[192]. bayten, feed, feast (metaphorically); E. bait.
[205]. Ascaunces, as if; in l. 292, the Ital. text has Quasi dicesse, as if she said. See Cant. Ta. D 1745, G 838. It is tautological, being formed from E. as and the O.F. quanses, as if (Godefroy); so that the literal force is 'as as if.'
[210]. 'And nevertheless [or, still] he (Cupid) can pluck as proud a peacock (as was Troilus).' Cf. Prol. A 652.
[214-266]. These lines are Chaucer's own.
[217]. falleth, happens; ne wenden, would not expect. In Ray's Proverbs, ed. 1737, p. 279, is a Scotch proverb—'All fails that fools thinks' (sic); which favours the alternative reading given in the footnote.
[218]. Bayard, a name for a bay horse; see Can. Yem. Ta. G 1413.
[229]. wex a-fere, became on fire. Fere is a common Southern form, as a variant of fyre, though a-fyre occurs in Ho. Fame, 1858. The A.S. vowel is ȳ, the A.S. form being fȳr.
[239]. 'Has proved (to be true), and still does so.'
[257]. 'The stick that will bend and ply is better than one that breaks.' Compare the fable of the Oak and the Reed; see bk. ii. 1387.
[266]. ther-to refere, revert thereto. Halliwell gives: 'Refeere, to revert; Hoccleve.' Chaucer here ends his own remarks, and goes back to the Filostrato.