7. ne they coude: 'Nec lucida uellera Serum Tyrio miscere ueneno.' Hence the Seriens are the Seres, or Chinese; and the venim of Tyrie should rather be the venim of Tyre, but Chaucer follows the adjectival form in the original, both here and in Bk. iii. Met. 4, l. 2. Venim is not the right word here; 'ueneno' merely means 'dye.' The reference is to the murex or purple shell-fish. See Vergil, Aen. iv. 262: 'Tyrioque ardebat murice laena'; and Georg. ii. 465: 'alba nec Assyrio fucatur lana ueneno.'

13. gest ne straungere: 'hospes.' Cf. Former Age, 21.

17. armures, defensive armour: 'arma.' The usual reading is arua, i. e. fields; but more than six MSS. have arma, and Chaucer's copy had the same; as appears from MS. C.

18. For wherto: 'for to what purpose, or what sort of madness of enemies would first take up arms, when they saw but cruel wounds (as the result) and no rewards for the blood that was shed?'

22. But the anguissous: 'Sed saeuior ignibus Aetnae Feruens amor ardet habendi.'

24. Allas! &c. Cf. Former Age, 27-32. the gobetes or the weightes of gold: 'Auri ... pondera.'

26. He dalf: 'Pretiosa pericula fodit.'

Prose 6. 8. the imperie of consulers, consular rank: 'consulare imperium.' The reference is to the creation of Decemviri; see Livy, iii. 32.

20. so requerable, in such request: 'expetibilis.'

29. into the ... body: 'in secreta quaeque.'

32. the whiche I clepe, by which I mean; so again below, l. 39.

35. a thought, a mind; 'mentem firma sibi ratione cohaerentem.'

36. a free man; Anaxarchus of Abdera, B.C. 323. The tyraunt was Nicocreon, king of Cyprus. See Valerius Maximus, iii. 3.

44. But what: 'Quid autem est, quod in alium quisquam facere possit, quod sustinere ab alio ipse non possit?'

47. Busirides, Busiris (gen. case, Busiridis), a king of Egypt, who sacrificed all strangers on his altars. But Hercules, coming to Egypt, slew him and abolished the custom. See Vergil, Georg. iii. 5; Ovid, Tr. iii. 11. 39. In the Monkes Tale, B 3293, Chaucer calls him Busirus.

49. Regulus; M. Regulus, taken prisoner by the Carthaginians, B.C. 255. The story of his embassy to Rome is well known.

63. may I. It is necessary to insert I (only found in the black-letter editions) to complete the sense. 'Quod quidem de cunctis fortunae muneribus dignius existimari potest.'

71. as of wil, i.e. when it can: 'ultro.'

80. reproeved, disproved: 'redarguuntur.'

Metre 6. 2. Nero. Cf. Monkes Tale, B 3653-84.

4. his brother; Britannicus, poisoned by Nero; Tacitus, Annal. xiii. 16; Suetonius, Nero, 33.

8. domesman, judge; see Monk. Ta. B 3680, and note.

15. septem triones, properly, the seven chief stars in the Lesser Bear; also sometimes used of the seven bright stars in the Greater Bear. The leading star in the Lesser Bear is the pole-star; and as that remains fixed in the north, the whole constellation came to signify the north. Hence, in the Monk. Ta. B 3657, we are told that Nero ruled over 'Both Est and West, South and Septemtrioun'; see note to that line.

18. Nothus, Notus, the south wind; see below. scorkleth, scorches; MS. A has scorchith. The Prompt. Parv. has: 'Scorkelyn, ustulo, ustillo'; and 'Scorklyd, ustillatus.' As Mr. Bradley notes, it is a variant of scorknen or scorpnen. The orig. Icel. verb is skorpna, to become shrivelled, allied to skorpinn, shrivelled. This is a pp. form as if from *skerpa, pt. t. *skarp; cf. skera, pt. t. skar, pp. skorinn. The adj. skarpr means 'sharp,' whence the weak verb skerpa, to sharpen. The sense of the primitive verb *skerpa was, doubtless, 'to cut'; and scorklen is, lit., 'to cause to be cut about,' when used as a transitive verb; hence, 'to shrivel up,' from the appearance of plants 'cut' with frost or parched with heat.

21. Allas!

More correctly, 'lordshippe to venimous crueltee.' MS. C has 'gladius, i. potestas exercendi gladium'; and 'ueneno, i. venenose crudelitati.'

