# Alexander and Dindimus/Endnotes

NOTES.
[In these Notes, attention is drawn chiefly to a few of the more difficult phrases and constructions. For explanation of difficult words see the Glossarial Index.]
1. 'When this wight foudn the weather to be such as he desired.' Cf. l. 922.
3. Oridrace. So in the MS.; it should rather have been Oxidrace. But the spelling of proper names is very corrupt in nearly all writings of the 14th century, and it is quite unnecessary to suppose that such a misspelling is to be laid upon the scribe. Even in the best MSS. of Chaucer, such names assume very singular forms, and we have no ground for supposing that the case would have been any different if Chaucer had written out his poems himself. Hence all such forms are best left as they stand, though it often happens that we can interpret them correctly by seeing through the disguise. Even in the Latin texts the spellings differ. We have Exidraces in the text of 1490 at the bottom of p. 1. In Julius Valerius (quoted in the Preface) we have "ad Oxydracontas iter suum dirigit."
4. There, i.e. where. Perhaps there are few things which cause more difficulty to a learner than his own inattention to the force of short words and particles of this kind. The whole force of a sentence frequently depends on them, and the right perception of their value is often the clue to an apparently difficult sentence. This hint is applicable to the whole poem, and to all other poems. Cf. ll. 8, 496, 525, &c.
5. By some mistake, the translater gives the converse sense to that implied by the Lat. 'nulla superbia.'
9. Syte, i.e. city, not site; Lat. 'ciuitates non habent.' Cf. selle, i.e. cell; Piers Plowman, C.i.5, footnote.
13. Cauus, caves; here put for 'the men of the caves.'
18. 'He commanded to be sent to the man with his letter,' Let sende, commanded (men) to send, i.e. to be sent; a common idiom in this and contemporary poems; cf. l. 21, 43. See note to l. 245.
20. Schamlese, shameless; because he was not ashamed to go naked.
22. Tid, quickly; inserted to make the line run better. All words and letters between square brackets are insertions.
​25. Word, world; a common spelling in this poem; spelt ward in Lancelot of the Laik, 3184. The G. welt preserves the l, but it drops the r.
27. Seg, O man. The number of words for man in this poem is considerable, and many of them are in the vocative case. Cf. gome, l. 30; rink, l. 32; weiyy, l. 69; &c.
28.Fare, to journey, to go about among us. To is not used before infinitives, but only before gerunds, implying purpose. See l. 45.
35. Happili, by any hap or chance, haply. Of kynde, naturally.
50. Wende gref þolie, expected to suffer harm.
54. That hem bi ferde, that walked beside them.
62. 'Of other houses than are here we have no need.'
65. For, because; cf. note to l. 4.
71. 'That no death may harm us, we now ask.'
80. 'And, in order to win the world, goest so far (from home); d. La. 'discurris.'
81. 'How can you keep yourself from harm by your discernment and truth, (whilst endeavouring) wrongfully to bereave kingdoms of their kings.
85. Thei, tehy, i.e. the gods; a sudden change of number. So in l. 100, hur means their, whilst in l. 101 god is again in the singular.
87. 'Since I have favour, by virtue of that grant, to become the most dreaded, I should now act like a wretch and enrage the lord if, for pain of any death, I were to flee from my destiny, that is marked out for me (alone), and for no other king.' Woruthe and wraþede are past tenses subjunctive. So in l. 101 we have sente, i.e. were to send.
93. Ride ferþe, ride forth, ride away, go home.
110. 'Therefore I hasten to achieve (my lot), as my destiny is doomed for me.'
124. 'Amd fruit grew abundantly.' Grow is properly a strong verb; but growed is common in provincial English. "'Spec's I growed;" Uncle Tom's Cabin. Yet in l. 133 we have growe for growen, i.e. grown, the strong past participle.
132. 'That none should touch the trees, lest they should be delayed (in their way),' viz. by disease or death. On the verb trinen, to touch, see note to Piers Plowman, C.xxi.27.
138. Phison, Pison; Gen. ii.11. In l. 141 it is called Gena (Lat. text gagei, a mispreing for acc. gangen). "Fluvius vero Ganges iste est qui nobis vocatur Phison;" Palladius de Bragmanibus, ed. Bisse, p. 2.
