2265. _Rather_, sooner. See Mark, xvi. 9. The weakness of this argument for the _goodness_ of woman appears by comparison with P. Plowman, C. viii. 138: 'A synful Marye the seyh er seynt Marie thy moder,' i. e. Christ was seen by St. Mary the sinner earlier than by St. Mary His mother, after His resurrection. 2266-9. This reappears in verse in the March. Tale, E. 2277-2290. 2269. Alluding to Matt. xix. 17; Luke xviii. 19. 2273. _Or noon_, or not. So elsewhere; see B. 2407, F. 778, I. 962, 963, 964. 2276. Cf. P. Plowman, C. xx. 297, on which my note is as follows. 'Perhaps the original form of this commonly quoted proverb is this:--"Tria sunt enim quae non sinunt hominem in domo permanere; fumus, stillicidium, et mala uxor"; Innocens Papa, de Contemptu Mundi, i. 18. It is a mere compilation from Prov. x. 26, xix. 13, and xxvii. 15. Chaucer refers to it in his Tale of Melibeus, Prologue to Wife of Bathes Tale (D. 278), and Persones Tale (I. 631); see also Kemble's Solomon and Saturn, pp. 43, 53, 63; Walter Mapes, ed. Wright, p. 83.' Cf. Wright's Bibliographia Britannica, Anglo-Norman Period, pp. 333, 334; Hazlitt's Proverbs, pp. 114, 339; Ida von Düringsfeld, Sprichwörter, vol. i. sect. 303; Peter Cantor, ed. Migne, col. 331; &c. A medieval proverbial line expresses the same thus:-- 'Sunt tria dampna domus, imber, mala femina, fumus.' 2277. From Prov. xxi. 9; cf. Prov. xxv. 24. See D. 775. 2286. The Lat. text has: 'uulgo dici consueuit, Consilium feminile nimis carum aut nimis uile.' Cf. B. 4446, and the note. [208] 2288. The examples of Jacob, Judith, Abigail, and Esther are again quoted, in the same order, in the March. Tale, E. 1362-74. See Gen. xxvii; Judith, xi-xiii; 1 Sam. xxv. 14; Esther, vii. 2293. _Forme-fader_, first father. Here _forme_ represents the A. S. _forma_, first, cognate with Goth. _fruma_, Lat. _primus_. Cf. 'Adam ure _forme fader_'; O. E. Homilies, ed. Morris, ii. 101; so also in Hampole, Pr. Cons. 483; Legends of the Holy Rood, ed. Morris, p. 62; Allit. Poems, A. 639. 2294. _To been a man allone_, for a man to be alone; for this idiom, cf. I. 456, 469, 666, 849, 935.--Mr. See Gen. ii. 18. 2296. _Confusioun_; see B. 4354, and the note. 2297. Lat. text:--'quare per uersus dici consueuit: Quid melius auro? Iaspis. Quid iaspide? Sensus. Quid sensu? Mulier. Quid muliere? Nihil.' Sundby quotes from Ebrardi Bituniensis Graecismus, cum comm. Vincentii Metulini, fol. C. 1, back-- Quid melius auro? Iaspis. Quid iaspide? Sensus. Quid sensu? Ratio. Quid ratione? Deus. (A better reading is _Auro quid melius_.) In MS. Harl. 3362, fol. 67, as printed in Reliquiae Antiquae, i. 91, we find:-- Vento quid leuius? fulgur. Quid fulgure? flamma. Flamma quid? mulier. Quid muliere? nichil. And these lines are immediately followed by the second quotation above, with the variations 'Auro quid melius,' 'Sensu quid,' and 'nichil' for 'Deus.' 2303. From Prov. xvi. 24.