2012. _The hous_, i.e. the famous labyrinth. _Crinkled_, full of turns or 'cranks'; see note to l. 1960. Cf. Mid. Du. _krunckel-winckel_, or _krinckel-winckel_, 'crooked here and there'; Hexham (A.D. 1658); Du. _krinkel_, a winding, _krinkelen_ or _kronkelen_, to wind about; all allied to E. _crank_, a twist, hence a twisted handle. Cf. Ovid, Met. viii. 173; Æn. vi. 27. And see Trevisa, tr. of Higden, i. 9. 2020. Read _drede_, dread; not _stede_, place. The Rime-indexes shew that, in the ending _-ede_ in Chaucer, the former _e_ is usually long (_-[=e]de_, _-eede_). However, _st[)e]de_, in the sense of 'stead' (A.S. _st[)e]de_), rimes once with _dr[=e]de_, in Ho. Fame, 829. 2028. _Sit on his knee_, kneels down. We also find _to setten him on knees_, _to fallen on knees_, _to knelen on knees_, _he lay on kne_, &c. See Mätzner, s.v. _cneo_, p. 442. 'On knes she sat adoun'; Lay le Freine, 159. Cf. Man of Lawes Tale, B 638. 2029. _The righte_; here used as a vocative case. 2037. Cf. Arcite's service as a page; Kn. Ta., A 1427. 2040. _Nat but_, only, merely; the familiar Northern E. _nob-but_. See l. 2091. 2041. _Swinke_, toil, labour hard. It is curious that this word should be obsolete. Perhaps no word that is now obsolete was once more common. It occurs in Chaucer, Langland, Gower, Spenser, &c.; but not in Shakespeare. 2044. 'Nor any one else, shall be able to espy me.' 2048. 'In order to have my life, and to retain your presence.' The sense is quite clear. The note in Corson--'_presence_ seems to mean here presentiment or suspicion'--is due to some mistake. 2051. Only MS. C. retains _now_; and it would be better before _is_ than after it. 2056. _Yif_, if; answering to _than_, then, in l. 2059. 2063. 'I pray Mars to do me such a favour.' 2064. _Shames deeth_, a death of shame; see l. 2072. 2065. _Póvert_ occurs as a dissyllable, in Cant. Ta., C 441. 2066. Pronounce _spirit_ nearly as _spir't_. _Go_, walk about, roam. He prays that he may be punished by being made to walk as a ghost after death. A reference to the supposed restlessness of the spirits of wicked men; see Parl. of Foules, 80. But good spirits also 'walked' sometimes; Wint. Tale, iii. 3. 17. 2069. _For which_, for which cause, on which account. _Go_, may walk; the subjunctive mood. 2070. _Other degree_, i.e. a higher degree than that of page. He professes not to aspire to this, _unless_ she vouchsafes to give it him. 2072. 'May I die by a death of shame.' The _of_ depends on _deye_; cf. Man of Lawes Tale, B 819. 2075. _A twenty_, about twenty. _A_ is here used as expressly an approximative result; as in '_an_ eight days,' Luke ix. 28; so '_a_ ten,' Squi. Tale, F 383. Only MS. C. retains _a_, but it is wanted for the metre. 2082. _God shilde hit_, God defend or forbid it.