'Et de l'iaue simple bevoient
Sans querre piment ne claré.'
[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.