806-894. Here Chaucer follows the general sense of the Italian story rather closely, but with certain amplifications.
807. That oon, the one; that other, the other (vulgarly, the tother).
819. conseil, a secret; as in P. Plowman, B. v. 168. We still say—'to keep one's own counsel.'
838. rolleth, revolves; cf. D. 2217, Troil. v. 1313.
844. So the Italian story—'Il Demonio ... mise in cuore a costui,' &c.; the devil put it in his heart; see vol. iii. p. 441.
848. leve, leave. 'That he had leave to bring him to sorrow.'
851-878. Of this graphic description there is no trace in the Italian story as we now have it. Cf. Rom. and Juliet, v. 1.
860. al-so, as. The sense is—as (I hope) God may save my soul. That our modern as is for als, which is short for also, from the A. S. eall-swá, is now well known. This fact was doubted by Mr. Singer, but Sir F. Madden, in his Reply to Mr. Singer's remarks upon Havelok the Dane, accumulated such a mass of evidence upon the subject as to set the question at rest for ever. It follows that as and also are doublets, or various spellings of the same word.
865. sterve, die; A. S. steorfan. The cognate German sterben retains the old general sense. See l. 888 below.
866. goon a paas, walk at an ordinary foot-pace; so also, a litel more than paas, a little faster than at a foot-pace, Prol. 825. Cotgrave has—'Aller le pas, to pace, or go at a foot-pace; to walk fair and softly, or faire and leisurely.' nat but, no more than only; cf. North of England nobbut. The time meant would be about twenty minutes at most.