2258. _Thar ye nat_, it needs not that ye; i. e. you are not obliged. _But
yow lyke_, unless you please (lit. unless it please you).
2259. _Ther_, where. _What that him lyketh_, whatever he likes.
2260. _Save your grace_, with the same sense as the commoner phrase 'save
your reverence.' The Lat. text has 'salua reuerentia tua'; which shews the
original form of the phrase.
_As seith the book._ Here 'the book' probably means no more than the Latin
text, which has 'nam qui omnes despicit, omnibus displicet'; without any
reference.
2261. _Senek._ Mätzner says this is not to be found in Seneca; in fact, the
Latin text refers us to 'Seneca, De Formula Honestae Vitae'; but Sundby has
found it in Martinus Dumiensis, Formula Honestae Vitae, cap. iii. This
shews that it was attributed to Seneca erroneously. Moreover, the original
is more fully expressed, and runs thus--'Nullius imprudentiam despicias;
rari sermonis ipse, sed loquentium patiens auditor; seuerus non saeuus,
hilares neque aspernans; sapientiae cupidus et docilis; quae scieris, sine
arrogantia postulanti imperties; quae nescieris, sine occultatione
ignorantiae tibi benigne postula impertiri.' Cf. Horace, Epist. vi. 67, 68.
2265. _Rather_, sooner. See Mark, xvi. 9. The weakness of this argument for
the _goodness_ of woman appears by comparison with P. Plowman, C. viii.
138: 'A synful Marye the seyh er seynt Marie thy moder,' i. e. Christ was
seen by St. Mary the sinner earlier than by St. Mary His mother, after His
resurrection.
2266-9. This reappears in verse in the March. Tale, E. 2277-2290.
2269. Alluding to Matt. xix. 17; Luke xviii. 19.
2273. _Or noon_, or not. So elsewhere; see B. 2407, F. 778, I. 962, 963,
964.
2276. Cf. P. Plowman, C. xx. 297, on which my note is as follows. 'Perhaps
the original form of this commonly quoted proverb is this:--"Tria sunt enim
quae non sinunt hominem in domo permanere; fumus, stillicidium, et mala
uxor"; Innocens Papa, de Contemptu Mundi, i. 18. It is a mere compilation
from Prov. x. 26, xix. 13, and xxvii. 15. Chaucer refers to it in his Tale
of Melibeus, Prologue to Wife of Bathes Tale (D. 278), and Persones Tale
(I. 631); see also Kemble's Solomon and Saturn, pp. 43, 53, 63; Walter
Mapes, ed. Wright, p. 83.' Cf. Wright's Bibliographia Britannica,
Anglo-Norman Period, pp. 333, 334; Hazlitt's Proverbs, pp. 114, 339; Ida
von Düringsfeld, Sprichwörter, vol. i. sect. 303; Peter Cantor, ed. Migne,
col. 331; &c. A medieval proverbial line expresses the same thus:--
'Sunt tria dampna domus, imber, mala femina, fumus.'
2277. From Prov. xxi. 9; cf. Prov. xxv. 24. See D. 775.
2286. The Lat. text has: 'uulgo dici consueuit, Consilium feminile nimis
carum aut nimis uile.' Cf. B. 4446, and the note. [208]
2288. The examples of Jacob, Judith, Abigail, and Esther are again quoted,
in the same order, in the March. Tale, E. 1362-74. See Gen. xxvii; Judith,
xi-xiii; 1 Sam. xxv. 14; Esther, vii.
2293. _Forme-fader_, first father. Here _forme_ represents the A. S.
_forma_, first, cognate with Goth. _fruma_, Lat. _primus_. Cf. 'Adam ure
_forme fader_'; O. E. Homilies, ed. Morris, ii. 101; so also in Hampole,
Pr. Cons. 483; Legends of the Holy Rood, ed. Morris, p. 62; Allit. Poems,
A. 639.
2294. _To been a man allone_, for a man to be alone; for this idiom, cf. I.
456, 469, 666, 849, 935.--Mr. See Gen. ii. 18.
2296. _Confusioun_; see B. 4354, and the note.
2297. Lat. text:--'quare per uersus dici consueuit:
Quid melius auro? Iaspis. Quid iaspide? Sensus.
Quid sensu? Mulier. Quid muliere? Nihil.'
Sundby quotes from Ebrardi Bituniensis Graecismus, cum comm. Vincentii
Metulini, fol. C. 1, back--
Quid melius auro? Iaspis. Quid iaspide? Sensus.
Quid sensu? Ratio. Quid ratione? Deus.
(A better reading is _Auro quid melius_.)
In MS. Harl. 3362, fol. 67, as printed in Reliquiae Antiquae, i. 91, we
find:--
Vento quid leuius? fulgur. Quid fulgure? flamma.
Flamma quid? mulier. Quid muliere? nichil.
And these lines are immediately followed by the second quotation above,
with the variations 'Auro quid melius,' 'Sensu quid,' and 'nichil' for
'Deus.'
2303. From Prov. xvi. 24.
2306. For the use of _to_ with _biseken_, cf. 2940 below.--Mr.
2308. From Tobit, iv. 20 (Vulgate); iv. 19 (A. V.). _Dresse_, direct; Lat.
'ut uias tuas _dirigat_.'
2309. From James, i. 5. At this point the Fr. text is much shortened, pp.
20-30 of the Latin text being omitted.
2311. Lat. text (p. 33):--'a te atque consiliariis tuis remoueas illa tria,
quae maxime sunt consilio contraria, scilicet iram, uoluptatem siue
cupiditatem atque festinantiam.'