'Ne cures si quis tacito sermone loquatur;
Conscius ipse sibi de se putat omnia dici.'
See other quotations from Cato in the Nonne Preestes Tale, B. 4130; Merch. Ta., E. 1377; and see my note to Piers Plowman, B. vi. 316.
It is worth noticing that Catoun follows the form of the Lat. Catonem, the accusative case. Such is the usual rule.
694. dere abye, pay dearly for it. abye (lit. to buy off) was corrupted at a later date to abide, as in Shak. Jul. Caesar, iii. 1. 94.
703. game, amusement. In l. 708, it is used ironically. Cf. ernest, i. e. a serious matter, in l. 710. Cf. The Alchemist, ii. 1:—
'Alchemy is a pretty kind of game,' &c.
The Chanouns Yemannes Tale.
720. This Tale is divided, in MS. E., into two parts. Pars prima is not really a tale at all, but a description of alchemy and its professors. The real tale, founded on the same subject, is contained in Pars Secunda, beginning at l. 972. The rubric means—'Here the Canon's Yeoman begins his tale.' The word tale is not to be taken as a nominative case.