3108. neighëbor, three syllables; thannè, two syllables.
3112. Observe the curious use of seith for misseith.
3114. Monk. See him described in the Prologue, A. 165.
3116. Rouchester. The MSS. have Rouchester, (Hl. Rowchestre),
shewing that Lo stands alone in the first foot of the line. Tyrwhitt changed stant into stondeth, but all our seven MSS. have stant.
According to the arrangement of the tales in Tyrwhitt's edition, the pilgrims reach Rochester after coming to Sittingborne (mentioned in the Wife of Bath's Prologue), though the latter is some eleven miles nearer Canterbury. The present arrangement of the Groups remedies this. See note to B. 1165, at p. 165.
3117. Ryd forth, ride forward, draw near us.
3119. Wher, whether. dan, for Dominus, a title of respect commonly used in addressing monks. But Chaucer even uses it of Arcite, in the Knightes Tale, and of Cupid, Ho. Fame, 137.
3120. The monk's name was Piers. See B. 3982, and the note.
3124. Cf. 'He was not pale as a for-pyned goost'; Prol. A. 205. Jean de Meun says, in his Testament, l. 1073, that the friars have good pastures (il ont bonnes pastures).