933. Perhaps the reference is to Rev. xvii. 4, xviii. 16.
934. Gregorie; see note to 414 above, p. 458.
939. three thinges, three reasons; so in Ayenb. p. 222, l. 14.
944. widewe; cf. Ayenb. p. 225, l. 9.
947. boyste, box; Mat. xxvi. 7; John xii. 3.
948. lyf, life; i. e. she lives like them; Fr. semblant as angels du ciel,' i. e. like the angels of heaven. Cf. P. Plowman, C. xix. 89-100; Ayenb. p. 227, l. 13.
951. See the parallel passage; Ayenb. p. 204, at the bottom.
954. leyt, flame; the candle being stuck close to the wall.
955. Daniel; so in E. Cm.; but the other five MSS. have Dauid, i. e. David. It appears that David is the correct reading, since the names of Sampson, David, and Solomon occur both in the Fr. text, and in Ayenb. p. 204.
956-7. Probably Chaucer omitted the ten commandments, because he was getting tired of the work. He mentions them because they are treated of at length in the French treatise; see Ayenb. pp. 5-11. Hence his 'leaving them to divines' is a mere excuse. Cf. Kn. Tale, A. 1323; and see note to 1043 below (p. 474).