and this is the reading which I have adopted in the text. However, I have
since observed that Chaucer twice makes _pi-e-tous_ trisyllabic, viz. in
Troil. iii. 1444, v. 451; and the Hengwrt MS. has the same spelling here.
The common reading, with this alteration, becomes quite right. That is, we
may read--
And piëtous and Iust, alwey y-liche.
22. _centre_; often used in the sense of a fulcrum or pivot, or point of
extreme stability. Cf. Milton, Par. Reg. iv. 533--
'Proof against all temptation, as a rock
Of adamant, _and, as a centre, firm_.'
The old astronomy supposed the centre of the earth to be the _fixed_ centre
of the universe.
30. Tyrwhitt inserts _sone_ after _eldeste_; fortunately, it is not in the
[372] MSS. _Whichë_ is a dissyllable, the _e_ denoting the plural form. The
words _th' eldest'_ form but two syllables, the _e_'s being elided; but we
may fairly preserve the _e_ in _highte_ (cf. l. 33) from elision, for the
greater emphasis, by a short pause; and we then have a perfect line--
Of which | e th' el | dest' high | te--Al | garsyf.
31. _Cambalo._ I have no doubt that this name was suggested by the
_Cambaluc_ of Marco Polo. See vol. iii. p. 472.