A considerable portion of this Tale (chiefly after § 23) is borrowed from a
French Treatise by Frère Lorens, entitled 'La Somme des Vices et des
Vertus,' the very treatise of which the Ayenbite of Inwyt is a translation.
This treatise, says Dr. Morris, 'was composed in the year 1279 for the use
of Philip the Second of France, by Frère Lorens (or Laurentius Gallus, as
he is designated in Latin), of the order of Friars Preachers' or
Dominicans. There are two MS. copies of this treatise in the British
Museum, viz. MS. Cotton, Cleopatra, A. v., and the Royal MS. 19 C. ii.
The printed text (circa 1495) is scarce; but numerous quotations from the
Cotton MS. are given by Dr. W. Eilers, in Essays on Chaucer, Part V., pp.
501-610, published by the Chaucer Society. I occasionally give extracts
from these quotations below, and I simply denote them by the symbol 'Fr.' I
also use 'Ayenb.' to denote the Ayenbite of Inwyt, ed. Morris (E. E. T.
S.). An interesting review, by Dr. Koch, of this essay by Eilers, will be
found in Anglia, vol. v. pt. ii. p. 130.
The 'sections' (marked §) into which the Tale is divided are the same as in
Tyrwhitt's edition, though he does not _number_ them. Still, it renders
reference to that edition an easy matter.
The clauses or 'lines,' or short subdivisions, are the same as in the
Six-text edition. Each 'line' ends with a slanting stroke, as in the Tale
of Melibee, and they are numbered 'by fives' in the margin.
TEXT. The 'text' at the head of the Tale is taken from the Vulgate version
of Jer. vi. 16. The usual reading for _viis_ is _semitis_.
I have only partially succeeded in finding the numerous quotations. For
some of the references I am indebted to the Rev. E. Marshall.
75. A note in Bell's Chaucer suggests that we should read--'that _wole
that_ no man,' &c.; inserting _wole that_. But the old edd. agree with the
MSS.; and the text is right as it stands. _That no man wole perisse_ = that
wishes no one to perish. For this common use of _wole_, see the very next
phrase, which means--'but desires that we may all come.' The reference is
to 2 Pet. iii. 9, where Wyclif's later version has a similar turn of
expression, viz. 'and wole not that ony men perische, but that alle turne
ayen to penaunce.' [448]
77. A translation of Jer. vi. 16 above; it is nearest to Wyclif's earlier
version: 'Stondeth up-on weies, and seeth, and asketh of the olde pathis,
what is the goode weie; and goth in it, and yee shul fynde refreshinge to
youre soules.'
79. _espirituels_, the pl. (French) adj. in _s_, following its sb.; see B.
2038, F. 1278.