4130. _Catoun._ Dionysius Cato, de Moribus, l. ii. dist. 32: _somnia ne
cures_. 'I observe by the way, that this distich is quoted by John of
Salisbury, Polycrat. l. ii. c. 16, as a precept _viri sapientis_. In
another place, l. vii. c. 9, he introduces his quotation of the first verse
of dist. 20 (l. iii.) in this manner:--"_Ait vel Cato vel alius_, nam autor
incertus est."'--Tyrwhitt. Cf. note to G. 688.
4131. _do no fors of_ = take no notice of, pay no heed to. Skelton, i. 118,
has 'makyth so lytyll fors,' i. e. cares so little for.
4153. 'Wormwood, _centaury_, pennyroyal, are likewise magnified and much
prescribed, especially in hypochondrian melancholy, daily to be used, sod
in whey. And because the spleen and blood are often misaffected in
melancholy, I may not omit endive, succory, dandelion, _fumitory_, &c.,
which cleanse the blood.'--Burton's Anat. of Mel. pp. 432, 433. See also p.
438, ed. 1845. '_Centauria_ abateth wombe-ache, and cleereth sight, and
vnstoppeth the splene and the reines'; Batman upon Bartholomè, lib. xvii.
c. 47. '_Fumus terre_ [fumitory] cleanseth and purgeth Melancholia, fleme,
and cholera'; id. lib. xvii. c. 69. 'Medicinal herbs were grown in every
garden, and were dried or made into decoctions, and kept for use'; Wright,
Domestic Manners, p. 279.
4154. _ellebor._ Two kinds of hellebore are mentioned by old writers;
'white hellebore, called sneezing powder, a strong purger upward' (Burton's
Anat. of Mel. pt. 2. § 4. m. 2. subsec. 1.), and '_black hellebore_, that
most renowned plant, and famous purger of melancholy.'--Ibid. subsec. 2.
4155. _catapuce_, caper-spurge, _Euphorbia Lathyris_. _gaytres_ (or
_gaytrys_) _beryis_, probably the berries of the buck-thorn, _Rhamnus
catharticus_; which (according to Rietz) is still called, in Swedish
dialects, the _getbärs-trä_ (goat-berries tree) or _getappel_ (goat-apple).
I take _gaytre_ to stand for _gayt-tre_, i. e. goat-tree; a Northern form,
from Icel. _geit_ (gen. _geitar_), a goat. The A. S. _g[=a]te-tr[=e]ow_,
goat-tree, is probably the same tree, though the prov. Eng. _gaiter-tree_,
_gatten-tree_, or _gatteridge-tree_ is usually applied to the _Cornus
sanguinea_ or cornel-tree, the fruits of which 'are sometimes mistaken for
those of the buck-thorn, but do not possess the active properties of that
plant'; Eng. Cyclop., s. v. _Cornus_. The context shews that the buck-thorn
is meant. Langham says of the buck-thorn, that 'the beries do purge
downwards mightily flegme and choller'; Garden of Health, 1633, p. 99 (New
E. Dict., s. v. _Buckthorn_). This is why Chanticleer was recommended to
eat them.
4156. _erbe yve_, herb ive or herb ivy, usually identified with the
ground-pine, _Ajuga chamæpitys_. _mery_, pleasant, used ironically; as the
leaves are extremely nauseous. [253]
4160. _graunt mercy_, great thanks; this in later authors is corrupted into
_grammercy_ or _gramercy_.
4166. _so mote I thee_, as I may thrive (or prosper). _Mote_ = A. S.
_m[=o]t-e_, first p. s. pr. subj.
4174. _Oon of the gretteste auctours._ 'Cicero, De Divin. l. i. c. 27,
relates this and the following story, but in a different order, and with so
many other differences, that one might be led to suspect that he was here
quoted at second-hand, if it were not usual with Chaucer, in these stories
of familiar life, to throw in a number of natural circumstances, not to be
found in his original authors.'--Tyrwhitt. Warton thinks that Chaucer took
it rather from Valerius Maximus, who has the same story; i. 7. He has,
however, overlooked the statement in l. 4254, which decides for Cicero. I
here quote the whole of the former story, as given by Valerius. 'Duo
familiares Arcades iter una facientes, Megaram venerunt; quorum alter ad
hospitem se contulit, alter in tabernam meritoriam devertit. Is, qui in
hospitio venit, vidit in somnis comitem suam orantem, ut sibi cauponis
insidiis circumvento subveniret: posse enim celeri ejus accursu se
imminenti periculo subtrahi. Quo viso excitatus, prosiluit, tabernamque, in
qua is diversabatur, petere conatus est. Pestifero deinde fato ejus
humanissimum propositum tanquam supervacuum damnavit, et lectum ac somnum
repetiit. Tunc idem ei saucius oblatus obsecravit, ut qui auxilium vitae
suae ferre neglexisset, neci saltem ultionem non negaret. Corpus enim suum
à caupone trucidatum, tum maxime plaustro ad portam ferri stercore
coöpertum. Tam constantibus familiaris precibus compulsus, protinus ad
portam cucurrit, et plaustrum, quod in quiete demonstratum erat,
comprehendit, cauponemque ad capitale supplicium perduxit.' Valerii Maximi,
lib. i. c. 7 (De Somniis). Cf. Cicero, De Divinatione, i. 27.
4194. _oxes_; written _oxe_ in Hl. Cp. Ln; where _oxe_ corresponds to the
older English gen. _oxan_, of an ox--_oxe_ standing for _oxen_ (as in
Oxenford, see note on l. 285 of Prologue). Thus _oxes_ and _oxe_ are
equivalent.
4200. _took of this no keep_, took no heed to this, paid no attention to
it.
4211. _sooth to sayn_, to say (tell) the truth.
4232. _gapinge._ The phrase _gaping upright_ occurs elsewhere (see Knightes
Tale, A. 2008), and signifies lying flat on the back with the mouth open.
Cf. 'Dede he sate uprighte,' i. e. he lay on his back dead. The Sowdone of
Babyloyne, l. 530.
4235. _Harrow_, a cry of distress; a cry for help. 'Harrow! alas! I swelt
here as I go.'--The Ordinary; see vol. iii. p. 150, of the Ancient Drama.
See F. _haro_ in Godefroy and Littré; and note to A. 3286.