"With regard to the Pison, the most ancient and most universally received opinion identifies it with the Ganges. Josephus, Eusebius, and many others held this;" Dict. of the Bible, ed. by Dr. Smith; art. ​Eden. The Skt. form of Ganges is gañg'a', i.e. the 'goer,' the flowing; from gam, to go.
146. 'Saw men wander about on the other side of the river.'
151. Stronde, i.e. river; not 'stand' in the modern sense; cf. l. 165.
"Forgane thir stannyris schane the beriall strandis;"
i.e. over those pebbles shone the beryl streams; Gawin Douglas, Æn. b.xii.prol. l. 60.
155. Heruest, harvest; here hte mouth of August; see the Latin text. In Palladius de Bragmanibus, ed. Bisse, p. 9, it is explained that the months of July and August were colder than the rest, and therefore healthier. So also St. Ambrose; p. 62 of the same volume.
156. As to these dragons, cf. Palladius de Bragmanibus, ed. Bisse, p. 10; and p. 63 of the same volume.
158. 'And grievous crocodiles that hindered the king.' Cocodrill is the usual old spelling; cf. cokedrill, King Alixaunder, ed. Weber, 5720. This spelling was almost universal, and not confined to English; cf. Low Lat. cocodrillus (see the Latin text), whence Span. cocodrillo, and Ital. coccodrillo. By a still further corruption the Low Lat. cocodrillus became cocatrix, whence our cockatrice; so that the common notion of the production of a cockatrice from an egg was no fable, but a fact.
171. 'The king soon commanded a good linquist to enquire quickly, in the speech of the country;' &c.
195. Doþ for to grete, i.e. causes Dindimus to be greeted; viz. by means of the letter.
197. Sendeþ him gon, sends (a man) to go to him.
198. Aftur him, i.e. below him, under him, his followers.
205. 'But we little believe that.'
214. Obviously corrupt. The correction is easy; an old w looks extremely like lk or ik, and the word sewe might easily have been read as seike, and then turned into sinke. Read--'and fonde, for mi miyyht, yyour fare to sewe,' i.e. and endeavour, as far as a Ican, to follow your habit of life. The phrase for my might is the right idiom.
221. For, because. 'Because I heard such a praise of your life.' The anonymous Latin text edited by Bisse (p. 85) begins at this point with the words "Sæpius ad aures meas fando pervenit," &c.
222. In many done þinguns, in things of many kinds; as in l. 999. Done is the pp. of do; lit. 'made,' and hence, make, fashion, kind; the pp. passing into a sb. by use. As to the phrase, it is an imitation of the common M.E. many kinnes thinges, i.e. things of many a kind; a phrase which has been twisted into the modern form 'many a kind of thing' by a complete inversion of the form of construction. So also we have alles kinnes thinges, things of every kind, corrupted to 'every kind of thing;' and again, what kinnes thinges, things of what kind, or 'what kind of thing.' See further in the note to ​Piers Plowman C.xi.128. See also note to the same, B.xviii.298, for another example of don in the sense of 'make;' where, moreover, the gen. form dones is used.
235. 'It would not lose its light, nor burn the less,' lit. the later, i.e. less readily.
236. Vn-wasteþ; so in the MS., probqbly due to the final sound of the word lasteþ, which the scribe had in his mind as the next word to be written. Read un-wasted, unwasted. But cf. l. 988.
238—242. This is from the other Latin text, which has--"Quapropter obsecro ut præbeas responsa qæesitis;" e. Bisse, p. 86.
240. Sende, to send; infinitive. Omit the full stop at the end of the line, accidentally inserted. The sense is—'to send us tidings concerning that which we desire very readily to know from you, in order to ascertain the wisdom which ye exhibit,' lit. go with. Properly, the verb kennen means 'to make to know, to teach,' but it is also used like G. kennen, Icel. kenna, in the simple sense of 'to know;' see ll. 308, 515. In l. 910 the causal sense clearly appears.
245. 'He bade (men) write a second letter concerning their life.' Observe oþir, i.e. second; and lettrus, i.e. a letter, like Lat. literæ.
263. Wantede, lacked; as in Shakespeare.
265, 266. 'But the humblest that lived might become his lord, nad deal with him as a foll that wants (lit. should want) his wits.'