Prose 7. 3. I have wel desired: 'materiam gerendis rebus optauimus, quo ne uirtus tacita consenesceret.'

10. drawen to governaunce: 'allicere,' i. e. allure (simply).

18. a prikke, a point; cf. Parl. of Foules, 57; Troil. v. 1815; Ho. Fame, 907. From Ptolemy, Syntaxis, lib. i. cap. 6; cf. Macrobius, In Somnium Scipionis, lib. ii. c. 9.

23. Tholomee, Ptolemy; viz. in the beginning of book ii. of his Megale Syntaxis. See the same in Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii. 68.

28. wel unnethe, scarcely, hardly at all: 'uix angustissima inhabitandi hominibus area relinquetur.'

34. And also sette: 'Adde, quod hoc ipsum breuis habitaculi septum plures incolunt nationes.'

38. defaute ... marchaundise; Lat. only: 'tum conmercii insolentia.'

41. Marcus Tullius, i.e. Cicero, in his Somnium Scipionis, which originally formed part of the sixth book of the De Republica. See cap. vi. of that work, and Note to Parl. Foules, 31.

43. Caucasus; mentioned again in the Wyf of Bathes Tale, D 1140.

45. Parthes, Parthians.

59. hath the wrecched: 'scriptorum inops deleuit obliuio.'

69. ended: 'definitum.' We now say 'finite.'

73. endeles: 'interminabilem.' We now say 'infinite.'

77. were thought, were considered in comparison with eternity.

89. This rather man, this former man, the former.

95. seyde: 'Iam tandem, inquit, intelligis me esse philosophum? Tum ille nimium mordaciter, Intellexeram, inquit, si tacuisses.' This story is alluded to in Piers Plowman; see my note to that poem, C. xiv. 226.

108. despyseth it; cf. Troilus, v. 1821-7.

Metre 7. 1. with overthrowing thought: 'mente praecipiti.'

3. shewinge, evident, open to the view: 'Latè patentes ... plagas.'

7. dedly, mortal, perishable: 'mortali iugo.'

8. ferne, distant: 'remotos.' This is important, as settling the sense of 'ferne halwes' in the Prologue to the Tales, l. 14.

13. Fabricius, the conqueror of Pyrrhus; censor in B.C. 275. Brutus, the slayer of Cæsar.

14. Catoun, Cato of Utica (B.C. 95-46).

17. Liggeth, lie ye; 'Iacetis.' The imperative mood.

20. cruel; Lat. 'sera,' which Chaucer has taken as 'seua.' 'Cum sera uobis rapiet hoc etiam dies.' thanne is: 'Iam uos secunda mors manet.'

Prose 8. 2. untretable, not to be treated with, intractable, inexorable: 'inexorabile.'

7. unpleyten, unplait, explain: 'explicare.'

17. windinge. Read windy, i.e. unstable; Lat. 'uentosam.' Caxton's edition has wyndy, which proves the point. So also other old black-letter editions.

23. aspre: 'haec aspera, haec horribilis fortuna.'

26. visages, faces. See Notes to the poem on Fortune.

Metre 8. 1. It begins 'Quòd mundus stabile fide Concordes uariat uices; Quòd pugnantia semina Foedus perpetuum tenent.' The whole of this metre reappears in Troilus, iii. 1744-1764.

6. hath brought, hath led in, introduced: 'duxerit.'

greedy to flowen; the Lat. text merely has auidum; 'Ut fluctus auidum mare Certo fine coerceat.' The Lat. fluctus answers to 'hise flodes.'

7. ende, boundary: 'fine.'

8. termes or boundes, borders: 'terminos.'

10. Love: 'Et caelo imperitans amor.' On this passage is founded one in the Knightes Tale, A 2991-3.

11. slakede, were to relax. The last lines are:—

BOOK III.

Prose 1. 3. streighte, pp., i.e. stretched; 'adrectis ... auribus.' The form streight-e is plural.

6. so, i.e. so much. Better 'how much'; Lat. quantum.

8. unparigal, unequal; 'imparem.'

11. nat only that, it is not only the case that. It would be clearer if that were omitted.

12. agrisen, filled with dread; pp., with short i, of agrysen. Cf. agryseth, Bk. i. Met. 6, l. 7.

15. ravisshedest, didst greedily receive; 'rapiebas.'

32. for the cause of thee, for thy sake; 'tui caussa.'

