[48]. makien—ehnen, pull faces, twist their mouths awry, look obliquely with their eyes: ‘mutare uultum. curuare os. obliquare oculos,’ M; ‘faire cheres besturner la bouche ⁊ trestourner les eoilȝ delesclent,’ F. schulen, schuleð, l. 53, are found only in this passage: OE. (be) scȳlan; dialectic sheyle, shyle. T has schuldi (? through confusion with scyldan), but sculeð at l. 53: P, sculleh (for scullen, scowl); V, staren.
[49]. seruið: comp. with this and the following paragraphs a passage from an anonymous sermon of the fourteenth century, ‘Nota quam bonos (servos) habet diabolus qui ad nutum sibi obediunt, imo qui nutum eius praeveniunt. Habet suos ioculatores, scilicet lascivos; suos traiectores qui trahunt de sacco plus quam sit in sacco, omnes male iudicantes et maledicos; suos thesaurarios, omnes avaros; suos gladiatores, omnes contentiosos; suos advocatos, omnes detractores; suos insidiatores, omnes invidos; suos latrinarios, omnes gulosos; et sic de aliis. Certe periculosum est servire tali domino,’ Hauréau, Notices, iv. 101. bringen o lahtre, induce to laugh; a curious expression, which seems to be without parallel: ‘ut ad risum prouocet,’ M, ‘pur mettre en risee,’ F.
[50] B. liki is a scribe’s mistake for loki. Comp. ‘Riht so hit farþ bi þan ungode | Þat nouht ne isyhþ to none gode,’ ON 245, 6.
[51]. þider: þiderwart C; þiderward N. riht—heorte: comp. ‘þa eagan minre heortan,’ Ælf. Lives, ii. 28/425, 38/559; ‘mid þe eȝene of his horte,’ OEH i. 157/28, 203/11; ‘Ablinde þe heorte, heo is eð ouercumen,’ AR 62/10, 90/22, 178/16; ‘opene to vnderstonde þe ehne of þin heorte,’ HM 3/15; ‘espiritel sacrement | Ke nus od le oil de cuer ueum,’ Adgar, 175/283. See also 115/119, and comp. ‘lay to the eere of thy herte,’ Rule of St. Benet, 1/3. For ehe C has echȝe. winkið: the writer had perhaps in mind, ‘Annuens oculo fabricat iniqua . . . novissime autem pervertet os suum, et in verbis tuis dabit scandalum,’ Ecclus. xxvii. 25, 26.
[52]. o ꝥ half: on C; oþere half N. He closes the eye which looks in the direction of the good deed: ‘Sed ex parte illa conniuent oclis,’ M. The readings of the passage which follows are, ⁊ bi halt o luft · ȝef þer is eawet to edwiten oðer · ladliche þiderwart schuleð wið eiðer · C; ⁊ biholdeð oluft ⁊ asquint · ⁊ ȝif þer is out to eadwiten · oðer lodlich; þiderward heo schuleð mid eiðer eien · N; ⁊ bihaldeð oluf ȝif þer is eyt to edwiten · oðer loken laðliche þiderward · sculeð mid eiðer hwen &c. T. A means, turn away their unclosed eye to the left and suspiciously try to pick holes in the good, or else they scowl wickedly at it with both eyes. BCV seem to have lost an infinitive after oþer. In N lodlich agrees with out. M has ‘⁊ quasi a sinistris vident · si quid sit ibi quod reprehendant · uel displicenter se habent’: F ‘regardent del senestre sil i ad rien qe reprouer ou laid cele part regardent en esclench · dautre part qant il oient le bien,’ &c. o luft, on the left side, askance, an expression of suspicion, Milton’s ‘squint suspicion,’ Comus 413, or of incredulity as to the genuineness of the good deed. But ‘ibi’ in M suggests another explanation; he looks in another direction to see if he can there find something else to find fault with.
[53]. skleatteð—adun, slaps down the flaps of his ears: scletteð C; sleateð N; sclattes T; ‘deprimunt aures,’ M.
[54]. lust, hearing; ‘auditus’ M: OE. hlyst. C has luft, and F accordingly ‘Mes la senestre enqore al mal est touȝ iours ouerte.’ T has luf and P loue. In 53 B ea may be miswritten for aa, ever.
[55]. After muð, CNV add mis.
[56]. lastunge: so CN; ‘ampliori detractacione,’ M; leasinge T; sustenynge V, due to confusion with lasten, endure: ‘par plus entoccher,’ F.
[58]. eateliche: atterluche T; no adj. in P. ageasten: glopnen T; rapelich glutten P, the former word due to reading ȝet as ȝer. There is an OWScand. glúpna, to be surprised, but Björkman (241) thinks a Scand. origin of the English word doubtful. Comp. the modern dialectic gloppen in the North and North Midland; glottened, startled, is also recorded for Shropshire.