275. 'With regard to the message thou sentest, (which was) to tell the truth about all the teachings of our life without delay.'
281. 'Ye have no leisure nor time to attend to my sayings.'
302. Alliteration imperfect. Refe is obviously a substitution for something else. The right word is bruten, to destroy, which see in the Glossary to Will. of Palerne, and cf. Alexander, fragment A., l. 888.
310. We; probably an error for ye; see note to l. 635.
313. 'Therefore we are seen to be sound,' i.e. hale.
314. Hir, here. Henne passe, depart hence, die.
325. 'But, by the arrival of natural decay, as the king of heaven decrees, we must fear death when the day (for it) comes.' Cominnge, i.e. coming, may stand as the reading; the sense is the same as in bi ordre of oure kinde, l. 327; and cf. comeþ us, i.e. comes upon us, l. 331. These expressions answer to "secundum ordinem natiuitatis cuiuslibet" in the Latin text.
327. Holde, old. So also hauter = auter, altar, 728; haþel = aþel, noble, l. 856.
328. 'When our limbs lack might, and (when) we lose our (natural) heat.'
347. 'Nor do we desire to procure any man to go against them.' Procre was misprinted prince in Stevenson's edition, thus destroying the sense. Nol, i.e. ne wol, was misprinted ne of. In l. 366, procred was misprinted proceed. In ;. 1019, it was printed correctly.
349. 'We fear no doughty one, nor any stern (cruel) deed,' i.e. attack. Or the reading may be—ne no dede sterue, i.e. nor to die any ​death. Either sense will serve, and either may be read. As to sterne, cf. l. 429.
351. Keuered, covered. Hence, in the Latin text, operata is an obvious error for operta.
353. Whon = won, i.e. quantity; see l. 499. This curious word was once in common use; see Havelok, 1791, Piers Plowman, B. xx. 170. It occurs as late in the old version of Chevy Chase, where it is spelt wane. The superfluous h in whon beliongs to the word wite, i.e. whit, in the next line.
356. 'We turn quickly to a flood (that) is called Thabeus;' the relative being omitted. The river is called Taberuncus in Bisse's volume, p. 65.
359. What so, whatsoever, whatever. Evidently copied from 1 Cor. x. 31.
366. Procred to goode, procured for good, well intended.
368. 'We speak only the truth, and cease (keep silence) in good time,' i.e. before saying too much. By time, betimes.
371. Here haunteþ appears to be in the singular, like bringeþ in the next line. That seggus haunteþ, that haunts people. More commonly, haunten = to practise; and we should rather read--þat seggus haunten, which men practise.
375. 'For we count it (poverty) as being rich, and easily found that it follows (or accompanies) our people till they depart hence, i.e. die.
380. 'Because we do no misdeed, so as to suffer judgements,' i.e. to be condemned for it; cf. Latin text.
381, 382. 'We consider it as a virtue, in our land at home, that mercy is unknown amongst the men of our country; because we are never moved to show mercy to any.' This is a singular statement, but answers to the Latin text, and is explained in the next sentence. 'We never offend God, nor any man here, whereby we should have to think about craving mercy, that God might forgive us.' We never think about mercy, because we never commit faults worthy of punishment.
389. Galfule. The MS. has galsule, but there is no such word, and the MS. rightly has galful in l. 668. The prefix gal- is clearly the A.S. gál, merriness, joy, generally used as an adj. and in a bad sense, but occasionally in a good sense, bold, merry, spirited (Flügel). So als Du. geil, and cf. Icel. gáli, gála, gáll. In both the passages in the present poem, we must give it a good sense, viz. joyous, full of bliss, blessed, or else joy-giving, bliss-imparting.
391. Glose you here, to gloss over your sins here, to speak to you smooth things.
392. 'We loathe to essay all the lust of lechery.'