33. but I wol, &c.; 'sed quae tibi caussa notior est, eam prius designare uerbis atque informare conabor.'

Metre 1. 2. hook, sickle; 'falce.'

4. Hony; cf. Troilus, i. 638, iii. 1219.

6. Nothus, Notus, the South wind. ploungy, stormy, rainy; 'imbriferos.'

9. bigin, do thou begin; imperative; 'incipe.'

Prose 2. 2. streite sete, narrow (retired) seat; 'in angustam sedem.'

3. cures, endeavours; 'omnis mortalium cura.'

7. over that, beyond it; 'ulterius.'

8. sovereyn good; 'omnium summum bonorum.'

11. out of ... good; 'extrinsecus.'

28. mesuren, &c.; 'Plurimi uerò boni fructum gaudio laetitiâque metiuntur.'

34. is torned; a bad translation of 'uersatur,' i.e. 'resides.'

38. merinesse, enjoyment; 'iocunditatis.'

50. for which, on which account; 'quare.'

55. Epicurus. See Cant. Tales, Prol. 336-8, where this is quoted; and see Merch. Ta. E 2021; Troil. iii. 1691; 'Epicurus ... sibi summum bonum uoluptatem esse constituit.'

57. birefte awey. But the Lat. text has precisely the opposite sense: 'quod caetera omnia iocunditatem animo uideantur adferre.' For adferre [MS. C afferre], Chaucer has given us the sense of auferre.

58. studies, i.e. endeavours; 'studia.' corage; 'animus.'

59. al be it, &c.; 'et si caligante memoria.'

60. not, knows not; 'uelut ebrius, domum quo tramite reuertatur, ignorat.' See Cant. Tales, A 1262.

67. that ... it: 'qui quod sit optimum, id etiam ... putant.'

75. forsake, deny; 'sequestrari nequit.'

77. be anguissous, i.e. 'be neither full of anxiety.' The neither is implied in the following ne; 'non esse anxiam tristemque.' It is clearer if we supply nat, as in the text.

83. Than is it good, then it is the summum bonum.

86. lovinge, as if translating diligendo, which occurs in many MSS.; but the better reading is 'deligendo,' i.e. selecting.

Metre 2. 1. with slakke ... strenges; 'fidibus lentis.'

2. enclineth and flitteth; 'flectat.' flitteth here means 'shifts.'

3. purveyable, with provident care; 'prouida.'

6. of the contre of Pene; 'Poeni leones'; lions of North Africa, supposed to be extremely ferocious.

8. sturdy, cruel, hard; 'trucem ... magistrum.'

13. and hir mayster: 'Primusque lacer dente cruento Domitor rabidas imbuit iras.'

15. Iangelinge, garrulous; 'garrula.' This passage is imitated twice in the Cant. Tales, F 607-617, H 163-174.

17. pleyinge bisinesse; 'ludens cura.'

19. agreables; this form of the pl. adj. is only used in the case of words of French origin. Examples are not very common; cf. reverents below, Bk. iii. Met. 4, l. 6; and delitables, C. T. F 899.

26. by privee path, by an unseen route; 'secreto tramite.' Alluding to the apparent passage of the sun below the horizon and, as it were, underneath the world. Cf. Troil. iii. 1705.

27. Alle thinges: 'Repetunt proprios quaeque recursus.'

Prose 3. 1. beestes, animals; 'animalia.' Chaucer always uses beest for 'animal.'

15. fals beautee, a false beauty; 'falsa ... beatitudinis species.' But 'species' may simply mean 'semblance.'

17. After axe, Caxton and Thynne insert the, i.e. thee; 'te ipsum.'

24. thee lakked: 'uel aberat quod abesse non uelles, uel aderat quod adesse noluisses.' This sentence much impressed Chaucer. He again recurs to it in the Complaint to Pite, 99-104; Parl. Foules, 90, 91; and Complaint to his Lady, 47-49. This fact helps to prove the genuineness of the last-named poem.

36. No. Observe the use of no after a sentence containing nis nat. If there had been no negative in the preceding sentence, the form would have been Nay. Such is the usual rule.

40, 41. maken, cause, bring it about. bihighten, promised.

48. foreyne ... pletinges; 'forenses querimoniae.' But forenses means 'public.'

69. be fulfild ... and axe any thing; rather paraphrastic; 'aliquid poscens opibus expletur.' fulfild here means 'plentifully supplied,' not 'completely satisfied,' whereas in the very next line it means 'completely satisfied.'

