832. 'As ever may I be able to drink'; i. e. As surely as I ever hope to be able, &c. Cf. B. 4490, &c.
833. be, may be (subjunctive mood).
835. draweth cut, draw lots; see C. 793-804. The Gloss. to Allan Ramsay's poems, ed. 1721, has—'cutts, lots. These cuts are usually made of straws unequally cut, which one hides between his finger and thumb, whilst another draws his fate'; but the verb to cut is unallied. See Brand, Pop. Antiq., iii. 337. The one who drew the shortest (or else the longest) straw was the one who drew the lot. Cf. 'Sors, a kut, or a lotte'; Reliquiae Antiquae, i. 7. 'After supper, we drew cuttes for a score of apricoks, the longest cut stil to draw an apricoke'; Marston, Induction to The Malcontent.
ferrer twinne, depart further. Here ferrer is the comp. of fer, far. Twinnen is to separate, part in twain; hence, to depart.
844. sort, lot, destiny; O. F. sort; cf. E. sort.
847. as was resoun, as was reasonable or right.
848. forward, agreement, as in l. 33. compositioun has almost exactly the same sense, but is of French origin.
853. shal biginne, have to begin.
854. What; used interjectionally, like the modern E. 'why!'
a, in. Here a is for an, a form of on; the A. S. on is constantly used with the sense of 'in.'