393. Brigge, probably a bad spelling of brike, briche, or bruche, A.S. bryce, a breach, rupture, violation. 'Or to bring us to a violation (of chastity), so as to commit adultery.' Mr. Stevenson explains the word by 'strife;' obviously with reference to F. brigue, which Cotgrave ​explains by 'a cancas, private suite, underhand labouring for an office, &c.; hence, also, debate, contention, altercation, litigious wrangling anout a matter.' But this is hardly the sense; rather compare brike in the sense of 'perilous state;' Chaucer, Cant. Tales, Group B., l. 3580. Breke spouce, to break espousal, is due to the (commoner) sb. spusbreche, i.e. spouse-breach, adultery, see ll. 787, 885; and cf. Ancren Riwle, p. 56; Ayenbite of Inwyt, p. 37. 400, 401. 'For we lighten (i.e. recreate, amuse) not our live by any wicked deed, on account of which we ought to be shamefully cut short of our days.' But this is not satisfactory. It is obvious that liyyten is an error for liten, i.e. stain; a close translation of sordidamus in the Latin. The Latin text also has a strange error; for aerem read uitam.
402. Don deie, cause to be dyed.
405. The MS. tolk is clearly miswritten for to folk.
406. Hihten, explained by Stevenson to mean 'honour, adorn;' a rare word. So hiht = improved, l. 408. And see l. 418. It is difficult to fin authority for the word; but it is probably a peculiar use of A.S. hyhtan or hihtan as (1) to hope; (2) to exult. To these Bosworth adds 'to increase,' with a reference that shews that it was considered as equivalent to Lat. augere. In Spelman's edition of the A.S. Psalter, Ps. civ. 22, we find 'he gehihte folc his' as a gloss upon 'auxit populum suum.
407. Corn is for coren, i.e. chosen, as in l. 415. Comelokur corn, chosen as being comelier. Similarly in l. 415, kindeli coren is literally 'naturally chosen', i.e. chosen to be by nature, shaped by nature. Than hur kynde askyþ, than their nature requires; see note to Piers Plowman, C. i. 21.
415. 'As pleases the king of heaven.'
416. Schine, shun. So in l. 449, schineþ = shunneth.
417. 'To choose them for His children, who have changed the shapes He gave them.'
421. 'And shew themselves otherwise', i.e. in another form.
426, 427. 'Nor make any man work our will, or serve us in worldly matters.'
437. The alliteration and l. 848 make the reading boldus (habitation) certain.
439. Lome, tool; cf. mod. E. loom. At least, such is the sense most readily suggested. But if it be intended as a translation of Uascula de terra non facimus, then lome may be loam, i.e. potter's clay. In l. 854, the word for 'tool' is tol.
440. Owen aboute, employ all around us.
442. The alliteration (a poor one) is on the vowels; Al, any, erthliche.
470. Good of to lauyye, good to laugh at.
475. Ta sain, to say. The MS. really has ta.
477. Seue sterres, seven stars, i.e. the seven planets. We find, at different periods, three uses of this phrase. It means (1) the seven ​planets, as here and in Richard de Redeles, iii. 352; with which cf. Additional Note to Piers the Plowman, p. 460 (C. xviii. 98); (2) the Pleiades, as in Cotgrave's "Pleiade, one of the seven stars," and (3) the seven stars in the Greater Bear, of which I cannot adduce any decisive instance, though the phrase most readily suggests this sense. The Lat. word septentriones refers to the Lesser Bear.
481. Side, wide, ample; a word retained till the 15th century. See Prompt. Parv. p. 455, note 2.
485. The translation is at fault. The sense is that the waves, however boisterous, do not eat away the sea coast.
489. The Lat. text is clearly corrupt; and the translator is also at fault, and has given us nonsense. For in the English text, he can only be the wind (cf. his in l. 488); which gives—'the wind embraces and encloses the clear water.' He seems to have taken the reading amplectitur, and to have connected this sentence with the preceding one, with which it has no obvious connection beyond the reference of illud to mare. Instead of its being the wind which embraces the sea, the true reference is to the sea which embraces the land. This comes out more clearly in the other Latin text (see Preface) in Bisse's Palladius, p. 92. "Certamus etiam pelagus colore purpureo venustare, quod placidis et amicis excitatur semper fluctibus; non ferire germanam terram creditur sed amplecti, cujus multiformes pisces vagique delphini æquoris madidas undas atque saltus innocenter exercerent." It is clear that it was this text that suggested the mention of dolphins in l. 492.
