ur} mettre en
risee,’ F.
50 B. #liki# is a scribe’s mistake for loki. Comp. ‘Riht so hit farþ bi
þan ungode | Þat nouht ne isyhþ to none gode,’ ON 245, 6.
51. #þider#: þiderwart C; þiderward N. #riht--heorte#: comp. ‘þa eagan
minre heortan,’ Ælf. Lives, ii. 28/425, 38/559; ‘mid þe eȝene of his
horte,’ OEH i. 157/28, 203/11; ‘Ablinde þe heorte, heo is eð ouercumen,’
AR 62/10, 90/22, 178/16; ‘opene to vnderstonde þe ehne of þin heorte,’
HM 3/15; ‘espiritel sacrement | Ke nus od le oil de cuer ueum,’ Adgar,
175/283. See also 115/119, and comp. ‘lay to the eere of thy herte,’
Rule of St. Benet, 1/3. For #ehe# C has echȝe. #winkið#: the writer had
perhaps in mind, ‘Annuens oculo fabricat iniqua . . . novissime autem
pervertet os suum, et in verbis tuis dabit scandalum,’ Ecclus. xxvii.
25, 26.
52. #o ꝥ half#: on C; oþere half N. He closes the eye which looks in the
direction of the good deed: ‘S{ed} ex p{ar}te illa co{n}niue{n}t oclis,’
M. The readings of the passage which follows are, ⁊ bi halt o luft · ȝef
þer is eawet to edwiten oðer · ladliche þiderwart schuleð wið eiðer · C;
⁊ biholdeð oluft ⁊ asquint · ⁊ ȝif þer is out to eadwiten · oðer
lodlich[;] þiderward heo schuleð mid eiðer eien · N; ⁊ bihaldeð oluf ȝif
þer is eyt to edwite{n} · oðer loken laðliche þiderward · sculeð mid
eiðer hwe{n} &c. T. A means, turn away their unclosed eye to the left
and suspiciously try to pick holes in the good, or else they scowl
wickedly at it with both eyes. BCV seem to have lost an infinitive after
oþer. In N lodlich agrees with out. M has ‘⁊ q{uas}i a sinist{ri}s
vident · si q{ui}d sit ibi q{uo}d rep{re}hendant · u{e}l displicent{er}
se h{abe}nt’: F ‘regardent del senestre sil i ad rien qe rep{ro}uer ou
laid cele part regardent en esclench · dautre part q{a}nt il oient le
bien,’ &c. #o luft#, on the left side, askance, an expression of
suspicion, Milton’s ‘squint suspicion,’ Comus 413, or of incredulity as
to the genuineness of the good deed. But ‘ibi’ in M suggests another
explanation; he looks in another direction to see if he can there find
something else to find fault with.
53. #skleatteð--adun#, slaps down the flaps of his ears: scletteð C;
sleateð N; sclattes T; ‘dep{ri}m{un}t aures,’ M.
54. #lust#, hearing; ‘auditus’ M: OE. #hlyst#. C has luft, and F
accordingly ‘Mes la senestre enqore al mal est touȝ iours ou{er}te.’ T
has luf and P loue. In 53 B #ea# may be miswritten for aa, ever.