[101]. yif that al, &c., 'if all the good possessed is more valuable than the thing possessing it.'
[105]. and certes: 'quod quidem haud immerito cadit.'
[111]. it cometh: 'it arises from some defect in them.'
[121]. Gabbe I of this, do I lie concerning this?
[125]. weneth. The texts have and weneth; but I suppress and to make sense, and to make the translation agree with the Latin. 'Atqui diuitiae possidentibus persaepè nocuerunt, cùm pessimus quisque, eóque alieni magis auidus, quidquid usquam auri gemmarumque est, se solum qui habeat dignissimum putat.'
[128]. way-feringe; MS. A, way-faryng. Both forms, feringe and faring(e) occur; see Stratmann. Feringe = A. S. fērende, from the weak verb fēran, to go, travel; whilst faringe = A. S. farende, from the strong verb faran, to go. Fēran (= *fōrian) is derived, with vowel-mutation, from the stem *fōr, appearing in fōr, the pt. t. of faran.
[130]. singe, &c. Doubtless from Juvenal, Sat. x. 22; see Wyf of Bathes Tale, D 1191, and the note.
Metre 5. Largely imitated in Chaucer's poem called 'The Former Age,' which see. See also the Notes to the same.
[5]. They ne coude, they knew not how: 'Non Bacchica munera norant Liquido confundere melle.'
[6]. piment, usually spiced wine; here, wine mixed with honey. See Rom. of the Rose, 6027, and the note. clarree, wine mixed with honey and spices, and then strained till it is clear; clarified wine. See Rom. of the Rose, 5967, 6026; Former Age, 16; Kn. Tale, A 1471. Chaucer uses these two words here in conjunction, for the simple reason that he was thinking of the parallel passage in the French Rom. de la Rose, which is imitated from the present passage in Boethius. Ll. 8418-9 are:—