492. 'There dolphins make a din.' Mr. Stevenson prints diue, against which there are two reasons:—(1) the MS. has dine; and (2) maken diue is not a correct expression. It is explained by the next line, 'that there they swim very quickly, and lash about with their tails.' The expressive word swangen is not mentioned in Stratmann; but Halliewell duly records the provincial "swang, to swing with violence," as an East of England word. Cf. G. schwang, a swinging motion, schwanz, a tail.
500. 'We much desire to go about in the dense woods.'
507. That we the rede holde, which we advise thee to observe.
509. Thi pres, thy press, i.e. throng of men, host.
510. 'Though it seem disagreeable (to you), it is not owing to us.' Long in must be an error either for long on or long of, i.e. along of, owing to.
512. Balful no tened, injurious nor vexed.
524-527. Strondus, streams; cf. l. 151. By the river Erenus is ment the Hermus (Gk. ἕρμος), a considerable river of Asia Minor, of which the still more celebrated Pactolus is a tributary.
529. Drinkinke drawht = drinking-draught, i.e. the draught of their drinking; not a very happily formed compound.
533. Oxian, the ocean; a singular corruption. But the Latin has horribile mare, which can mean nothing else. Still clearer is the ​sentence "Tu vero dixisti te ad Oceanum venturum et postea ad alium orbem;" Palladius, p. 27.
535. In the Latin text, for supra (so printed in the old edition) read sopiri. "Vos tartareum custodem sopiri posse pretio suggessistis;" De Bragmanis, ed. Bisse, p. 91.
540. 'Ye shew yourselves (to be) unnatural by killing your children.'
549. But yyif, unless, except. Alse, also, as well.
550. Gilte, ye sin; see gulten in Stratmann. Instead of Per dies tuos, the translator has evidently had a text with the reading Per deos tuos, which is probably right; see deos tuos four lines lower down. Gence the sense is--'You greatly sin, O man, by example of (or by means of) your false gods, just as they were wont, when in this world, to act during their lives.' Bi here answers to the Latin per, instead of taking its commoner M.E. sense of 'with respect to,' as in l. 552.
555. As a lie, like a flame. See Piers Plowman, B. xvii. 207.
562. 'To her was lechery pleasing.'
570. 'Ye boast of more than ye can perform.'
575. Gol, gold; the same spelling occurs in Havelok; see remarks in the Preface to my edition of that poem, p. xxxvii.
577. You-silue to abowe, to bow down to yourselves; cf. l. 675.
579. The first liue, meaning 'believe', is better spelt leue; cf. leuen in l. 597.
591. Parenthetical. 'And, except each grave be fair and fine, ye think it a folly.'
592. Lodlich = lothlich, loathsome; the MS. reading bodilech is clearly miswritten for this word.
596. 'People who know who (are they that) love them.' This is here supposed to be a Greek opinion.
601. 'On account of which the great God of heaven would be expected to hear us, (so as) to grant a man's petition when any one prayed to him.'
605. For, with the expectation that. You help kiþe, and vouchsafe help to you.
618. 'And all that men in this world should use,' lit. go with. 635, 636. The correction of we to ye is obvious; see the Latin text.
637. A litil wordle, a little world; in allusion to the Gk, term μικρόκοσμος, a microcosm or 'little world,' a term by which the old astrologers denoted man, under the impression that the parts of his body corresponded to the parts of the universe or macrocosm. Hence it followed, according to the present argument, that each part of the human body was especially under the protection of its appropriate deity. For a particular application of the same principle, compare the influence of the zodiacal signs on upon parts of the human body, as ​as alluded to by Chaucer. "Euerich of thise 12 signes hath respecte to a certein parcelle of the body of a man and hath in it gouernance; as aries hath thin heued, & taurus thy nekke & thy throte, gemyni thyn armholes and thin armes, & so forth;" On the Astrolabie, ed. Skeat, pt. i sect. 21, l. 48. And see Additional Notes to the same, p. 79; and Plate VII, fig. 19. The following passage from Gower's Confessio Amantis, bk. v, is so precisely to the point here that I quote it entire for the reader's convenience.
​659. Iubiter, Jupiter. But the Lat. text has Juno, and it is remarkable that Gower follows it. Either the Lat. text must be wrong, or else deum must be changed to deam. Cf. l. 697.
670. 'A dozen of wonders,' i.e. his twelve labours.
