[151]. leneth hem, gives them: 'quod conuenire nouit, accommodat.' Printed leueth in Dr. Furnivall's print of MS. C., but leneth in Morris's edition of MS. A. There is no doubt as to the right reading, because accommodare and lenen are both used in the sense 'to lend.'
[154]. for to constreine: 'ut pauca ... perstringam,' i.e. 'to touch lightly on a few things.' Chaucer has taken it too literally, but his paraphrase is nearly right.
[157]. right kepinge: 'aequi seruantissimum.'
[159]. my familer: 'familiaris noster Lucanus.' Alluding to the famous line:—'Victrix caussa deis placuit, sed uicta Catoni'; Pharsalia, i. 128.
[168]. with-holden, retain: 'retinere fortunam.'
[176]. by me, by my means, by my help: 'Nam ut quidam me quoque excellentior ait.' This looks like a slip on the part of Boethius himself, for the supposed speaker is Philosophy herself. The philosopher here alluded to still remains unknown. MS. C. has 'me quidem'; and 'me' is glossed by 'philosophus per me.'
[177]. in Grek. Some MSS. have: ἀνδρὸς ἱεροῦ σῶμα δυνάμεις ὀικοδομοῦσι. There are various readings, but Chaucer had before him only the interpretation: 'Viri sacri corpus aedificauerunt uirtutes.' Such is the reading in MS. C.
[179]. taken, delivered, entrusted. 'Fit autem saepe, uti bonis summa rerum gerenda deferatur.'
[182]. remordeth: 'remordet,' i.e. plagues, troubles.
[186]. And other folk: 'Alii plus aequo metuunt, quod ferre possunt.'