1. _maunciple_, manciple; see the last Tale. But there is no real connexion
between this Group and Group H. It is most likely that the word _maunciple_
was only inserted provisionally.
When the Manciple had told his Tale, it was still only morning; see H. 16,
and the note. The Pilgrims, however, had not far to go. Perhaps we may
suppose that they halted on the road, having a shorter day's work before
them than on previous occasions, and then other Tales might have been
introduced; so that the time wore away till the afternoon came. It is
clear, from l. 16, that the Parson's Tale was _intended_, when the final
reversion should be made, to be the last on the outward journey. Whatever
difficulties exist in the arrangement of the Tales may fairly be considered
as due to the fact, that the final revision was never made.
4. _nyne and twenty._ In my Preface to Chaucer's Astrolabe (E. E. T. S.),
p. lxiii, I have explained this passage fully. In that treatise, part ii.
sections 41-43, Chaucer explains the method of taking altitudes. He here
says that the sun was 29° high, and in ll. 6-9 he says that his height was
to his shadow in the proportion of 6 to 11. This comes to the same thing,
since the angle whose tangent is 6/11 is very nearly 29°. Chaucer would
know this, as I have shewn, by simple inspection of an astrolabe, without
calculation.
5. _Foure_, four P. M. Many MSS. have _Ten_, but the necessity of the
correction is undoubted. This was proved by Mr. Brae, in his edition of
Chaucer's Astrolabe, pp. 71-74. We have merely to remember that _ten_ P. M.
would be _after sunset_, to see that some alteration must be made. Now the
altitude of the sun was 29°, and the day of the year was about April 20;
and these data require that the time of day should be about 4 P. M.
Tyrwhitt notes that some MSS. actually have the reading _Foure_, and this
gives us authority for the change. Mr. Brae suggests that the reading _Ten_
was very likely a gloss upon _Foure_; since _four_ o'clock is the _tenth_
hour of the day, reckoning from 6 A. M. The whole matter is thus accounted
for. [445]
10. _the mones exaltacioun_, the moon's exaltation. I have discussed this
passage in my Preface to Chaucer's Astrolabe, (E. E. T. S.), p. lxiii. Of
course Chaucer uses _exaltation_ here (as in other passages) in its
ordinary astrological sense. The 'exaltation' of a planet is that sign in
which it was believed to exert its greatest influence; and, in accordance
with this, the old tables call Taurus the 'exaltation of the Moon,' and
Libra the 'exaltation of Saturn.' These results, founded on no reasons, had
to be remembered by sheer effort of memory, if remembered at all. I have no
doubt, accordingly, that Chaucer (or his scribes) has made a mistake here,
and that the reading should be 'Saturnes,' as proposed by Tyrwhitt. The
sentence then means--'Therewith Saturn's exaltation, I mean Libra, kept on
continually ascending above the horizon.' This would be quite right, as the
sign of Libra was actually ascending at the time supposed. The phrase 'I
mene Libra' may be paralleled by the phrase 'I mene Venus'; Kn. Tale, 1358
(A. 2216); see also Group B. 1860, 2141. _alwey_, continually, is common in
Chaucer; see Clerkes Tale, E. 458, 810. _gan ascende_, did ascend, is the
opposite to _gan descende_; Clerkes Tale, E. 392. It is somewhat remarkable
that the astrologers also divided each sign into three equal parts of ten
degrees each, called 'faces'; mentioned in Chaucer's Astrolabe, ii. 4. 39,
and in the Squieres Tale, F. 50. According to this arbitrary scheme, the
first 10 degrees of Libra were called the 'face of the moon,' or 'mones
face.' This suggests that Chaucer may, at the moment, have confused _face_
with _exaltation_, thus giving us, as the portion of the zodiac intended,
the first ten degrees of Libra.
I doubt if the phrase is worth further discussion. For further information,
see my Preface to Chaucer's Astrolabe (as above); and, for an ingenious
(but impossible and unconvincing) theory, offered in explanation of the
whole passage, see Mr. Brae's edition of the same, p. 74. Most
unfortunately, more than one attempt has been made to fix the date of the
Canterbury Tales, by adopting as the true reading the phrase 'In mene
Libra,' and then pretending that the moon _itself_ (not _its exaltation_)
was 'in the middle of Libra.' But this reading is evolved out of a mistake
in MS. Hl., which (after all) has not _In mene_, but _In mena_ (!); neither
does _In mene_ mean 'in the middle.' All calculations founded on this
rotten basis are necessarily worthless.
16. This means that the Parson's Tale was meant to be the last one on the
outward journey. Unfortunately, there lack a great many more tales than
one, as the matter really stands.
26. 'Unpack your wallet, and let us see what is in it.' In other words,
tell us a story, and let us see what it is like.