675. Bollere, hard drinker. On this word, see Notes to Piers Plowman, C. x. 194.
682. 'And essayed(or followed after), whilst upon earth, that foolish fire.' Here folie, lit. folly, is used as an adjective. Cf. l. 688.
684. 'And kindles with the gleam all the lust of lechers;' Lat. libidinem accendit.
692. Or any seggus ellus, before any other persons besides. Ll. 691, 692 are due to the other Latin text—"Cererum frumenti datricem horrea ventris incolere;" ed. Bisse, p. 95.
696. The correction is obvious.
698. He; Juno is here supposed to be masculine, as in l. 717. 'And men say that he keeps a condemned spirit of the air, to speak wonders and foretell what is to happen, of wo or weal.' The sense of in his worde one is by no means clear; it may be 'by his word alone,' in which case in should rather have been bi. Or else it may mean 'in his world (sphere) alone;' only Juno was not reckoned as a planet or possessor of a sphere. Spild = condemned, ruined, fallen. Concerning spirits of the air, see Notes to Piers Plowman, C. ii. 127. The corresponding passage occurs in the text in Anonymus de Bragmanis, ed. Bisse, p. 95; which, however, gives quite a different turn to the passage, and makes Jupiter the god of the nose! "Jovem quasi aereum spiritum in naribus habere prætorium, Appolinem medicinæ et musicæ præceptorum habitacula possidere."
703. Hin; perhaps a mere error for him; yet it is the right form of the accusative. Cf. A.S. hine, G. ihn, the accusative, as distinct from A.S. him, g. ihm, the dative.
704. Leueþ, remains. Distinct from leuen, to believe; cf. l. 706.
708. Insert a comma after godus; folk is in the vocative case.
710. That traie is to paie, which it is a vexation (to you) to pay.
717. Vn; so in MS. Put for on, on.
719. A swan; evidently a translation of cignum, which would closely resemble agnum in a MS. And the text in Bisse's Palladius, p. 95, actually has the reading cygnus.
720. The corrections are easy; the MS. has on vs, where on is plainly not wanted, and vs = vse = use. And of course vectus is for venus; see Lat. text and cf. l. 693.
721. On his den take, taken in its den, i.e. nest.
732. Mo, more in number. Telle, count.
735. Solepme; so in MS. Read 'sol-e-pne' = 'solempne.''
​736. Ill spelt. For wile, read wol. The sense is--'for every (one of them) expects to have from a man (i.e. worshipper) his own customary offering.' The passage in ll. 734-747 is not in the Latin text at the foot of the page, but it answers to the following passage in Bisse's edition of Palladius, p. 95: "Nec patiuntur idem, si necessitas exigat, commune sibi pulvinar offerri, sed unusquisque Deus proprios flamines et sorte subit datum munus assequitur, si tamen Dii appellandi sunt, quibus potestas non nisi in certis sibimet offerendis animalibus est data."
738. So in the MS., but it is nonsense. The right reading has since occurred to me, and is obvious enough when once guessed, though not easy to guess. For y of reed read y-offred; cf. ll. 711, 712, 718, 743. The sense is, of course--'Over such animals as are offered to them by men they have power, and over no other things.' The same thing is repeated below, in ll. 742, 743.
746. 'When the world fails,' i.e. comes to an end.
751. 'And every one (of them) is to pinch (or torment) that part of the body over which he presides, (in the place) where pain is unending,' i.e. in hell.
753. 'So many pains in the fire it will fall to your lot to endure.'
754. 'For your idle idols make you act ill.'
769. Any, annoy, annoyance, harm; cf. l. 816. 'It nourishes harm for you, because they hear you not.'
772. To do wreche, to wreak vengeance, to torment. Cf. l. 777.
773. Aftur; either 'after' or 'according to'; here it is merely the former; cf. ll. 778, 781.
774. A corrupt line; alliteration and sense are at fault. The right reading is easily seen. We have merely to insert the missing word wreche (cf. ll. 772, 777) after schulle. We thus get:--"For þei schulle wreche in þis word wirche for sinne," i.e. for they will have to work vengeance for sin in this world. Even thus, the words in þis word are not in a very good position; but the same objection applies to l. 779 below, which see.
786. Waken, watch; cf. vigilans in the Lat. text.
788. 'To you is lechery dear, and (you like) to live by stealing.'
791-801. There is no mention of Cerberus nor Hydra in the Latin text at the foot of the page; but we find in Bisse's edition of Palladius, at pp. 96, 97, the following passage: "Tantalus est inexplebilis semperque sitiens cupiditatis aviditas; Cerberus mala ventris edacitas, cui quia non sufficit unum, terna ora collata sunt. Hydræ sunt vitiorum post satietatem renascentium fœditates; viperina corona est actuum sordidorum squalor horribilis."
794. Foure hedus, four heads (!). Read 'thre hedus.'
796. Godus, goods, property, wealth; not 'gods.' So also in l. 963.
800. '(Who) is greedy to catch condemned souls.'
801. 'And, whether he gets few or many'
803, 804. 'For ye are famed (for being) covetous, and can never cease (from being greedy) but ever go about to acquire worldly wealth.' ​805. An obscure line. Insert a comma after is, and another after burnus, thus isolating burnus as being a vocative case. Then take al is = it is all; and we get—'and it is all about (i.e. it is all done with the object), O ye men, in order to feed your body;' i.e. ye do it all to pamper the body.
834. Ne; so in the MS. Better no. On the other hand, we have no for ne very often; cf. l. 841.
842. Enuye; the correction is certain; see inuidiam in the Lat. text.
844. Wisli, certainly; not 'wisely' as in l. 913.
851. You wantus, fails you. You cannot be a nominative. So in l. 891.
868. 'Wherefore let no man be pleased (satisfied) with his poor fare (in this life), nor expect to have any reward for his hard living.'
872. Lengede, were to remain (or dwell).
891. 'The custom of the world fails you;' cf. l. 851.
893. For mischef, on account of your hard lot.
907. Reward, regard; the original spelling.
916. But, except, unless, if it were not. The line is parenthetical.
918. As, according as; or seeing that.
920. The MS. has 'ten-e-,' i.e. 'tenen.' But it should have been simply 'tene;' see l. 950. Tid is shord for tideþ, i.e. betides, happens. 'For sometimes sorrow happens, and sometimes mirth.'
930. Read "oþur wise;" the hyphen was inserted accidentally. The sense is—'in yet another way.'
941-952. This passage is from the other Latin text, in Bisse's edition of Palladius, p. 102. "Quis enim aut audaciam requirit in puero, aut in adolescente constantiam, aut mobilitatem poscit in vetulo? Multa sunt quæ visui nostro, alia quæ auditui, nonnulla quæ odoratui, vel tactui, vel sapori voluptosa succurrunt, quibuys ærumnarum quas ex labora contrahimus mulceatur asperitas; et ita modo saltationibus, modo cantibus oblectamur, nonnumquam [etiam] suavitate odoris vel gustu dulcedinis aut contactus [blanda mollitie refovemur. Quorum omnium suggerunt nobis elementa materiarum, quæ etiam vite nostre creduntur esse principia. Quorum permixtione] contraria humani generis structura conditur," &c.
941. Cherched, brought to church, "received into the church" after baptism; cf. Piers Plowman,B . i. 178, and the Notes upon it.
957. Wonde, fear; hence, refuse. Won, quantity, abundance.
969. Wiþ oþur, with another (seal?). It seems to refer to sel in the preceding line.
971. He dide, he caused men soon to read it, i.e. he cause it to be read. Not 'he did read it.'
979. Insert a comma after "thee;" i.e. 'we cause thee to know and hear, O celebrated king.'
​988. Yhanteþ, written for yhanted, practised; cf. note to l. 236.
992. 'That we are (as) bold gods, to guide men.'
999. 'Of things of many a fashion,' i.e. of various kinds of things; see note to l. 222.
1002. The Latin text seems corrupt. The other text has—"Cur autem, quæso, visum est tibi nos continentur et pie viventes dicere Diis [Deos?], vel certe invidere Deo, siquidem justius in vos cadit ista suspicio?" ed. Bisse p. 98.
1020. 'But (will bring upon you) harm for your want of discernment, when ye depart hence,' i.e. die.
1029. 'To relieve any one of severe hunger or thirst.'
1041. 'For every one well loves that which is like himself.' An allusion to the old proverb—"like to like," quoted by Heywood. See Hazlitt's Eng. Proverbs, p. 265; and in particular, Ray's remarks on "Birds of a feather flock together;" id. p. 90.
1042-1071. There is nothing answering to this in the Latin text at the foot of the page. It corresponds in some extent to the following: "nam cum superbiam vestram nimiae felicitatis tumor inflaverit, oblitique quod ex hominibis estis, firmatis Deum non curare de mortalibus. Vobismetipsis templa fundatis atque aras erigitis, et immolationibus pecudum lætamini vos [in] vocari; hoc patri videlicet, hoc avo, cunctisque parentibus certum est fieri; hoc etiam tibi pyramidum forsitan promittit instructio. Quapropter furiosos vos esse dixerim, qui quod agitis ignoratis; . . . non sinitis ut miseriis vestris lachrymas saltem, quod est extremum munus pereuntium, dependamus (sic). Valde enim lamentandi estis, quibus inexpiabiles pro divinatis injuria pœnae præparantur: quarum certissimum documentum est Salmonei justa damnatio, qui fulgorem superni luminis æmulatus, quod imitabatur, expertus est; vel Enceladi sepultura, qui dum violentis ausibus aggredi cœlum manibus voluit, premitur tumulo montis igniti. Talibus remunerantur honoribus, qui se non cognoscunt esse mortales."—Anonymus de Bragmanis, ed. Bisse, pp. 98, 99.
1042. The reading helpe is absurd, and obviously corrupt; the word meant is plainly yyelpe, i.e. boast. And the mis-writing of the word is easily accounted for, as the scribe's eye must have caught the last word of the next line, viz. hele.
1046. Perhaps corrupt. The stress of the alliteration falls upon for, which is not good; and the word sorw is suspicious. As it stands, it means—'And ye endeavour, with sorrow, to (make) your false gods hear;' and, even so, teh construction is strained.
1058, 1059. 'And, it seems to us, one man much respects another, who righteously mourns for that other man on account of his sin.'
​1064. Salonienus, Salmoneus. See note to ll. 1042-1071, where the Larin original is given. Of Salmoneus we know that "his presumption and arrogance were so great that he deemed himself equal to Zeus, and ordered sacrifices to be offered to himself; nay, he even imitated the thunder and lightning of Zeus, but the father of the gods killed him with his thunderbolt, destroyed his town, and punished him in the lower world;' Smith's Classical Dictionary.
1068. For-þi boþe, wherefore both of them, i.e. Salmoneus and Enceladus. But the scribe has omitted the mention of Enceladus by name; see note above.
1084. By-kenneþ, makes known to.
1085. The MS. has "His a fledde sonde;" but the correction is easy, by help of the alliteration and l. 286.
1088. By-set in an yle; one here thinks of England! On reason why Englishmen "allow their lives and land" is, apparently, because they cannot easily get away! The Latin text has an especially satirical look about it; as if we are all said to be undergoing penal servitude in a prisn. 1108. Most to be-wepe, most to be mourned for. Cf. l. 1059.
1124-1126. 'Ye are cursed in your life; for, men, I warn you that that which ye so esteem here to be a wholesome course of action is really freat and woful penury and wretched pain.' Note þat = that which, in l. 1125.
1131. Romme riden, (who had) extensively travelled. Romme is here an adverb, and riden a past participle; the whole phrase forming an epithet.
1136. Wrouhten, should make. Writen, should write.
1137. According to Palladius de Bragmanibus (ed. Bisse, p. 2), the inscription was as follows: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ. Ο. ΤΩΝ ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝ. ΕΦΘΑΣΑ. ΜΕΧΡΙ. ΤΟΥ. ΤΟΠΟΥ. ΤΟΥΤΟΥ.
* ↑ So also in Bisse's Palladius, p. 95:—"Junonem iracundiae presidentem praecordia tenere."
* ↑ The word 'etiam' and the passage 'blanda-permixtione' are denoted in Bisse only by dots; no doubt his MS. was imperfect. They are supplied from MS. C. C. C. Camb. no. 370, fol. 37, b.
* ↑ The translator seems to have taken curare very literally, in the sense of to cure (hele), l. 1043.