1781. _Gan he stalke_, he moved stealthily; as in Clerk. Ta. E 525. It is remarkable that Shakespeare uses the same word in his Lucrece, l. 365:--'Into the chamber wickedly he _stalks_.' Prof. Corson notices its use by Gower; see Pauli's edition, vol. i. pp. 72, 187; ii. 256, 346, 347, 353, 360. 1798. 'Parua sub infesto quum iacet agna lupo'; l. 800. 1800-3. Cf. Fast. ii. 801, 2:-- 'Quid faciat? Pugnet? uincetur femina pugna; Clamet? at in dextra, qui uetet, ensis erat.' 1812-26. These lines are original, and breathe the spirit of chivalry. 1827-36. Eight lines in Ovid; 815, 816; 813, 814; 817-20. 1838-46. This passage is original. 1847-53. Compare Ovid, 829, 830. But Chaucer here follows Livy, who has: 'Dant ordine omnes fidem; consolantur aegram animi, auertendo noxam ab coacta in auctorem delicti; mentem peccare, non corpus; et unde consilium afuerit, culpam abesse.' Cf. Gower, C. A. iii. 261. 1856-60. Two lines in Ovid; 833, 834:-- 'Tunc quoque, iam moriens, ne non procumbat honeste, respicit. Haec etiam cura cadentis erat.' 1861. Chaucer here tells the tale more succinctly. Ll. 1864-5 answer to ll. 849, 850 in Ovid; l. 1866 answers to l. 847 and l. 1869 to l. 852. The rest is, practically, all Chaucer's own. 1871. This canonisation of Lucretia is strikingly medieval. It was evidently suggested by the fact that Ovid gives her story under a particular date, so that she seemed to have _her own day_, like a saint. Cf. note to l. 1680. 1880. Probably the syllables _That in Is-_ form the first foot of the line. Otherwise, _Israel_ is dissyllabic. 1881. The reference must be to the Syro-phenician woman; Matt. xv. 28; Mark, vii. 29. But it may be feared that Chaucer was really thinking of the centurion; Matt. viii. 10; Luke, vii. 9. Read _he ne_ as _he n'_. 1883, 4. _As of_, in the case of. _Alday_, always; F. _toujours_. 'Let whoever wishes (it) test them.' VI. THE LEGEND OF ARIADNE. For a remark upon the title, see note to l. 1966. It is difficult to say whence Chaucer derived all of this Legend. The beginning is from Ovid, Metam. vii. 456-8, viii. 6-176; the main part of the story is like Plutarch's Life of Theseus, or some similar source; and the conclusion from Ovid's Heroides, epist. x. Further, ll. 2222-4 refer to Met. viii. 176-182. See also Hyginus, Fabulae, capp. xli-xliii; Æneid, vi. 20-30; and cf. Gower, C. A. ii. 302-311. 1886. 'O Minos, king of Crete, judge in the infernal regions, now comes thy lot, now comest thou into the ring (concourse).' In l. 1894 we again have mention of Minos, king of Crete; which looks as if Chaucer has confused the two kings of this name. The 'infernal judge' was, however, the grandfather of the second Minos; at least, such is the usual account. The mention of 'the lot' in connection with Minos looks as if Chaucer was thinking of Vergil's lines, Æn. vi. 431, 2:-- 'Nec uero hae _sine sorte_ datae, sine iudice sedes. Quaesitor Minos _urnam mouet_.'