4350. This line is repeated from the Compleynt of Mars, l. 61.
4353-6. 'By way of quiet retaliation for Partlet's sarcasm, he cites a
Latin proverbial saying, in l. 344, 'Mulier est hominis confusio,' which he
turns into a pretended compliment by the false translation in ll. 345,
346.'--Marsh. Tyrwhitt quotes it from Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. Hist. x.
71. Chaucer has already referred to this saying above; see p. 207, l. 2296.
'A woman, as saith the philosofre [i. e. Vincent], is the confusion of man,
insaciable, &c.'; Dialogue of Creatures, cap. cxxi. 'Est damnum dulce
mulier, confusio sponsi'; Adolphi Fabulae, x. 567; pr. in Leyser, Hist.
Poet. Med. Aevi, p. 2031. Cf. note to D. 1195.
4365. _lay_, for _that lay_. Chaucer omits the relative, as is frequently
done in Middle English poetry; see note to l. 4090.
4377. According to Beda, the creation took place at the vernal equinox; see
Morley, Eng. Writers, 1888, ii. 146. Cf. note to l. 4045.
4384. See note on l. 4045 above.
4395. Cf. Man of Lawes Tale, B. 421, and note. See Prov. xiv. 13.
4398. In the margin of MSS. E. and Hn. is written 'Petrus Comestor,' who is
probably here referred to.
4402. See the Squieres Tale, F. 287, and the note.
4405. _col-fox_; explained by Bailey as a 'coal-black fox'; and he seems to
have caught the right idea. _Col-_ here represents M. E. _col_, coal; and
the reference is to the _brant-fox_, which is explained in the New E. Dict.
as borrowed from the G. _brand-fuchs_, 'the German name of a variety of the
fox, chiefly distinguished by a greater admixture of black in its fur;
according to Grimm, it has black feet, ears, and tail.' Chaucer expressly
refers to the black-tipped tail and ears in l. 4094 above. Mr. Bradley
cites the G. _kohlfuchs_ and Du. _koolvos_, similarly formed; but the
ordinary dictionaries do not give these names. The old explanation of
_col-fox_ as meaning 'deceitful fox' is difficult to establish, and is now
unnecessary.
4412. _undern_; see note to E. 260.
4417. _Scariot_, i. e. Judas Iscariot. _Genilon_; the traitor who caused
the defeat of Charlemagne, and the death of Roland; see Book of the
Duchesse, 1121, and the note in vol. i. p. 491.
4418. See Vergil, Æn. ii. 259.
4430. _bulte it to the bren_, sift the matter; cf. the phrase _to boult the
bran_. See the argument in Troilus, iv. 967; cf. Milton, P. L. ii. 560.
4432. _Boece_, i. e. Boethius. See note to Kn. Tale, A. 1163.
_Bradwardyn._ Thomas Bradwardine was Proctor in the University of Oxford in
the year 1325, and afterwards became Divinity Professor and Chancellor of
the University. His chief work is 'On the Cause of God' (_De Causâ Dei_).
See Morley's English Writers, iv. 61.
4446. _colde_, baneful, fatal. The proverb is Icelandic; 'köld eru opt
kvenna-ráð,' cold (fatal) are oft women's counsels; Icel. Dict. s. v.
_kaldr_. It occurs early, in The Proverbs of Alfred, ed. Morris, Text 1, l.
336:--'Cold red is quene red.' Cf. B. 2286, and the note. [256]
4450-6. Imitated from Le Roman de la Rose, 15397-437.
4461. _Phisiologus._ 'He alludes to a book in Latin metre, entitled
Physiologus de Naturis xii. Animalium, by one Theobaldus, whose age is not
known. The chapter _De Sirenis_ begins thus:--
Sirenae sunt monstra maris resonantia magnis
Vocibus, et modulis cantus formantia multis,
Ad quas incaute veniunt saepissime nautae,
Quae faciunt sompnum nimia dulcedine vocum.'--Tyrwhitt.
See The Bestiary, in Dr. Morris's Old English Miscellany, pp. 18, 207;
Philip de Thaun, Le Bestiaire, l. 664; Babees Book, pp. 233, 237; Mätzner's
Sprachproben, i. 55; Gower, C.A. i. 58; and cf. Rom. Rose, Eng. Version,
680 (in vol. i. p. 122).