The true explanation is, that the A. S. _y_ had the sound of mod. G. _ü_. In Mid. Eng., this was variably treated, usually becoming either _i_ or _u_; so that, e. g., the A. S. _pyt_ (a pit) became M. E. _pit_ or _put_, the former of which has survived. But, in Kentish, the form was _pet_; and it is remarkable that Chaucer sometimes deliberately adopts Kentish forms, as here, for the sake of the rime. A striking example is seen in _fulfelle_ for _fulfille_, in Troil. iii. 510, to rime with _telle_. He usually has _fulfille_, as below, in A. 1318, 2478. 829. _Ye woot_, ye know. Really false grammar, as the pl. of _woot_ (originally a past tense) is properly _witen_, just as the pl. of _rood_ is _riden_ in l. 825. As _woot_ was used as a present tense, its original form was forgotten. 'Ye know your agreement, and I recall it to your memory.' See l. 33. 830. 'If even-song and matins agree'; i. e. if you still say now what you said last night. 832. 'As ever may I be able to drink'; i. e. As surely as I ever hope to be able, &c. Cf. B. 4490, &c. 833. _be_, may be (subjunctive mood). 835. _draweth cut_, draw lots; see C. 793-804. The Gloss. to Allan Ramsay's poems, ed. 1721, has--'_cutts_, lots. These cuts are usually made of straws unequally cut, which one hides between his finger and thumb, whilst another draws his fate'; but the verb _to cut_ is unallied. See Brand, Pop. Antiq., iii. 337. The one who drew the shortest (or else the longest) straw was the one who drew the lot. Cf. '_Sors_, a kut, or a lotte'; Reliquiae Antiquae, i. 7. 'After supper, we drew _cuttes_ for a score of apricoks, the longest _cut_ stil to draw an apricoke'; Marston, Induction to _The Malcontent_. _ferrer twinne_, depart further. Here _ferrer_ is the comp. of _fer_, far. _Twinnen_ is to separate, part in twain; hence, to depart. 844. _sort_, lot, destiny; O. F. _sort_; cf. E. _sort_. 847. _as was resoun_, as was reasonable or right. 848. _forward_, agreement, as in l. 33. _compositioun_ has almost exactly the same sense, but is of French origin. 853. _shal biginne_, have to begin. 854. _What_; used interjectionally, like the modern E. 'why!' _a_, in. Here _a_ is for _an_, a form of _on_; the A. S. _on_ is constantly used with the sense of 'in.' 856. _riden_, rode; pt. pl. See l. 825. [60] THE KNIGHTES TALE. For general remarks on this tale, see vol. iii. p. 389. It is only possible to give here a mere general idea of the way in which the Knightes Tale is related to the Teseide of Boccaccio. The following table gives a sketch of it, but includes many lines wherein Chaucer is quite original. The references to the Knightes Tale are to the lines of group A (as in the text); those to the Teseide are to the books and stanzas.