'Femina sum et uirgo, natura mitis et annis. Non faciunt molles ad fera tela manus.... Quid mihi cum ferro? Quo bellica tela puellae?' 2696. _And me beshende_, and bring myself to ruin, and perish. I know of only one other example of this rare word, viz. the example given by Murray from Cursor Mundi, l. 14838, where the Trinity MS. has: 'Allas! nu has he [gh]u _bischent_'; alas! now has he ruined you. But it is a perfectly legitimate compound from the M.E. _shenden_. All former editions give this line wrongly; they omit _me_, and read 'and be shende,' explained by 'and be destroyed.' Now, in the first place, this will not scan; and secondly, the idea of adding a final _e_ to the pp. _beshend_ (more correctly _beshent_) is a characteristic commentary on that ignorance of M.E. grammar which is only too common. Yet the final _e_ must needs be added, for _ende_ (in l. 2697) is essentially dissyllabic. Hence it follows, irresistibly, that _shende_ is not a past participle; and we are driven to see that _beshende_ is the infinitive mood of a compound verb. 2697. _Nedes cost_, by condition of necessity, i.e. necessarily; see Kn. Ta., 619 (A 1477), and the note. 2700. Supply _he_ before _hath_; cf. note to l. 2630. 2705. _Goter_, gutter, channel for water. This is an addition. The original merely has (ll. 77, 78):-- 'Quaerenti caussam, "Dum nox sinit, effuge," dixi; "dum nox atra sinit, tu fugis, ipsa moror."' 2708. _Roggeth_, shaketh. '_Roggyn_, or mevyn, or scogghyn, rokkyn. _Agito_'; Prompt. Parv. See P. Plowman, B. xvi. 78; and _ruggen_ in Stratmann. Cf. Icel. _rugga_, to rock a cradle. Prof. Napier tells me that the A.S. _roccan_, to rock, has been found in a gloss. Bell's edition has the singular and unauthorised reading _jeggeth_ (_sic_). 2709. The rest of the story seems to be Chaucer's addition. Ovid merely has (ll. 83, 84):-- 'Abstrahor a patriis pedibus; raptamque capillis (haec meruit pietas praemia) carcer habet.' 2710. _Doon him bote_, given him assistance. 2715. 'Her cruel father caused her to be seized,' lit. caused (men) to seize her. 2723. 'This tale is told for the following reason.' And here the MSS. break off, in the middle of the sentence. NOTES TO THE TREATISE ON THE ASTROLABE. The title 'Tractatus de Conclusionibus Astrolabii' is suggested by the wording of the colophon on p. 223. But a better title is, simply, 'Tractatus de Astrolabio,' or 'Treatise on the Astrolabe,' as the 'Conclusiones' only occupy the Second Part of the work; see p. 188. Indeed MS. F. has 'Tractatus Astrolabii'; see p. 233. MSS. B. and E. have the singular title--'Bred and mylk for childeren.'