We thus see that it was never pretended that the lines following l. 2158 were Chaucer's. They are admittedly Caxton's and Thynne's. Even if we had not been told this, we could easily have detected it by the sudden inferiority in the style. Caxton's second line will not scan at all comfortably; neither will the third, nor the fourth. (The seventh can be improved by altering _began_ to _gan_). And Thynne's lines are but little better. NOTES TO THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN. NOTES TO THE PROLOGUE. *** N.B. The references are to the B-text, except where special mention of the A-text is made. The latter is denoted by the letter 'A', preceded by a short line. 2. Compare Chaucer's Troilus, book ii. ll. 894-6. 5. _Nis noon_ = _ne is noon_, is not none, i.e. is no one. This use of the double negative, as in modern provincial English, is extremely common, and need not be again remarked upon. Cf. ll. 7, 15, &c. 9. 'For there may no man prove it by actual trial.' 10. _Leve_, believe. Notice the numerous senses of _leve_, viz. (1) believe; (2) leave, _v._; (3) grant; (4) dear; (5) leave, _sb._; (6) leaf (dat. case). 11. _Wel more thing_, many more things. The word _thing_ was originally neuter, and long remained unchanged in the plural. In l. 23, we have _thinges_. The M.E. _more_ usually means 'greater'; it is seldom used (as here) in the modern sense. 12. _Men shal nat_, people ought not to. The use of _men_ in the general sense of 'people' is extremely common in Chaucer, and the student should notice that it usually takes a _singular_ verb, when thus used. With ll. 12, 13 cf. Hamlet, i. 5. 166. 13. _But-if_, unless, except. Great attention should be paid to the exact sense of these apparently less important words. Frequently the whole sense of a sentence is missed, even by editors, owing to inattention to their use. 14. 'For, God knoweth, a thing is none the less true, although no one can see it.' 16. In the margins of MSS. C. and F. is written the Latin proverb here referred to, viz. 'Bernardus monachus non uidit omnia'; i.e. Bernard the monk (even) did not see everything. The reference is to the great learning and experience of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (born A.D. 1091, died Aug. 20, 1153). This we know from an entry in J. J. Hofmann's Lexicon Universale (Basileæ, 1677), s.v. _Bernardus_, where we find: 'Nullos habuit præceptores præter quercus et fagos. Hinc proverb: _Neque enim Bernardus vidit omnia_.' See an account of St. Bernard in Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints, or in Chambers' Book of Days, under the date of Aug. 20. 18. _Minde_, remembrance; see l. 26. Cf. 'to bear in _mind_.' 25. Cf. Le Rom. de la Rose, ed. Méon, 9669-72:-- 'Car par l'escript que nous avons, Les fais des anciens savons; Si les en devons mercier, Et loer et regracier.'