71. I holde me stille, and telle nat, I say nothing about; 'Taceo.' Seven E. words for one of Latin.

74. what may ... be, why is it; 'quid est quod,' &c.

Metre 3. 1. After river, Caxton and Thynne insert or a gutter; Lat. 'gurgite.'

2. yit sholde it never. This gives quite a false turn to the translation, and misses the sense intended. I quote the whole Metre.

3. rede see; lit. 'red shore.' However, the Red Sea is alluded to. Chaucer's translation of baccis by 'stones' is not happy; for 'pearls' are meant. Cf. Horace, Epod. viii. 14; Sat. ii. 3. 241. Pliny praises the pearls from the Red Sea; Nat. Hist. lib. xii. c. 18.

Prose 4. 9. postum, short for apostume, i.e. imposthume. boch, botch, pustule. Lat. struma. Catullus is the well-known poet, and the allusion is to his lines addressed to himself (Carm. 52):—

14. Certes, thou, &c. Rather involved. 'Tu quoque num tandem tot periculis adduci potuisti, ut cum Decorato gerere magistratum putares, cùm in eo mentem nequissimi scurrae delatorisque respiceres?' With is used for by: 'by so many perils' is intended. See Chaucer's gloss.

16. Decorat, Decoratus. He seems to have been in high favour with king Theodoric, who wrote him a letter which is preserved in Cassiodorus, lib. v. 31. It is clear that Boethius thought very ill of him.

32. that he is despysed, i.e. because he is despised. The argument is, that a wicked man seems the more wicked when he is despised by a very great number of people; and if he be of high rank, his rank makes him more conspicuous, and therefore the more generally contemned. The MSS. vary here; perhaps the scribes did not see their way clearly. See the footnote.

35. and ... nat unpunisshed; 'Verùm non impunè.'

40. comen by, arise from; 'per has umbratiles dignitates non posse contingere.' See Chaucer's Balade on Gentilesse, l. 5.

42. many maner, a mistranslation: 'Si quis multiplici consulatu functus.'

46. to don his office, to perform its function. Cf. Wyf of Bathes Tale, D 1144.

50. that wenen, i.e. (folk or people) who suppose.

56. provostrie, i.e. the prætorship; 'praetura.'

57. rente, income; 'et senatorii census grauis sarcina.'

58. the office; this alludes to the Praefectus annonae, once an honourable title. It was borne by Augustus, when emperor.

64. by the opinioun of usaunces; 'opinione utentium.' Chaucer's phrase seems to mean 'by estimation of the mode in which it is used.' He should have written 'by the opinioun of hem that usen it.'

66. of hir wille, of their own accord (as it were); 'ultro.'

68. what is it; 'quid est, quòd in se expetendae pulcritudinis habeant, nedum aliis praestent?'

Metre 4. Cf. Monkes Tale, B 3653-60.

2. Tirie, Tyre; lit. 'Tyrian,' the adjectival form; 'Tyrio superbus ostro.' So above, Bk. ii. Met. 5, l. 8.

3. throf he, he flourished (lit. throve); 'uigebat.'

6. reverents, the pl. form of the adj. See above, Bk. iii. Met. 2, l. 19. unworshipful, &c.; 'indecores curules.'

Prose 5. 1. regnes, kingdoms; familiaritees, friendships.

2. How elles, why not? 'Quidni?' whan, whenever.

4. kinges ben chaunged. This is the subject of Chaucer's Monkes Tale. Examples are certainly numerous. In the time of Boethius (470-524), they were not wanting. Thus Basiliscus, emperor of the East, had a reign which Gibbon describes as 'short and turbulent,' and perished miserably of hunger in 476; and Odoacer was killed by Theodoric in 493; see Gibbon's History.

13. upon thilke syde that, on whichever side.

14. noun-power ... undernethe; 'impotentia subintrat.' nounpower, lack of power, occurs in P. Plowman, C. xx. 292; see my note.

17. A tyraunt; Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, in Sicily, who caused a sword to be hung by a slender thread over the head of his favourite Damocles, to teach him that riches could not make happy the man whose death was imminent. See Cicero, Tuscul. v. 21. 6; Horace, Carm. iii. 1. 17; Persius, Sat. iii. 40. And see Ch. Kn. Tale, A 2029.

