415. This proverb has occurred before; see A. 4134. Lydgate quotes it in
st. 2 of a poem with the burden--'Lyk thyn audience, so utter thy langage';
see Polit., Relig., and Love Poems, ed. Furnivall, p. 25, l. 15. John of
Salisbury says:--'Veteri celebratur prouerbio: quia uacuae manus temeraria
petitio est'; Policraticus, lib. v. c. 10.
418. Cf. l. 417. Bacon was considered as a common food for rustics. Cf.
'bacon-fed knaves'; 1 Hen. IV. ii. 2. 88. It is not worth while to discuss
the matter further.