4155. _catapuce_, caper-spurge, _Euphorbia Lathyris_. _gaytres_ (or _gaytrys_) _beryis_, probably the berries of the buck-thorn, _Rhamnus catharticus_; which (according to Rietz) is still called, in Swedish dialects, the _getbärs-trä_ (goat-berries tree) or _getappel_ (goat-apple). I take _gaytre_ to stand for _gayt-tre_, i. e. goat-tree; a Northern form, from Icel. _geit_ (gen. _geitar_), a goat. The A. S. _g[=a]te-tr[=e]ow_, goat-tree, is probably the same tree, though the prov. Eng. _gaiter-tree_, _gatten-tree_, or _gatteridge-tree_ is usually applied to the _Cornus sanguinea_ or cornel-tree, the fruits of which 'are sometimes mistaken for those of the buck-thorn, but do not possess the active properties of that plant'; Eng. Cyclop., s. v. _Cornus_. The context shews that the buck-thorn is meant. Langham says of the buck-thorn, that 'the beries do purge downwards mightily flegme and choller'; Garden of Health, 1633, p. 99 (New E. Dict., s. v. _Buckthorn_). This is why Chanticleer was recommended to eat them. 4156. _erbe yve_, herb ive or herb ivy, usually identified with the ground-pine, _Ajuga chamæpitys_. _mery_, pleasant, used ironically; as the leaves are extremely nauseous. [253] 4160. _graunt mercy_, great thanks; this in later authors is corrupted into _grammercy_ or _gramercy_. 4166. _so mote I thee_, as I may thrive (or prosper). _Mote_ = A. S. _m[=o]t-e_, first p. s. pr. subj. 4174. _Oon of the gretteste auctours._ 'Cicero, De Divin. l. i. c. 27, relates this and the following story, but in a different order, and with so many other differences, that one might be led to suspect that he was here quoted at second-hand, if it were not usual with Chaucer, in these stories of familiar life, to throw in a number of natural circumstances, not to be found in his original authors.'--Tyrwhitt. Warton thinks that Chaucer took it rather from Valerius Maximus, who has the same story; i. 7. He has, however, overlooked the statement in l. 4254, which decides for Cicero. I here quote the whole of the former story, as given by Valerius. 'Duo familiares Arcades iter una facientes, Megaram venerunt; quorum alter ad hospitem se contulit, alter in tabernam meritoriam devertit. Is, qui in hospitio venit, vidit in somnis comitem suam orantem, ut sibi cauponis insidiis circumvento subveniret: posse enim celeri ejus accursu se imminenti periculo subtrahi. Quo viso excitatus, prosiluit, tabernamque, in qua is diversabatur, petere conatus est. Pestifero deinde fato ejus humanissimum propositum tanquam supervacuum damnavit, et lectum ac somnum repetiit. Tunc idem ei saucius oblatus obsecravit, ut qui auxilium vitae suae ferre neglexisset, neci saltem ultionem non negaret. Corpus enim suum à caupone trucidatum, tum maxime plaustro ad portam ferri stercore coöpertum. Tam constantibus familiaris precibus compulsus, protinus ad portam cucurrit, et plaustrum, quod in quiete demonstratum erat,