3960. _boydekin_, dagger, as in B. 3892, q. v. Cf. note to l. 3931.
3962. 'At any rate, they would that their wives should think so.' _Wenden_,
pt. pl. subj. of _wenen_.
3963. _smoterlich_, besmutched; cf. _bismotered_ in A. 76. Tyrwhitt says:
'it means, I suppose, smutty, dirty; but the whole passage is obscure.'
Rather, it is perfectly clear when the allusion is perceived. The allusion
is to the smutch upon her reputation, on account of her illegitimacy. This
explains also the use of _somdel_; 'because she was, in some measure, of
indifferent reputation, she was always on her dignity, and ready to take
offence'; which is true to human nature. Thus the whole context is
illuminated at once.
3964. _digne_, full of dignity, and therefore (as Chaucer says, with
exquisite satire) like (foul) water in a ditch, which keeps every one at a
proper distance. However, the satire is not Chaucer's own, but due to a
popular proverbial jest, which occurs again in The Ploughman's Crede, l.
375, where the Dominican friars are thus described:--
'Ther is more pryve pride in Prechours hertes
Than ther lefte [_remained_] in Lucyfer, er he were lowe fallen;
They ben _digne as dich-water_, that dogges in bayteth' [_feed in_].