27. seriaunts, serjeants (satellite), different from servauntes (seruientium) below. The difference is one of use only; for the form seriaunt, E. serjeant, represents the Lat. seruientem, whilst servaunt, E. servant, represents the O. F. pres. part. of the O. F. verb servir; which comes to much about the same thing.

30. what, why; what ... anything answers to Lat. 'quid.'

33. in hool, &c., whether that power is unimpaired or lost; Lat. 'incolumis ... lapsa.'

34. Nero; see note to Monkes Tale, B 3685.

35. Antonius, a mistake for Antoninus, as in the Lat. text. By Antoninus is meant the infamous emperor Caracalla, on whom Septimius Severus had conferred the title of Antoninus. Papinianus was a celebrated Roman jurist, who was put to death at the command of Caracalla; see Gibbon, Roman Empire, ch. vi.

39. Senek, Seneca; see Tacitus, Annal. xiv.

41. But whan; 'Sed dum ruituros moles ipsa trahit, neuter, quod uoluit, effecit.' I.e. neither Papinian nor Seneca found it possible to forego their position.

48. Certes, swiche folk; see Monkes Ta. B 3434-5.

50. pestilence; see Merch. Ta. E. 1784, and 1793-4.

Metre 5. 1. For corage, Caxton and Thynne have corages, but this may be an alteration due to the Latin which they quote as a heading: 'Qui se uolet esse potentem, Animos,' &c.

5. Tyle; 'ultima Thule.' Supposed to be Iceland, or one of the Shetland Islands.

Prose 6. 3. tragedies; see note to Cant. Ta. B 3163.

3, 4. O glorie. The original has: ὦ δόξα δόξα μυρίοισι δὴ βροτῶν, ὀυδὲν γεγῶσι βίοτον ὤγκωσας μέγαν. See Euripides, Andromache, 319. For this, MS. C. gives, as the Latin equivalent—'o gloria, gloria, in milibus hominum nichil aliud facta nisi auribus inflatio magna'; an interpretation which Chaucer here follows.

24. gentilesse. See remarks (in the notes) on Chaucer's Balade of Gentilesse.

Metre 6. 8. For yif thou loke your; the change from thy to your is due to the Latin: 'Si promordia uestra Auctoremque Deum spectes.'

9. forlived, degenerate; 'degener.' In Prose 6 (above), l. 37, outrayen or forliven translates 'degenerent.'

Prose 7. 1. delices; 'uoluptatibus.' The MSS. so confuse the words delices and delyts that it is hardly possible to say which is meant, except when the Lat. text has deliciae. Both E. words seem to correspond to uoluptates.

12. Iolitee: intended to translate 'lasciuiam,' a reading of some MSS.; MS. C. has this reading, glossed 'voluptatem.' Most MSS. read lacunam, i.e. void, want. were, would be; 'foret.'

14. that children: 'nescio quem filios inuenisse tortores.'

15. bytinge; 'mordax.' anguissous: 'anxium.'

16. or, ere; in fact, Caxton has ere, and Thynne, er.

18. Euripidis; in the gen. case, as in the Lat. text. The reference is to Euripides, Andromache, 418: πᾶσι δ' ἀνθρώποις ἄρ' ἦν ψυχὴ, τεκν'· ὅστις δ' ἄυτ' ἄπειρος ὢν ψέγει, ἧσσον μὲν ἀλγεῖ, δυστυχῶν δ' ἐυδαιμονεῖ.

Metre 7. 3. he fleeth: 'Fugit et nimis tenaci Ferit icta corda morsu.' As to the use of flyes for 'bees,' see note to Parl. Foules, 353.

Prose 8. 1. that thise weyes: 'quin hae ad beatitudinem uiae deuiae quaedam sint.'

8. supplien, supplicate, beg: 'danti supplicabis.'

11. awaytes, snares: 'subiectorum insidiis obnoxius periculis subiacebis.' anoyously; a mistranslation of 'obnoxius,'; see above.

12. destrat, distracted: 'distractus.'

16. brotel, brittle, frail: 'fragilissimae.'

28. of the somer-sesoun: 'uernalium.' So elsewhere, somer-sesoun really means the spring. Cf. P. Plowman, line 1.

Aristotle. The reference is not known; but the belief was common. It is highly probable that the fable about the lynx's sharp sight arose from a confusion with the sharp sight of Lynceus; and it is Lynceus who is really meant in the present passage; 'Lynceis oculis.' Cf. Horace, Sat. i. 2. 90: