A. The Seven Deadly Sins.The references throughout are to the Corpus MS., unless otherwise stated.1.wildernesse: of the world; he has already said, ‘Iþisse wildernesse wende ure Louerdes folc, ase Exode telleð, touward tet eadie lond of Jerusalem . . . ⁊ ȝe, mine leoue sustren, wended bi þen ilke weie toward te heie Jerusalem,’ AR 196/28-30. Comp. ‘alse longe se we iðese westen of þesser woruld wandrið,’ OEH i. 243/3; ‘Claustrales in huius mundi deserto exulantes,’ Alanus de Insulis, 65.þer . . . in, in which; see 1/3: ‘ou vous aleȝ enȝ,’ F.3.beastes . . . wurmes: The Lion of Pride, the Serpent of Envy, the Unicorn of Wrath, the Bear of Sloth, the Fox of Covetousness, the Swine of Greediness, the Scorpion of Lechery, each with its whelps. The conception comes from S. Jerome, ‘quasi inter scorpiones etcolubrosincedendum ut . . . iter per insidias saeculi huius et inter venena faciamus possimusque . . . terram repromissionis intrare,’ iv. 796. Comp. also, ‘Per superbiam enim quasi a leonibus lacerantur, per invidiam tanquam viperarum morsu percutiuntur,’ Cesarii Sermo lx, in S. August. v. App. 301 B. It is not in the manner of the Bestiaries, where the lion and the unicornare types of Christ, though the influence of the Bestiaries is often shown in the AR.4.ilead . . . to, traced to, classified under; ‘reduci ad,’ M; ‘menee od,’ F.: a rare use; comp. 54/20.seouene: in the older English literature the number is eight; Superbia being followed by Vana Gloria. See Max Förster, Über die Quellen von Ælfric’s Homiliae Catholicae, Berlin, 1892, pp. 47-9 for a good summary of the changes in the lists.seoluenB: so T seluen.5.streones: ‘hweolpes,’ AR 198/7; ‘engendrures,’ F.vnsteaðeluest: ‘Destable,’ F. literally, unstabled.nis hit&c., is it not the species of Pride called Disobedience? CTN agree with B; the meaning is the same: T reads, nis hit of prude. Jnobedience. Her to falleð sigaldres: M has ‘Jnconstans fides. contrasacram doctrinam. nunc ex superbia inobediencie est: ad hocpertinent sortilegia.’ The division in Morton is therefore wrong: P has Inobedience ne falleþ it to sigaldrie. ‘Þe vifte hweolp [of þe Liun of Prude] hette Inobedience,’ AR 198/17.6.Herto falleð, come under this head; comp. ‘alle þe þing ꝥ lust falleþ to,’ AR 52/24, 58/9; ‘⁊ falleð to biȝete,’ SK 24/471.false teolunges, wrongful practices, especially in treatment of the sick by means of herbs gathered with incantations and of other pagan devices; comp. ‘Se cristena mann ðe on ænigre þissere gelicnysse bið gebrocod, and he ðonne his hælðe secan wyle æt unalyfedum tilungum, oððe æt wyrigedum galdrum, oþþe æt ænigum wiccecræfte, ðonne bið he ðam hæðenum mannum gelic,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. i. 474/19-22. These ‘unallowed practices’ are, at the same place, contrasted with ‘true leechcraft,’ the skill of a doctor: comp. ‘uncundelich lechecreft,’ 62/36, and see the Homilia de sacrilegiis, ed. Caspari, ch. iv and notes, for abundant illustrations of these superstitions. Comp. also, for a wider use ofteolung, ‘to æghwylcre neode man hæfð on cyricbocum mæssan gesette and tilige man (= let one set to work) georne mid þam . . . þæt is hwene betere, þonne man to wiccan, and to wigleran tilunge (= treatment) sêce æt ænigre neode,’ Wulfstan, 171/7-12 (B-T). Morton translates ‘false reckoning,’ which hardly comes under the head of unsteadfast belief; ‘fals takynges’ P.7.lefunge o swefne · o nore: this order is peculiar to A. For the Dream Books of mediaeval England see Förster in Archiv cxxi. 33, cxxv. 39, cxxvii. 31.o nore: so BCT; N has on ore ⁊ of swefnes; PV have nothing corresponding; M is vague, ‘ad hocpertinent sortilegia · ⁊ quecunqueinfidelitas · credere sompniis · ⁊ huius modi’: in F the place is at the damaged top of the folio; it has, apparently, ‘credence en estrenies en songes ⁊ toutes manieres de sorceries.’orecannot represent OE.ār,which has no meaning like luck, nor can it be connected with L.augurium, the contemporary French form of which iseür. I think it is F. oré, favourable weather, favourable occasion, as in ‘Nos n’avrons ja tens ne oré | Desci que li vienge a plaisir,’ Roman de Troye 5952, 3: the particular form of ‘unsteadfast belief’ meant being the trusting to the system of favourable and unfavourable days for different kinds of work &c., embodied in such books as the Calendar printed in M. L. Review, ii. 212-22, where it is stated that the first day of the month is good for beginning a piece of work, the second for marrying, the third is a bad day for taking up one’s abode in a town, and so on (for the literature see Archiv cx. 352). The collection in Caspari’s note on § 12 of the Homilia already cited shows that the superstition was often attacked in sermons as pagan; he quotes ‘Nullus Christianus observet, qua die de domo exeat, vel qua die revertatur, quia omnes dies Deus fecit; nullus ad inchoandum opus diem . . . attendat,’ Pseudoaug. Sermo cclxxviii. Comp. ‘time,’ OEH ii. 11/13 and VV 27/22-29.8.heaued sunne: Orm’s ‘hæfedd sunne,’ 98/2728; peccatum capitale: ‘cum mortali peccato,’ M. Comp. ‘Nu syndon eahta heafod leahtras,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 354/267.9. ‘þe ueorðe [hweolp of þe Liun of Prude] is Presumptio,’ AR 198/14.10.ȝemeles: so BPV, negligent,adj.fornoun, negligence, carelessness: N has the noun ȝemeleste; C scheomeles.under, classified under the head of: ‘þe seoueðe [hweolp of þe Bore of heui Slouhðe] is Gemeleaschipe,’ AR 202/13.11. ForuuelC has lure: NT have incorrectly lure for biȝete; so in M, ‘Qui non premunit aliumde dampno uel incommodo.’ Not to warn a man against something hurtful is slothful negligence; not to apprise him of something to his advantage is venomous envy. The sins are different and come under different heads. The first half of the sentence is in effect hypothetical, and equivalent to, if a man does not warn &c.; so 54/21; 66/120, and F, ‘Ki ne garnist altre de son mal ou de son gaig[ne];nest ceo perescouse negligence ou venimouse envie.’12. Forslaw ȝemelesC has slauðe scheomelese.teoheði mis: Contrast ‘rihtliche teðien,’ OEH ii. 215/32; ‘giuen rihte tiðinge,’ id. 129/32; ‘theoþe ryht vnder his honde,’ OEM 77/149. teouðen C; tiheðe T; Mis iteoðeged N, the being mistithed; a remarkable use of the participle; ‘male decimare,’ M; ‘mes doner,’ F, a vague expression, which looks like a translator’s failure. How S. Gilbert once dealt with a ‘mistither’ may be read in his life, printed in Dugdale, vi., pt. ii., p. *vii.misis aphetic for amiss, wrongly; comp. 56/48.13.edhalden: edhalde C; OE.oþhealden, withhold; so at 64/73: comp. ‘Lante ⁊ thyng me was taght | I held ouer-lang as i noght aght,’ CM 28398.oðer—mis fearen, or treat badly, is peculiar to A.14.ȝisceunge: ‘Þe Vox of ȝiscunge haueð þeos hweolpes: Tricherie ⁊ Gile, Þeofðe, Reflac,’ AR 202/18.⁊ anes cunnesis peculiar to A.15.strong reaflac: ‘rapina,’ M.hwa—mei, if one is able to pay it: peculiar to A.þe—ȝisceunge: ‘species cupiditatis,’ M; ‘qi est desouȝ couoitise,’ F.16. It is sinful ‘biseon ȝemeleasliche eni þing þe me mide uareð, oðer ouhte to ȝemen,’ AR 344/6.17.þen—hit, than the owner of it thinks right: M has here prius for peius.ȝemeles of slawðe, negligence, a subdivision of Sloth. The author has already classified under Gemeleaschipe, ‘miswiten ei þing þet heo haueð to witene,’ AR 202/14. C reads scheomeles of slauðe.18.alswa is dusi: alswa · idusi C: apparently OE.gedysig.longe—unbischpet: ‘diu esse sineconfirmacione,’ M.19.falsliche, insincerely.abiden, put it off: N connects it with what follows by reading uorte for ne.21.moder: so he writes of the ‘seoue moder sunnen,’ AR 216/21.23.istreonede,pp.as noun: ꝥ te istreonede T; ꝥ þe streonede C.strong monslaht: ‘fort homicide,’ F; ‘homicidium,’ M.24.galnesse: comp. ‘þe Scorpiun of Lecherie;þet is, of golnesse,’ AR 204/15.awakenet, originated; comp. 64/61, 66/91, 143/70; AR 44/9, 220/9; HM 27/8, 31/5; ‘woden . . . whence first awoke the West-Saxon bloud royall,’ L’isle, Divers Ancient Monuments, sig. f 3 v.of galnesse awakenetare not represented in M, though necessary to the argument.25.nomeliche, particular, proper; exceptionally anadj.here; in l. 27, as usually, anadv.corresponding to OE.namcūþlīce; comp. ‘ne ne muhte, ase ich wene, mide none muðe nomeliche nemen ham,’ AR 226/6. ‘touȝ peccheȝ seueralment par lour propre nouns;ne porreit nul hom contier,’ F.26.beoð bilokene: ‘includuntur,’ M: comp. ‘Auh ine þeo þet beoð her etforen iseid alle þeo oðre beoð bilokene,’ AR 226/7. ilokene CT.27.understonden him, perceive; see13/34 noteand comp. ‘þenne aȝe we to understonden us | from alle uuele he scal blecen us,’ OEH i. 57/63, 64; ‘Peter · anon þer after · hyne vnderstod · | Hwat his louerd hedde iseyd,’ OEM 45/297, 8.of: the genitive of the thing perceived is found in OE., ‘ðe hiora ðeninga cuðen understondan,’ Cura Past. 3/4.28.imeane, ‘general heads,’ Morton, evidently taking it for theadj.used as a noun: it seems better to regard it as theadv.generaliter, referring each species of sin to its genus. T omits; B alters by inserting þat, which I indicate. ‘Nec est aliquis ut puto qui [non] possit intelligere suumpeccatum sub aliquo predictorumcontineri,’ M.29.anlich: comp. ‘he (S. John Baptist) . . . wende into onliche stude iðe wildernesse,’ AR 160/7.þe—for donne: nothing corresponding in M.for fearinde: forð farinde CT; uorðfarinde N; ‘passanȝ,’ F.31.hehe . . . iheortet: comp. ‘ase of prude;of great heorte;oðer of heih heorte,’ AR 342/24.hehe, adverb; LWS.hēage, comp. 68/142.ouerhohe: ouerhoȝe C; ouerhehe T; ouer heie N. Apparently they all mean, too loftily; the forms withomay be due to the influence of ouerhowien (comp. 28/323): ouerhowe, contempt, occurs as a noun, ‘ouerhowe of eorðliche þinges,’ AR 276/3, HM 43/4 (comp. OE.oferhoga, a contemner): for hehe in B is corrupt. M has ‘elatos corde.’32.iþonket: iþonked C; iðoncked N, is explained as a new formation from iþanc, OE.geþanc, thought, thus meaning thoughted, but the versions connected it with þankien, OE.þancian, ‘Serpens uenenosus inuidos ⁊ ingratos,’ M; ‘La venimouse serpente lenuious ⁊ ceauȝ qe sunt de male voluntee vers lour bienfetours,’ F. T has‘þeondfule ⁊ te luðere iþohtet: ꝥ beonmalicius ⁊ luðere aȝain oðere’; luþere J·hertet V. The unicorn stands for Pride, not Anger, in the patristic literature; comp. Cohn, Zur literarischen Geschichte des Einhorns, ii. 8.33.o rawe, in their order, in succession.to—isleine: ‘Interfecti quo ad deum,’ M; ‘qant a dieu;il sunt tueȝ,’ F. Comp. ‘mest al þe world, þet is gostliche isleien mid deadliche sunnen,’ AR 156/9.34.hond, control: the MSS., except V which has warde, agree with B: ‘in eius excercitu,’ M; ‘de sa meignee,’ F.of: comp. 56/48; a locative use = in.35.falleð, is proper to, is in accordance with his nature; comp. 54/6: ‘quilibetde officio ad se pertinente,’ M, ‘qe a lui apent,’ F.36.draheð wind: the germ of this comparison is possibly, ‘Qui inflantur superbia, vento pascuntur,’ Isidore vi. 241/4. Comp. also, ‘Dominus cuidam heremite ostendit in spiritu tres homines quorum unus in monte excelso trahebat ventum ore aperto . . . Hii sunt vani et superbi homines qui vane glorie ventum attrahunt et multa opera faciunt ut ab hominibus laudentur,’ Jacques de Vitry, ed. Crane, 68/2.37.hereword: comp. 84/69; ‘don hware þuruh me buð þene kinedom of heouene, ⁊ sulleð hit for a windespufof wor[l]des hereword;of monnes heriunge,’ AR 148/2; OEH ii. 83/20; ‘vent de veyn glorie,’ Bozon 89/25.idel ȝelp: comp. ‘Se seofoða leahter is iactantia gecweden | þæt is ydelgylp on ængliscre spræce,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 356/300; OEH i. 103/29; VV 5/20; Orm 10/391; SK 470.38.orhel, pride: so T; oreȝel C; horel N; gle P; craft V; ‘pompose melodie,’ F, confusing it with orgel, organ.39.o—world, in four quarters of the world: comp. ‘æt þissum feower endum middangeardes,’ BH i. 95/13; ‘þenne sculen engles mid bemen blauwen on fower halue þe world,’ OEH i. 143/18. As to the form of the expression, N reads, a uour halue þe worlde; P, on foure half þe werlde; all the other MSS. have uninflected half and world (word B), and omit of. For the ellipsis compare the similar construction of side: half apparently follows the analogy of pound and similar words of measure.40.grurefule . . . grisliche: see 120/95.Ariseð: see 58/77.42.iborhen: iboreȝen C; iboruwen N; iburhen T; ‘saluabitur,’ M.43.inohreaðe: a favourite word with our author, comp. 62/41; 143/74, and not found outside AR and the group associated with it. It means literally, quite quickly, quite readily, but in AR it is mostly a sentence adverb meaning, quite possibly, probably; comp. ‘ant so ofte inouhreðe ne dest tu hit nout i rihte time,’ AR 270/6. inochraðe C; inohraðe T: ‘parauenture,’ F.dimluker: of this comparative, descending from an OE. *dimlīce, there does not appear to be any other example: for the termination see 125/270. Elsewhere in ME. dim is used of the voice. ‘minussonarent,’ M; ‘plus coiement sonereient lour busme,’ F.44.Jeremie: sein Jerem’ T; sein Jerome C.solitarius: ‘assuetus in solitudine,’ Jer. ii. 24. M has ‘Onagerin desiderio . . . sui ·i· vane glorie.’ T omits sui.45, 46. N, apparently puzzled by seið ABCT, remodels, Of þeo ðet draweð wind inward uor luue of hereword · seið ieremie;ase ich er seide. The other MSS. agree with A, but T has prud for wind, and C omits in.seið, means; ‘And seið syon ase muchel on englische leodene ase heh sihðe,’ HM 5/6. P omitsseið—seide.47.iuglurs: joculatores, called ‘menestraus,’ AR 84/11; ‘nebulones,’ W. of Malmesbury, ii. 438, were usually a combination of minstrel, storyteller, tumbler and buffoon, but those in the text are limited in their means of making mirth.48.makien—ehnen, pull faces, twist their mouths awry, look obliquely with their eyes: ‘mutare uultum. curuare os. obliquare oculos,’ M; ‘faire cheres besturner la bouche ⁊ trestourner les eoilȝ delesclent,’ F.schulen,schuleð, l. 53, are found only in this passage: OE.(be) scȳlan; dialectic sheyle, shyle. T has schuldi (? through confusion withscyldan), but sculeð at l. 53: P, sculleh (for scullen, scowl); V, staren.49.seruið: comp. with this and the following paragraphs a passage from an anonymous sermon of the fourteenth century, ‘Nota quam bonos (servos) habet diabolus qui ad nutum sibi obediunt, imo qui nutum eius praeveniunt. Habet suos ioculatores, scilicet lascivos; suos traiectores qui trahunt de sacco plus quam sit in sacco, omnes male iudicantes et maledicos; suos thesaurarios, omnes avaros; suos gladiatores, omnes contentiosos; suos advocatos, omnes detractores; suos insidiatores, omnes invidos; suos latrinarios, omnes gulosos; et sic de aliis. Certe periculosum est servire tali domino,’ Hauréau, Notices, iv. 101.bringen o lahtre, induce to laugh; a curious expression, which seems to be without parallel: ‘ut ad risumprouocet,’ M, ‘purmettre en risee,’ F.50B.likiis a scribe’s mistake for loki. Comp. ‘Riht so hit farþ bi þan ungode | Þat nouht ne isyhþ to none gode,’ ON 245, 6.51.þider: þiderwart C; þiderward N.riht—heorte: comp. ‘þa eagan minre heortan,’ Ælf. Lives, ii. 28/425, 38/559; ‘mid þe eȝene of his horte,’ OEH i. 157/28, 203/11; ‘Ablinde þe heorte, heo is eð ouercumen,’ AR 62/10, 90/22, 178/16; ‘opene to vnderstonde þe ehne of þin heorte,’ HM 3/15; ‘espiritel sacrement | Ke nus od le oil de cuer ueum,’ Adgar, 175/283. See also 115/119, and comp. ‘lay to the eere of thy herte,’ Rule of St. Benet, 1/3. ForeheC has echȝe.winkið: the writer had perhaps in mind, ‘Annuens oculo fabricat iniqua . . . novissime autem pervertet os suum, et in verbis tuis dabit scandalum,’ Ecclus. xxvii. 25, 26.52.o ꝥ half: on C; oþere half N. He closes the eye which looks in the direction of the good deed: ‘Sedex parte illa conniuent oclis,’ M. The readings of the passage which follows are, ⁊ bi halt o luft · ȝef þer is eawet to edwiten oðer · ladliche þiderwart schuleð wið eiðer · C; ⁊ biholdeð oluft ⁊ asquint · ⁊ ȝif þer is out to eadwiten · oðer lodlich;þiderward heo schuleð mid eiðer eien · N; ⁊ bihaldeð oluf ȝif þer is eyt to edwiten· oðer loken laðliche þiderward · sculeð mid eiðer hwen&c. T. A means, turn away their unclosed eye to the left and suspiciously try to pick holes in the good, or else they scowl wickedly at it with both eyes. BCV seem to have lost an infinitive after oþer. In N lodlich agrees with out. M has ‘⁊ quasi a sinistris vident · si quid sit ibi quod reprehendant · uel displicenterse habent’: F ‘regardent del senestre sil i ad rien qe reprouer ou laid cele part regardent en esclench · dautre part qant il oient le bien,’ &c.o luft, on the left side, askance, an expression of suspicion, Milton’s ‘squint suspicion,’ Comus 413, or of incredulity as to the genuineness of the good deed. But ‘ibi’ in M suggests another explanation; he looks in another direction to see if he can there find something else to find fault with.53.skleatteð—adun, slaps down the flaps of his ears: scletteð C; sleateð N; sclattes T; ‘deprimunt aures,’ M.54.lust, hearing; ‘auditus’ M: OE.hlyst. C has luft, and F accordingly ‘Mes la senestre enqore al mal est touȝ iours ouerte.’ T has luf and P loue. In 53 Beamay be miswritten for aa, ever.55. Aftermuð, CNV add mis.56.lastunge: so CN; ‘ampliori detractacione,’ M; leasinge T; sustenynge V, due to confusion with lasten, endure: ‘par plus entoccher,’ F.58.eateliche: atterluche T; noadj.in P.ageasten: glopnen T; rapelich glutten P, the former word due to readingȝetas ȝer. There is an OWScand. glúpna, to be surprised, but Björkman (241) thinks a Scand. origin of the English word doubtful. Comp. the modern dialectic gloppen in the North and North Midland; glottened, startled, is also recorded for Shropshire.59.niuelin: niuelen CNT; nyuelen V; P omits: probably means to snuffle: M has ‘gement’; F, no equivalent: is possibly a form of snivel, and is recorded in EDD. for Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, to turn up the nose in disdain.makien sur semblant, wear a rueful countenance: comp. 117/19; ‘ȝif þu makest ei semblaunt,’ AR 90/18: loþly semblaunt P; ‘frunt vn egre semblant,’ F.61.hond: hamT.62.makien grim chere: comp. ‘niuelen ⁊ makien sure ⁊ grimme chere,’ AR 240/4; ‘makeð hire ueire cheres,’ id. 218/11. M has ‘quiapriusdiscunt officiumsuum· ut facia[n]t horribilem’ [uultum].63.skirmeð: Master Walter Leskirmissour, who performed before Edward the First at Whitsuntide 1306, was, no doubt, an artist of this sort. A picture of one who is keeping three knives and three balls going in the air may be seen reproduced in Strutt, Horda Angelcynnan, i. plate 19.⁊: BC omit.64.warpere: so C; worpere N; castere T. M has ‘Iracundus coram diabolo pungnat ut pugil · cumcultellus est protector cultellorum’; his original had probably cultellis, and projector; possibly protector represents a mistake, warde, or wardere.65.eiðer beoð: eiðer baðe ha beoð C, with same meaning.66.he . . . him . . . he: ho . . . hire . . . ho T, and so hire for him in the next three lines.warpeð: so C; warpes T; worpeð N.from: frommard N; see77/63 note.skirmeð, directs, aims: ‘impungnat,’ M. P has kerueþ.67.eawles, hooks; comp. 120/126: used of the torturer’s hook, SK 2178; SM 6/28; the ‘īsen hoc’ of BH 43/25. In Ælf. Gloss. 316/6āwulglosses L. fascinula (= fuscinula), the Vulgate word at 1 Sam. ii. 14, which is a diminutive of fuscina, ‘quoddam instrumentum ferreum . . . quo vtuntur . . . piscatores ad pisces capiendos, coci ad carnes extrahendas de caldario,’ Catholicon. F has ‘crochouns’; M ‘cum creagris’: creagra (=κρεάγρα), fleshhook, occurs in the Vulgate at 2 Paralip. iv. 11, 16. Similarly, ‘And when þai hadde on hym ylayd | Her scharpe hokes al þo | It was in a sori playd | Ytoiled boþe to ⁊ fro,’ Desputisoun, ed. Linow, 56/477.67-69.skirmi—ut: M has dimicabunt forpleien; but otherwise nothing corresponding to this passage: F ‘ietterunt, lun vers laltre;sicome pesce de policon ⁊ despeies denferle percerunt parmi.’68.dusten, fling; a word characteristic of the group SK, SJ, SM; comp. 120/127: dunchen P, push, strike.pilche clut, rag of a pilch, whether that means a garment of fur or skin, or the nether garment of an infant: but the latter meaning is not evidenced till the seventeenth century.69.asneasen: snesen C; sneasin T; alsnesien N; stingen V; pierce: OE.āsnǣsan. Forꝥsee1/10 note.72.tutel, mouth: the word, which occurs only in AR, descends from a Teutonic root, meaning something projecting, comp. Franck,s.v.Tuit; in its English use it has acquired a derivative meaning like its O. French congener tuel, tuelet, pipe, passage: comp. ‘þe veond of helle . . . went þurh þe tutel ꝥ is euer open into þe heorte,’ AR 74/7, ‘ȝeoniinde tuteles,’ (= aures prurientes) 80/15. For the verbtuteleð, whispers, comp. 64/88; ‘þinne tutelinde muð,’ AR 106/28; ‘garulat ei quicquituult,’ M. ForeareC has arm.73.hwam se: se C.idel of god, not occupied in good; comp. 64/87; ‘uol of zennes, and ydel of alle guode,’ Ayenbite, 131/12; ‘ydel of guode workes,’ id. 218/20: the construction withofis rare; Wiclif has from: ‘huclif (read hucsif) de bien faire,’ F; ‘ociosis,’ M.74.underueð: underfeð C; underuoð N; vndertakes T; vnderfongeþ P; vnderuongeþ V: underweng B is no doubt for underuengþ.ȝemeles: C has scheomeles corrected into ȝemeles.is þes: is tis T; is wel C.75.bearnes: so C; barnes V: but bermes N; barm T; barme P: ‘le dormir al filz del diable ⁊ a la fille,’ F; ‘Ocium⁊ negligencia ⁊ somnus sunt pueri diaboli,’ M, surely a translator’s mistake. ForabreidenT has abreien.76.wontreaðe: comp. 121/129, 143/96: wṛontrede C; wondrede N; wandreðe T: OWScand. vandrǽði (Björkman, 92, 290). V substitutes serwen: P for this and the next word, wonderlich.77.echeliche: so T; ateliche CN; ferfulliche V. M has nothing corresponding to ⁊—wakien: F ‘en la meseise denferpardurablementveillera,’ but no Latin quotation.Surgite&c.: all the MSS. agree with B in this quotation. Part of it is in S. Jerome, ‘Semper tuba illa terribilis vestris perstrepet auribus, Surgite mortui, venite ad iudicium,’ ed. Martianay, 1706, v. 438; also in Alanus, ‘Vos qui iacetis in sepulchris surgite et occurrite ad iudicium salvatoris,’ 63 b.79.Þe—esken: the readings are, Þe giscere is his eskebach fareð abuten esken C; Þe ȝiscere is his askebaðe · fares abutenaskes T; Þe ȝiscare is þes feondes askebaðie ⁊ lið eueriþen asken · ⁊ fareð abuten asken N; Þe couetous mon · is þe fendes askebaþi · ffareþ abouten asken V; Þe coueitouse man haþ swich a bay þat he liþ euere in þe askes ⁊ askes al aboutenhym P. askebaðe is a Scandinavian word, meaning one who bathes or sits in ashes, similar are Danish askefis, blower in ashes, askepot, wallower in ashes (Björkman, 135, 6), and the English dialectal ashypet.feareð abuten esken, is busy with ashes: the usualprep.is with; comp. 5/6. The form of the expression agrees with 56/36, 58/92, and contrasts with the vague ‘Cupidi est officiumcineres congregare · cumulare ⁊ cumulos multiplicare’ M: F has ‘Li couoitous en son despit enfant qest touȝ iours entour la ceindre ⁊ ententiuement sentremette damonceiller la ceindre ensemble a granȝ ⁊ plusours monceals,’ where despit is probably a mistake for esperit and qest for gist; the passage looks like a translation of an original wrongly read as, þe ȝiscere in his estre babe lið euer abuten asken.80.ruken, heaps: probably a Scandinavian word (Björkman, 252): used in this sense still in North and North-Midland dialects.81.peaðereð, pokes, stirs up: paðereð CN; puðeres T; poþereþ P; Piþeriþ V. A word of obscure origin: potter, pother, of same meaning, represent it in modern Yorkshire and Lincolnshire dialects: ‘palpat ⁊ planat,’ M; ‘Trestourne la cendre de fusiaus,’ F.augrim: ‘algorismi,’ M; arithmetic.82.canges, fool’s: for the word, which is characteristic of the AR, SK, HM group, see Björkman, 290, note 4. T substitutes askebaðes. P reads conions; F has ‘cangon.’84. Afterwis monT adds ⁊ wummon, and foreorðlichT has worldlich.85.ahteappears to have been repeated by mistake from the foregoing.ablendeð, probably from ‘Quid aliud detrahentes faciunt, nisi in pulverem sufflant, atque in oculos suos terram excitant,’ S. Gregorii Opera, ii. 193.86.bolheð, inflates: boleȝeð C; boluweð N; bolhes T; bolneþ P; bloweþ V. M strangely, ‘excecant (i.e. cineres) insufflantem ⁊ inflant’: F ‘Cest qi se enfle par eus en orgoil de queor.’87.mare—neodeðbelongs toethalt: T has mare þen hire nedes.88.wurðen him, become for him; ‘vertetur,’ M. T has hire, and similarly twice in the next line.tadden: frouden P; see 46/273.ba: boðe N; Baðe T.89.hwitel: whittel P; OE.hwītelis usually a mantle, cloak; the sense here accords better with Icel. hvítill; it means a blanket spread over the bed straw to lie on. So the poor man in Piers Plowman has a too short ‘substratum,’ ‘when he streyneþ hym to strecche · þe straw is hus whitel,’ C 284/76; Walter of Henley quotes as an English proverb, ‘wo þat strechet forþerre þan his wytel wyle reche, in þe straue his fet he mot streche,’ Husbandry 4/6. ‘de vermibuserit tam coopertoriumquam substratorium,’ M; ‘son couertour ⁊ sa coilte,’ F; coilte meaning mattress. The reading of N, his kurtel ⁊ his kuuertur, spoils the meaning.90.Subter&c.: Isa. xiv. 11; the Vulgate has erunt vermes.92. FormancipleM has mancipium, which may = manceps, purveyor.ah: Uor N: TP omit.94.neppes, drinking cups, but Morton translates ‘table cloth.’ nepp C; neppe N; nappes TP; cuppe V; ‘ciphis,’ M; ‘hanaps,’ F.crohhe: so T; crochȝe C; OE.crōh: crocke NPV; OE.crocca: ‘urceolo,’ M; ‘poot,’ F.95.bismuddet: so BT, a form found here only; comp. ‘smod,’ stain, E. E. Allit. Poems, 59/711: bismotted V, from be + smot; both words mean besmutted, smudged. C has bismuðeled, which, with ð for d, appears to be a derivative of *besmud. bismitted N; OE.smittian, to stain; discoloured. bismoked P, grimed with smoke, is a substitution for a less familiar word.bismulret: bismurlet T; bismorlet V point to a *smyrlianfromsmyrels, ointment: bismeored C; bismeoruwed N; bismured B; bismered P, besmeared, are variant spellings of the same word; OE.besmierwan. ‘perfusus et fedatus,’ M, a colourless expression beside the vigorous English; ‘esmite ⁊ enbroe,’ F.scale: OWScand. skál, bowl (Björkman, 92, 93): schale CP; scoale N; skale T; bolle V.96.mis wordes, words mispronounced; comp. 62/43 note for another meaning: ‘iargoune paroles corrumpnement,’ F. P omits all from Meaðeleð to fallen.haueð imunt, has an inclination; OE.gemyntan, intend, purpose: the use here is peculiar: þat is in poynt to fallen V; ‘en pensee de cheir,’ F.98. ‘Ecce servi mei’ &c., Isa. lxv. 13.99.hungrin: impersonal; comp. 188/390.100.feorle: apparently for feorli = OE.fǣrlic, sudden; used in ME. for wonder: it may have been suggested by vos confundemini in thenext verse: comp. ‘Tamquam prodigium factus sum multis,’ Ps. lxx. 7. But all the MSS. are with B, and F has ‘vous serieȝ la pouture del enemy.’Quantum&c.: Apocal. xviii. 7. The followingContra&c. is adapted from ‘in poculo, quo miscuit, miscete illi duplum.’ M has the Latin of the text. CN read luctum ⁊ tormentum.103.kealche: kelche BT; keache C. V has ȝif þou þe kelche þe cuppe. Wallynde bras to drinken, and P ȝiue þe gloton þe coppe · he þat wil euere drynk · Coppe in glotonye ȝiue hymwellande bras to drinken, from which it is evident that they regarded kelche as an independent word, perhaps as = OE.celic, cup, used for drinker. But the construction points to a compound, kelche-cuppe, of which the first element must be a verb, perhaps the word which has survived in the Northern dialects as kelch, to throw up, keiltch, an upward lift or push; giving a meaning for the combination of tosspot. M has ‘miscete ei duo. pro cyphatu potus: date ei es candens’; where cyphatus means the man provided with a cup (scyphus). N has gulchecuppe, compound from gulchen, to swallow greedily; comp. ‘ne beo hit neuer so bitter, ne iueleð he hit neuer;auh gulcheð in ȝiuerliche,’ AR 240/2 (gluccheð A; glucches T).wallinde bres: comp. 146/118.104.swelte inwið, burn within: form fromsweltan, to swoon, die, with meaning fromswelan, to burn: aswelte wiðinnen N: ‘qil arde tout de denȝ,’ F; M has nothing corresponding to ȝeot—inwið.aȝein&c.: comp. ‘Aȝaines an likinge; habben twa ofþunchunges,’ HM 7/35.
A. The Seven Deadly Sins.The references throughout are to the Corpus MS., unless otherwise stated.
The references throughout are to the Corpus MS., unless otherwise stated.
1.wildernesse: of the world; he has already said, ‘Iþisse wildernesse wende ure Louerdes folc, ase Exode telleð, touward tet eadie lond of Jerusalem . . . ⁊ ȝe, mine leoue sustren, wended bi þen ilke weie toward te heie Jerusalem,’ AR 196/28-30. Comp. ‘alse longe se we iðese westen of þesser woruld wandrið,’ OEH i. 243/3; ‘Claustrales in huius mundi deserto exulantes,’ Alanus de Insulis, 65.þer . . . in, in which; see 1/3: ‘ou vous aleȝ enȝ,’ F.
3.beastes . . . wurmes: The Lion of Pride, the Serpent of Envy, the Unicorn of Wrath, the Bear of Sloth, the Fox of Covetousness, the Swine of Greediness, the Scorpion of Lechery, each with its whelps. The conception comes from S. Jerome, ‘quasi inter scorpiones etcolubrosincedendum ut . . . iter per insidias saeculi huius et inter venena faciamus possimusque . . . terram repromissionis intrare,’ iv. 796. Comp. also, ‘Per superbiam enim quasi a leonibus lacerantur, per invidiam tanquam viperarum morsu percutiuntur,’ Cesarii Sermo lx, in S. August. v. App. 301 B. It is not in the manner of the Bestiaries, where the lion and the unicornare types of Christ, though the influence of the Bestiaries is often shown in the AR.
4.ilead . . . to, traced to, classified under; ‘reduci ad,’ M; ‘menee od,’ F.: a rare use; comp. 54/20.seouene: in the older English literature the number is eight; Superbia being followed by Vana Gloria. See Max Förster, Über die Quellen von Ælfric’s Homiliae Catholicae, Berlin, 1892, pp. 47-9 for a good summary of the changes in the lists.seoluenB: so T seluen.
5.streones: ‘hweolpes,’ AR 198/7; ‘engendrures,’ F.vnsteaðeluest: ‘Destable,’ F. literally, unstabled.nis hit&c., is it not the species of Pride called Disobedience? CTN agree with B; the meaning is the same: T reads, nis hit of prude. Jnobedience. Her to falleð sigaldres: M has ‘Jnconstans fides. contrasacram doctrinam. nunc ex superbia inobediencie est: ad hocpertinent sortilegia.’ The division in Morton is therefore wrong: P has Inobedience ne falleþ it to sigaldrie. ‘Þe vifte hweolp [of þe Liun of Prude] hette Inobedience,’ AR 198/17.
6.Herto falleð, come under this head; comp. ‘alle þe þing ꝥ lust falleþ to,’ AR 52/24, 58/9; ‘⁊ falleð to biȝete,’ SK 24/471.false teolunges, wrongful practices, especially in treatment of the sick by means of herbs gathered with incantations and of other pagan devices; comp. ‘Se cristena mann ðe on ænigre þissere gelicnysse bið gebrocod, and he ðonne his hælðe secan wyle æt unalyfedum tilungum, oððe æt wyrigedum galdrum, oþþe æt ænigum wiccecræfte, ðonne bið he ðam hæðenum mannum gelic,’ Ælf. Hom. Cath. i. 474/19-22. These ‘unallowed practices’ are, at the same place, contrasted with ‘true leechcraft,’ the skill of a doctor: comp. ‘uncundelich lechecreft,’ 62/36, and see the Homilia de sacrilegiis, ed. Caspari, ch. iv and notes, for abundant illustrations of these superstitions. Comp. also, for a wider use ofteolung, ‘to æghwylcre neode man hæfð on cyricbocum mæssan gesette and tilige man (= let one set to work) georne mid þam . . . þæt is hwene betere, þonne man to wiccan, and to wigleran tilunge (= treatment) sêce æt ænigre neode,’ Wulfstan, 171/7-12 (B-T). Morton translates ‘false reckoning,’ which hardly comes under the head of unsteadfast belief; ‘fals takynges’ P.
7.lefunge o swefne · o nore: this order is peculiar to A. For the Dream Books of mediaeval England see Förster in Archiv cxxi. 33, cxxv. 39, cxxvii. 31.o nore: so BCT; N has on ore ⁊ of swefnes; PV have nothing corresponding; M is vague, ‘ad hocpertinent sortilegia · ⁊ quecunqueinfidelitas · credere sompniis · ⁊ huius modi’: in F the place is at the damaged top of the folio; it has, apparently, ‘credence en estrenies en songes ⁊ toutes manieres de sorceries.’orecannot represent OE.ār,which has no meaning like luck, nor can it be connected with L.augurium, the contemporary French form of which iseür. I think it is F. oré, favourable weather, favourable occasion, as in ‘Nos n’avrons ja tens ne oré | Desci que li vienge a plaisir,’ Roman de Troye 5952, 3: the particular form of ‘unsteadfast belief’ meant being the trusting to the system of favourable and unfavourable days for different kinds of work &c., embodied in such books as the Calendar printed in M. L. Review, ii. 212-22, where it is stated that the first day of the month is good for beginning a piece of work, the second for marrying, the third is a bad day for taking up one’s abode in a town, and so on (for the literature see Archiv cx. 352). The collection in Caspari’s note on § 12 of the Homilia already cited shows that the superstition was often attacked in sermons as pagan; he quotes ‘Nullus Christianus observet, qua die de domo exeat, vel qua die revertatur, quia omnes dies Deus fecit; nullus ad inchoandum opus diem . . . attendat,’ Pseudoaug. Sermo cclxxviii. Comp. ‘time,’ OEH ii. 11/13 and VV 27/22-29.
8.heaued sunne: Orm’s ‘hæfedd sunne,’ 98/2728; peccatum capitale: ‘cum mortali peccato,’ M. Comp. ‘Nu syndon eahta heafod leahtras,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 354/267.
9. ‘þe ueorðe [hweolp of þe Liun of Prude] is Presumptio,’ AR 198/14.
10.ȝemeles: so BPV, negligent,adj.fornoun, negligence, carelessness: N has the noun ȝemeleste; C scheomeles.under, classified under the head of: ‘þe seoueðe [hweolp of þe Bore of heui Slouhðe] is Gemeleaschipe,’ AR 202/13.
11. ForuuelC has lure: NT have incorrectly lure for biȝete; so in M, ‘Qui non premunit aliumde dampno uel incommodo.’ Not to warn a man against something hurtful is slothful negligence; not to apprise him of something to his advantage is venomous envy. The sins are different and come under different heads. The first half of the sentence is in effect hypothetical, and equivalent to, if a man does not warn &c.; so 54/21; 66/120, and F, ‘Ki ne garnist altre de son mal ou de son gaig[ne];nest ceo perescouse negligence ou venimouse envie.’
12. Forslaw ȝemelesC has slauðe scheomelese.teoheði mis: Contrast ‘rihtliche teðien,’ OEH ii. 215/32; ‘giuen rihte tiðinge,’ id. 129/32; ‘theoþe ryht vnder his honde,’ OEM 77/149. teouðen C; tiheðe T; Mis iteoðeged N, the being mistithed; a remarkable use of the participle; ‘male decimare,’ M; ‘mes doner,’ F, a vague expression, which looks like a translator’s failure. How S. Gilbert once dealt with a ‘mistither’ may be read in his life, printed in Dugdale, vi., pt. ii., p. *vii.misis aphetic for amiss, wrongly; comp. 56/48.
13.edhalden: edhalde C; OE.oþhealden, withhold; so at 64/73: comp. ‘Lante ⁊ thyng me was taght | I held ouer-lang as i noght aght,’ CM 28398.oðer—mis fearen, or treat badly, is peculiar to A.
14.ȝisceunge: ‘Þe Vox of ȝiscunge haueð þeos hweolpes: Tricherie ⁊ Gile, Þeofðe, Reflac,’ AR 202/18.⁊ anes cunnesis peculiar to A.
15.strong reaflac: ‘rapina,’ M.hwa—mei, if one is able to pay it: peculiar to A.þe—ȝisceunge: ‘species cupiditatis,’ M; ‘qi est desouȝ couoitise,’ F.
16. It is sinful ‘biseon ȝemeleasliche eni þing þe me mide uareð, oðer ouhte to ȝemen,’ AR 344/6.
17.þen—hit, than the owner of it thinks right: M has here prius for peius.ȝemeles of slawðe, negligence, a subdivision of Sloth. The author has already classified under Gemeleaschipe, ‘miswiten ei þing þet heo haueð to witene,’ AR 202/14. C reads scheomeles of slauðe.
18.alswa is dusi: alswa · idusi C: apparently OE.gedysig.longe—unbischpet: ‘diu esse sineconfirmacione,’ M.
19.falsliche, insincerely.abiden, put it off: N connects it with what follows by reading uorte for ne.
21.moder: so he writes of the ‘seoue moder sunnen,’ AR 216/21.
23.istreonede,pp.as noun: ꝥ te istreonede T; ꝥ þe streonede C.strong monslaht: ‘fort homicide,’ F; ‘homicidium,’ M.
24.galnesse: comp. ‘þe Scorpiun of Lecherie;þet is, of golnesse,’ AR 204/15.awakenet, originated; comp. 64/61, 66/91, 143/70; AR 44/9, 220/9; HM 27/8, 31/5; ‘woden . . . whence first awoke the West-Saxon bloud royall,’ L’isle, Divers Ancient Monuments, sig. f 3 v.of galnesse awakenetare not represented in M, though necessary to the argument.
25.nomeliche, particular, proper; exceptionally anadj.here; in l. 27, as usually, anadv.corresponding to OE.namcūþlīce; comp. ‘ne ne muhte, ase ich wene, mide none muðe nomeliche nemen ham,’ AR 226/6. ‘touȝ peccheȝ seueralment par lour propre nouns;ne porreit nul hom contier,’ F.
26.beoð bilokene: ‘includuntur,’ M: comp. ‘Auh ine þeo þet beoð her etforen iseid alle þeo oðre beoð bilokene,’ AR 226/7. ilokene CT.
27.understonden him, perceive; see13/34 noteand comp. ‘þenne aȝe we to understonden us | from alle uuele he scal blecen us,’ OEH i. 57/63, 64; ‘Peter · anon þer after · hyne vnderstod · | Hwat his louerd hedde iseyd,’ OEM 45/297, 8.of: the genitive of the thing perceived is found in OE., ‘ðe hiora ðeninga cuðen understondan,’ Cura Past. 3/4.
28.imeane, ‘general heads,’ Morton, evidently taking it for theadj.used as a noun: it seems better to regard it as theadv.generaliter, referring each species of sin to its genus. T omits; B alters by inserting þat, which I indicate. ‘Nec est aliquis ut puto qui [non] possit intelligere suumpeccatum sub aliquo predictorumcontineri,’ M.
29.anlich: comp. ‘he (S. John Baptist) . . . wende into onliche stude iðe wildernesse,’ AR 160/7.þe—for donne: nothing corresponding in M.for fearinde: forð farinde CT; uorðfarinde N; ‘passanȝ,’ F.
31.hehe . . . iheortet: comp. ‘ase of prude;of great heorte;oðer of heih heorte,’ AR 342/24.hehe, adverb; LWS.hēage, comp. 68/142.ouerhohe: ouerhoȝe C; ouerhehe T; ouer heie N. Apparently they all mean, too loftily; the forms withomay be due to the influence of ouerhowien (comp. 28/323): ouerhowe, contempt, occurs as a noun, ‘ouerhowe of eorðliche þinges,’ AR 276/3, HM 43/4 (comp. OE.oferhoga, a contemner): for hehe in B is corrupt. M has ‘elatos corde.’
32.iþonket: iþonked C; iðoncked N, is explained as a new formation from iþanc, OE.geþanc, thought, thus meaning thoughted, but the versions connected it with þankien, OE.þancian, ‘Serpens uenenosus inuidos ⁊ ingratos,’ M; ‘La venimouse serpente lenuious ⁊ ceauȝ qe sunt de male voluntee vers lour bienfetours,’ F. T has‘þeondfule ⁊ te luðere iþohtet: ꝥ beonmalicius ⁊ luðere aȝain oðere’; luþere J·hertet V. The unicorn stands for Pride, not Anger, in the patristic literature; comp. Cohn, Zur literarischen Geschichte des Einhorns, ii. 8.
33.o rawe, in their order, in succession.to—isleine: ‘Interfecti quo ad deum,’ M; ‘qant a dieu;il sunt tueȝ,’ F. Comp. ‘mest al þe world, þet is gostliche isleien mid deadliche sunnen,’ AR 156/9.
34.hond, control: the MSS., except V which has warde, agree with B: ‘in eius excercitu,’ M; ‘de sa meignee,’ F.of: comp. 56/48; a locative use = in.
35.falleð, is proper to, is in accordance with his nature; comp. 54/6: ‘quilibetde officio ad se pertinente,’ M, ‘qe a lui apent,’ F.
36.draheð wind: the germ of this comparison is possibly, ‘Qui inflantur superbia, vento pascuntur,’ Isidore vi. 241/4. Comp. also, ‘Dominus cuidam heremite ostendit in spiritu tres homines quorum unus in monte excelso trahebat ventum ore aperto . . . Hii sunt vani et superbi homines qui vane glorie ventum attrahunt et multa opera faciunt ut ab hominibus laudentur,’ Jacques de Vitry, ed. Crane, 68/2.
37.hereword: comp. 84/69; ‘don hware þuruh me buð þene kinedom of heouene, ⁊ sulleð hit for a windespufof wor[l]des hereword;of monnes heriunge,’ AR 148/2; OEH ii. 83/20; ‘vent de veyn glorie,’ Bozon 89/25.idel ȝelp: comp. ‘Se seofoða leahter is iactantia gecweden | þæt is ydelgylp on ængliscre spræce,’ Ælf. Lives, i. 356/300; OEH i. 103/29; VV 5/20; Orm 10/391; SK 470.
38.orhel, pride: so T; oreȝel C; horel N; gle P; craft V; ‘pompose melodie,’ F, confusing it with orgel, organ.
39.o—world, in four quarters of the world: comp. ‘æt þissum feower endum middangeardes,’ BH i. 95/13; ‘þenne sculen engles mid bemen blauwen on fower halue þe world,’ OEH i. 143/18. As to the form of the expression, N reads, a uour halue þe worlde; P, on foure half þe werlde; all the other MSS. have uninflected half and world (word B), and omit of. For the ellipsis compare the similar construction of side: half apparently follows the analogy of pound and similar words of measure.
40.grurefule . . . grisliche: see 120/95.Ariseð: see 58/77.
42.iborhen: iboreȝen C; iboruwen N; iburhen T; ‘saluabitur,’ M.
43.inohreaðe: a favourite word with our author, comp. 62/41; 143/74, and not found outside AR and the group associated with it. It means literally, quite quickly, quite readily, but in AR it is mostly a sentence adverb meaning, quite possibly, probably; comp. ‘ant so ofte inouhreðe ne dest tu hit nout i rihte time,’ AR 270/6. inochraðe C; inohraðe T: ‘parauenture,’ F.dimluker: of this comparative, descending from an OE. *dimlīce, there does not appear to be any other example: for the termination see 125/270. Elsewhere in ME. dim is used of the voice. ‘minussonarent,’ M; ‘plus coiement sonereient lour busme,’ F.
44.Jeremie: sein Jerem’ T; sein Jerome C.solitarius: ‘assuetus in solitudine,’ Jer. ii. 24. M has ‘Onagerin desiderio . . . sui ·i· vane glorie.’ T omits sui.
45, 46. N, apparently puzzled by seið ABCT, remodels, Of þeo ðet draweð wind inward uor luue of hereword · seið ieremie;ase ich er seide. The other MSS. agree with A, but T has prud for wind, and C omits in.seið, means; ‘And seið syon ase muchel on englische leodene ase heh sihðe,’ HM 5/6. P omitsseið—seide.
47.iuglurs: joculatores, called ‘menestraus,’ AR 84/11; ‘nebulones,’ W. of Malmesbury, ii. 438, were usually a combination of minstrel, storyteller, tumbler and buffoon, but those in the text are limited in their means of making mirth.
48.makien—ehnen, pull faces, twist their mouths awry, look obliquely with their eyes: ‘mutare uultum. curuare os. obliquare oculos,’ M; ‘faire cheres besturner la bouche ⁊ trestourner les eoilȝ delesclent,’ F.schulen,schuleð, l. 53, are found only in this passage: OE.(be) scȳlan; dialectic sheyle, shyle. T has schuldi (? through confusion withscyldan), but sculeð at l. 53: P, sculleh (for scullen, scowl); V, staren.
49.seruið: comp. with this and the following paragraphs a passage from an anonymous sermon of the fourteenth century, ‘Nota quam bonos (servos) habet diabolus qui ad nutum sibi obediunt, imo qui nutum eius praeveniunt. Habet suos ioculatores, scilicet lascivos; suos traiectores qui trahunt de sacco plus quam sit in sacco, omnes male iudicantes et maledicos; suos thesaurarios, omnes avaros; suos gladiatores, omnes contentiosos; suos advocatos, omnes detractores; suos insidiatores, omnes invidos; suos latrinarios, omnes gulosos; et sic de aliis. Certe periculosum est servire tali domino,’ Hauréau, Notices, iv. 101.bringen o lahtre, induce to laugh; a curious expression, which seems to be without parallel: ‘ut ad risumprouocet,’ M, ‘purmettre en risee,’ F.
50B.likiis a scribe’s mistake for loki. Comp. ‘Riht so hit farþ bi þan ungode | Þat nouht ne isyhþ to none gode,’ ON 245, 6.
51.þider: þiderwart C; þiderward N.riht—heorte: comp. ‘þa eagan minre heortan,’ Ælf. Lives, ii. 28/425, 38/559; ‘mid þe eȝene of his horte,’ OEH i. 157/28, 203/11; ‘Ablinde þe heorte, heo is eð ouercumen,’ AR 62/10, 90/22, 178/16; ‘opene to vnderstonde þe ehne of þin heorte,’ HM 3/15; ‘espiritel sacrement | Ke nus od le oil de cuer ueum,’ Adgar, 175/283. See also 115/119, and comp. ‘lay to the eere of thy herte,’ Rule of St. Benet, 1/3. ForeheC has echȝe.winkið: the writer had perhaps in mind, ‘Annuens oculo fabricat iniqua . . . novissime autem pervertet os suum, et in verbis tuis dabit scandalum,’ Ecclus. xxvii. 25, 26.
52.o ꝥ half: on C; oþere half N. He closes the eye which looks in the direction of the good deed: ‘Sedex parte illa conniuent oclis,’ M. The readings of the passage which follows are, ⁊ bi halt o luft · ȝef þer is eawet to edwiten oðer · ladliche þiderwart schuleð wið eiðer · C; ⁊ biholdeð oluft ⁊ asquint · ⁊ ȝif þer is out to eadwiten · oðer lodlich;þiderward heo schuleð mid eiðer eien · N; ⁊ bihaldeð oluf ȝif þer is eyt to edwiten· oðer loken laðliche þiderward · sculeð mid eiðer hwen&c. T. A means, turn away their unclosed eye to the left and suspiciously try to pick holes in the good, or else they scowl wickedly at it with both eyes. BCV seem to have lost an infinitive after oþer. In N lodlich agrees with out. M has ‘⁊ quasi a sinistris vident · si quid sit ibi quod reprehendant · uel displicenterse habent’: F ‘regardent del senestre sil i ad rien qe reprouer ou laid cele part regardent en esclench · dautre part qant il oient le bien,’ &c.o luft, on the left side, askance, an expression of suspicion, Milton’s ‘squint suspicion,’ Comus 413, or of incredulity as to the genuineness of the good deed. But ‘ibi’ in M suggests another explanation; he looks in another direction to see if he can there find something else to find fault with.
53.skleatteð—adun, slaps down the flaps of his ears: scletteð C; sleateð N; sclattes T; ‘deprimunt aures,’ M.
54.lust, hearing; ‘auditus’ M: OE.hlyst. C has luft, and F accordingly ‘Mes la senestre enqore al mal est touȝ iours ouerte.’ T has luf and P loue. In 53 Beamay be miswritten for aa, ever.
55. Aftermuð, CNV add mis.
56.lastunge: so CN; ‘ampliori detractacione,’ M; leasinge T; sustenynge V, due to confusion with lasten, endure: ‘par plus entoccher,’ F.
58.eateliche: atterluche T; noadj.in P.ageasten: glopnen T; rapelich glutten P, the former word due to readingȝetas ȝer. There is an OWScand. glúpna, to be surprised, but Björkman (241) thinks a Scand. origin of the English word doubtful. Comp. the modern dialectic gloppen in the North and North Midland; glottened, startled, is also recorded for Shropshire.
59.niuelin: niuelen CNT; nyuelen V; P omits: probably means to snuffle: M has ‘gement’; F, no equivalent: is possibly a form of snivel, and is recorded in EDD. for Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, to turn up the nose in disdain.makien sur semblant, wear a rueful countenance: comp. 117/19; ‘ȝif þu makest ei semblaunt,’ AR 90/18: loþly semblaunt P; ‘frunt vn egre semblant,’ F.
61.hond: hamT.
62.makien grim chere: comp. ‘niuelen ⁊ makien sure ⁊ grimme chere,’ AR 240/4; ‘makeð hire ueire cheres,’ id. 218/11. M has ‘quiapriusdiscunt officiumsuum· ut facia[n]t horribilem’ [uultum].
63.skirmeð: Master Walter Leskirmissour, who performed before Edward the First at Whitsuntide 1306, was, no doubt, an artist of this sort. A picture of one who is keeping three knives and three balls going in the air may be seen reproduced in Strutt, Horda Angelcynnan, i. plate 19.⁊: BC omit.
64.warpere: so C; worpere N; castere T. M has ‘Iracundus coram diabolo pungnat ut pugil · cumcultellus est protector cultellorum’; his original had probably cultellis, and projector; possibly protector represents a mistake, warde, or wardere.
65.eiðer beoð: eiðer baðe ha beoð C, with same meaning.
66.he . . . him . . . he: ho . . . hire . . . ho T, and so hire for him in the next three lines.warpeð: so C; warpes T; worpeð N.from: frommard N; see77/63 note.skirmeð, directs, aims: ‘impungnat,’ M. P has kerueþ.
67.eawles, hooks; comp. 120/126: used of the torturer’s hook, SK 2178; SM 6/28; the ‘īsen hoc’ of BH 43/25. In Ælf. Gloss. 316/6āwulglosses L. fascinula (= fuscinula), the Vulgate word at 1 Sam. ii. 14, which is a diminutive of fuscina, ‘quoddam instrumentum ferreum . . . quo vtuntur . . . piscatores ad pisces capiendos, coci ad carnes extrahendas de caldario,’ Catholicon. F has ‘crochouns’; M ‘cum creagris’: creagra (=κρεάγρα), fleshhook, occurs in the Vulgate at 2 Paralip. iv. 11, 16. Similarly, ‘And when þai hadde on hym ylayd | Her scharpe hokes al þo | It was in a sori playd | Ytoiled boþe to ⁊ fro,’ Desputisoun, ed. Linow, 56/477.
67-69.skirmi—ut: M has dimicabunt forpleien; but otherwise nothing corresponding to this passage: F ‘ietterunt, lun vers laltre;sicome pesce de policon ⁊ despeies denferle percerunt parmi.’
68.dusten, fling; a word characteristic of the group SK, SJ, SM; comp. 120/127: dunchen P, push, strike.pilche clut, rag of a pilch, whether that means a garment of fur or skin, or the nether garment of an infant: but the latter meaning is not evidenced till the seventeenth century.
69.asneasen: snesen C; sneasin T; alsnesien N; stingen V; pierce: OE.āsnǣsan. Forꝥsee1/10 note.
72.tutel, mouth: the word, which occurs only in AR, descends from a Teutonic root, meaning something projecting, comp. Franck,s.v.Tuit; in its English use it has acquired a derivative meaning like its O. French congener tuel, tuelet, pipe, passage: comp. ‘þe veond of helle . . . went þurh þe tutel ꝥ is euer open into þe heorte,’ AR 74/7, ‘ȝeoniinde tuteles,’ (= aures prurientes) 80/15. For the verbtuteleð, whispers, comp. 64/88; ‘þinne tutelinde muð,’ AR 106/28; ‘garulat ei quicquituult,’ M. ForeareC has arm.
73.hwam se: se C.idel of god, not occupied in good; comp. 64/87; ‘uol of zennes, and ydel of alle guode,’ Ayenbite, 131/12; ‘ydel of guode workes,’ id. 218/20: the construction withofis rare; Wiclif has from: ‘huclif (read hucsif) de bien faire,’ F; ‘ociosis,’ M.
74.underueð: underfeð C; underuoð N; vndertakes T; vnderfongeþ P; vnderuongeþ V: underweng B is no doubt for underuengþ.ȝemeles: C has scheomeles corrected into ȝemeles.is þes: is tis T; is wel C.
75.bearnes: so C; barnes V: but bermes N; barm T; barme P: ‘le dormir al filz del diable ⁊ a la fille,’ F; ‘Ocium⁊ negligencia ⁊ somnus sunt pueri diaboli,’ M, surely a translator’s mistake. ForabreidenT has abreien.
76.wontreaðe: comp. 121/129, 143/96: wṛontrede C; wondrede N; wandreðe T: OWScand. vandrǽði (Björkman, 92, 290). V substitutes serwen: P for this and the next word, wonderlich.
77.echeliche: so T; ateliche CN; ferfulliche V. M has nothing corresponding to ⁊—wakien: F ‘en la meseise denferpardurablementveillera,’ but no Latin quotation.Surgite&c.: all the MSS. agree with B in this quotation. Part of it is in S. Jerome, ‘Semper tuba illa terribilis vestris perstrepet auribus, Surgite mortui, venite ad iudicium,’ ed. Martianay, 1706, v. 438; also in Alanus, ‘Vos qui iacetis in sepulchris surgite et occurrite ad iudicium salvatoris,’ 63 b.
79.Þe—esken: the readings are, Þe giscere is his eskebach fareð abuten esken C; Þe ȝiscere is his askebaðe · fares abutenaskes T; Þe ȝiscare is þes feondes askebaðie ⁊ lið eueriþen asken · ⁊ fareð abuten asken N; Þe couetous mon · is þe fendes askebaþi · ffareþ abouten asken V; Þe coueitouse man haþ swich a bay þat he liþ euere in þe askes ⁊ askes al aboutenhym P. askebaðe is a Scandinavian word, meaning one who bathes or sits in ashes, similar are Danish askefis, blower in ashes, askepot, wallower in ashes (Björkman, 135, 6), and the English dialectal ashypet.feareð abuten esken, is busy with ashes: the usualprep.is with; comp. 5/6. The form of the expression agrees with 56/36, 58/92, and contrasts with the vague ‘Cupidi est officiumcineres congregare · cumulare ⁊ cumulos multiplicare’ M: F has ‘Li couoitous en son despit enfant qest touȝ iours entour la ceindre ⁊ ententiuement sentremette damonceiller la ceindre ensemble a granȝ ⁊ plusours monceals,’ where despit is probably a mistake for esperit and qest for gist; the passage looks like a translation of an original wrongly read as, þe ȝiscere in his estre babe lið euer abuten asken.
80.ruken, heaps: probably a Scandinavian word (Björkman, 252): used in this sense still in North and North-Midland dialects.
81.peaðereð, pokes, stirs up: paðereð CN; puðeres T; poþereþ P; Piþeriþ V. A word of obscure origin: potter, pother, of same meaning, represent it in modern Yorkshire and Lincolnshire dialects: ‘palpat ⁊ planat,’ M; ‘Trestourne la cendre de fusiaus,’ F.augrim: ‘algorismi,’ M; arithmetic.
82.canges, fool’s: for the word, which is characteristic of the AR, SK, HM group, see Björkman, 290, note 4. T substitutes askebaðes. P reads conions; F has ‘cangon.’
84. Afterwis monT adds ⁊ wummon, and foreorðlichT has worldlich.
85.ahteappears to have been repeated by mistake from the foregoing.ablendeð, probably from ‘Quid aliud detrahentes faciunt, nisi in pulverem sufflant, atque in oculos suos terram excitant,’ S. Gregorii Opera, ii. 193.
86.bolheð, inflates: boleȝeð C; boluweð N; bolhes T; bolneþ P; bloweþ V. M strangely, ‘excecant (i.e. cineres) insufflantem ⁊ inflant’: F ‘Cest qi se enfle par eus en orgoil de queor.’
87.mare—neodeðbelongs toethalt: T has mare þen hire nedes.
88.wurðen him, become for him; ‘vertetur,’ M. T has hire, and similarly twice in the next line.tadden: frouden P; see 46/273.ba: boðe N; Baðe T.
89.hwitel: whittel P; OE.hwītelis usually a mantle, cloak; the sense here accords better with Icel. hvítill; it means a blanket spread over the bed straw to lie on. So the poor man in Piers Plowman has a too short ‘substratum,’ ‘when he streyneþ hym to strecche · þe straw is hus whitel,’ C 284/76; Walter of Henley quotes as an English proverb, ‘wo þat strechet forþerre þan his wytel wyle reche, in þe straue his fet he mot streche,’ Husbandry 4/6. ‘de vermibuserit tam coopertoriumquam substratorium,’ M; ‘son couertour ⁊ sa coilte,’ F; coilte meaning mattress. The reading of N, his kurtel ⁊ his kuuertur, spoils the meaning.
90.Subter&c.: Isa. xiv. 11; the Vulgate has erunt vermes.
92. FormancipleM has mancipium, which may = manceps, purveyor.ah: Uor N: TP omit.
94.neppes, drinking cups, but Morton translates ‘table cloth.’ nepp C; neppe N; nappes TP; cuppe V; ‘ciphis,’ M; ‘hanaps,’ F.crohhe: so T; crochȝe C; OE.crōh: crocke NPV; OE.crocca: ‘urceolo,’ M; ‘poot,’ F.
95.bismuddet: so BT, a form found here only; comp. ‘smod,’ stain, E. E. Allit. Poems, 59/711: bismotted V, from be + smot; both words mean besmutted, smudged. C has bismuðeled, which, with ð for d, appears to be a derivative of *besmud. bismitted N; OE.smittian, to stain; discoloured. bismoked P, grimed with smoke, is a substitution for a less familiar word.bismulret: bismurlet T; bismorlet V point to a *smyrlianfromsmyrels, ointment: bismeored C; bismeoruwed N; bismured B; bismered P, besmeared, are variant spellings of the same word; OE.besmierwan. ‘perfusus et fedatus,’ M, a colourless expression beside the vigorous English; ‘esmite ⁊ enbroe,’ F.scale: OWScand. skál, bowl (Björkman, 92, 93): schale CP; scoale N; skale T; bolle V.
96.mis wordes, words mispronounced; comp. 62/43 note for another meaning: ‘iargoune paroles corrumpnement,’ F. P omits all from Meaðeleð to fallen.haueð imunt, has an inclination; OE.gemyntan, intend, purpose: the use here is peculiar: þat is in poynt to fallen V; ‘en pensee de cheir,’ F.
98. ‘Ecce servi mei’ &c., Isa. lxv. 13.
99.hungrin: impersonal; comp. 188/390.
100.feorle: apparently for feorli = OE.fǣrlic, sudden; used in ME. for wonder: it may have been suggested by vos confundemini in thenext verse: comp. ‘Tamquam prodigium factus sum multis,’ Ps. lxx. 7. But all the MSS. are with B, and F has ‘vous serieȝ la pouture del enemy.’Quantum&c.: Apocal. xviii. 7. The followingContra&c. is adapted from ‘in poculo, quo miscuit, miscete illi duplum.’ M has the Latin of the text. CN read luctum ⁊ tormentum.
103.kealche: kelche BT; keache C. V has ȝif þou þe kelche þe cuppe. Wallynde bras to drinken, and P ȝiue þe gloton þe coppe · he þat wil euere drynk · Coppe in glotonye ȝiue hymwellande bras to drinken, from which it is evident that they regarded kelche as an independent word, perhaps as = OE.celic, cup, used for drinker. But the construction points to a compound, kelche-cuppe, of which the first element must be a verb, perhaps the word which has survived in the Northern dialects as kelch, to throw up, keiltch, an upward lift or push; giving a meaning for the combination of tosspot. M has ‘miscete ei duo. pro cyphatu potus: date ei es candens’; where cyphatus means the man provided with a cup (scyphus). N has gulchecuppe, compound from gulchen, to swallow greedily; comp. ‘ne beo hit neuer so bitter, ne iueleð he hit neuer;auh gulcheð in ȝiuerliche,’ AR 240/2 (gluccheð A; glucches T).wallinde bres: comp. 146/118.
104.swelte inwið, burn within: form fromsweltan, to swoon, die, with meaning fromswelan, to burn: aswelte wiðinnen N: ‘qil arde tout de denȝ,’ F; M has nothing corresponding to ȝeot—inwið.aȝein&c.: comp. ‘Aȝaines an likinge; habben twa ofþunchunges,’ HM 7/35.