[22]. lipnie, depend on, trust to: hopie E e; leue D; truste M.
[24]. bute—milde: a formula of frequent occurrence; see KH 80 note.
[25]. D alters, Sende sum god biuoren him | man, ꝥ wile to heuene; the scribe of E copied the end of l. 21, reading, þe wyle ȝe ben aliue, and in the second half of the next line, þanne ben after vyue.
[27], 28 are misplaced, the other MSS. have them as in T. With 27 comp. ‘Ifurn ich habbe isunehed mid worke ⁊ mid worde,’ OEM 193/21; and with 28, ‘muchel ich habbe ispened; to lite ich habbe an horde. | Hord þat ich telle · is almesse dede,’ id. 193/24, 25; ‘Ne des altres uertuz nule ne reseruai | . . . | Or ai si despendu ke ieo nule nen ai,’ Guischart 1184, 6.
[29], 30 are wanting in D. þe solf: þi self EJ. With mei . . . maȝe, comp. ‘Ne naueþ he mey ne mowe. | þat durre one þrowe. | Bi hym sitte ne stonde,’ OEM 79/208-10, 179/161, 2. With l. 30 comp. ‘Qui mieux aime autri que sei au molin fu mort de sei.’ ‘Videtur enim quod quis alium plus quam se amat qui alios admonitionibus et correctionibus pascit et seipsum non emendat,’ Hauréau, Notices, ii. 281, an application which robs the proverb of its apparent crude selfishness.
[31]. lipnie: lipne J; hopie E e T D; truste M.
[32]. ech: vych J; the others are with T.
[33]. to him: the others have him. þe mot: he is to be understood from him in the preceding clause, see [6/18 note]. E has þe he mot, D, ꝥ he, M, þat he, the other MSS. he.
[34]. fremede . . . sibbe: a formula, see KH 64 note. A variant is, ‘to freomede ⁊ to kunne,’ OEH ii. 259/30. wule is singular; comp. T.
[35]. Comp. 30/19, 44/238. The proverb is common, as, ‘he ne mei hwon he wule, þe nolde hwule þet he muhte,’ AR 338/19; ‘hit is riht Godes dom, þet hwo ne deð hwon he mei, he ne schal nout hwon he wolde,’ id. 296/22; Hendyng C., stanza 46.