710. _alder-best_, best of all; _alder_ is a later form of _aller_, from A. S. _ealra_, of all, gen. pl. of _eal_, all. See ll. 586, 823. 712. _affyle_, file down, make smooth. Cf. 'affile His tunge'; Gower, C. A. i. 296; 'gan newe his tunge affyle,' Troil. ii. 1681; 'his tongue [is] _filed_'; Love's Labour's Lost, v. i. 12. So also Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 35; iii. 2. 12; Skelton, Colin Clout, 852. CHAUCER'S APOLOGY. 716. _Thestat_, _tharray_ = the estate, the array: the coalescence of the article with the noun is very common in Middle English. 719. _highte_, was named; cf. A. S. _h[=a]tan_, (1) to call, (2) to be called, to be named (with a passive sense). 721. 'How we conducted ourselves that same night.' 726. 'That ye ascribe it not to my ill-breeding.' _narette_, for _ne arette_. From O. F. _aretter_, to ascribe, impute; from Lat. _ad_ and _reputare_; see _Aret_ in the New E. Dict. Also spelt _arate_, with the sense 'to chide'; whence mod. E. _to rate_. So here the poet implies--'do not _rate_ me for my ill-breeding.' The argument here used is derived from Le Roman de la Rose, 15361-96. 727. _pleynly speke_ (Elles. &c.); _speke al pleyn_ (Harl.). 731. _shal telle_, has to tell. _after_, according to, just like. 734. _Al speke he_, although he speak. See _al have I_, l. 744. 738. 'He is bound to say one word as much as another.' 741, 742. This saying of Plato is taken from Boethius, De Consolatione, bk. iii. pr. 12, which Chaucer translates: 'Thou hast lerned by the sentence of Plato, that nedes the wordes moten be cosines to the thinges of which they speken'; see vol. ii. p. 90, l. 151. In Le Roman de la Rose, 7131, Jean de Meun says that Plato tells us, speech was given us to express our wishes and thoughts, and proceeds to argue that men ought to use coarse language. Chaucer was thinking of this singular argument. We also find in Le Roman (l. 15392) an exactly parallel passage, which means in English, 'the saying ought to resemble the deed; for the words, being neighbours to the things, ought to be cousins to their deeds.' In the original French, these passages stand thus:-- 'Car Platon disoit en s'escole Que donnee nous fu parole Por faire nos voloirs entendre, Por enseignier et por aprendre'; &c. 'Li dis doit le fait resembler; Car les vois as choses voisines Doivent estre a lor faiz cousines.' So also in the Manciple's Tale, H. 208. 744. 'Although I have not,' &c. Cf. l. 734. [58] THE HOST. 747. _Our hoste._ It has been remarked that from this character Shakespeare's 'mine host of the Garter' in the Merry Wives of Windsor is obviously derived. 752. The duty of the 'marshal of the hall' was to place every one according to his rank at public festivals, and to preserve order. See Babees Book, p. 310. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. v. 9. 23; Gower, Conf. Amant. iii. 299. Even Milton speaks of a '_marshall'd_ feast'; P. L. ix. 37. 753. _stepe_, bright; see note to l. 201. 754. _Chepe_, i. e. Cheapside, in London.