'So drunke he was, he nyste what he wrought,
And therfore sore repente him oughte.
Heroudes, who-so wole the stories seche,
Ther may ye lerne and by ensample teche.'
Of the second line, Dr. Furnivall remarks—'Besides being a line of only 4 measures, it is foolish—how could Lot in the grave repent him? Both lines [those in italics] interrupt the flow of the story, and weaken the instances brought forward.' He adds—'None of our best MSS. have these spurious lines.'
They evidently arose from the stupidity of some scribe, who did not understand that soghte is here the pt. t. subj., meaning 'were to seek.' He therefore 'corrected' Chaucer's grammar by writing wol for wel and seche for soghte; and he then had to make up two more lines to hide the alteration.
488. 'Herod, (as may be seen by any one) who would consult the
"stories" carefully.' The Harleian MS. has the inferior reading story; but the reference is particular, not vague. Peter Comestor (died A. D. 1198) was the author of an Historia Scholastica, on which account he was called 'the maister of stories,' or 'clerk of the stories,' as explained in my note to Piers Plowman, B. vii. 73. The use of the plural is due to the fact that the whole Historia Scholastica, which is a sort of epitome of the Bible, with notes and additions, is divided into sections, each of which is also called 'Historia.' The account of Herod occurs, of course, in the section entitled Historia Evangelica, cap. lxxii; De decollatione ioannis. Cf. Matt. xiv; Mark vi. And see vol. iii. p. 444.
492. Senek, Seneca. The reference appears to be, as pointed out by Tyrwhitt, to Seneca's Letters; Epist. lxxxiii: 'Extende in plures dies illum ebrii habitum: numquid de furore dubitabis? nunc quoque non est minor, sed brevior.'
496. 'Except that madness, when it has come upon a man of evil nature, lasts longer than does a fit of drunkenness.' See Shrew in Trench, Select Glossary.