17. _roten_, rotten; Wright reads _rote of_, i. e. root of. Yet his MS. has
_roten_; observe its occurrence in the note to l. 14 above.
19. 'And (men also) see that Sloth holds her in a leash, (for her) to do
nothing but sleep, and eat and drink, and devour all that others obtain by
toil.' The reading _hir_ refers to Idleness, which, as I have before
explained, was a branch of Sloth, and was personified by a female. See
notes to ll. 2 and 3 above. Tyrwhitt has _hem_, which is not in any of our
seven MSS.