946. ~not many furlongs~. These words are deliberately inserted to keep up the illusion. It is probable that, in the actual representation of the mask, the scene representing the enchanted palace was removed when Comus's rout was driven off the stage, and a woodland scene redisplayed. This would give additional significance to these lines and to the change of scene after l. 957. 'Furlong' = furrow-long: it thus came to mean the length of a field, and is now a measure of length. 949. ~many a friend~. 'Many a' is a peculiar idiom, which has been explained in different ways. One view is that 'many' is a corruption of the French _mesnie_, a train or company, and 'a' a corruption of the preposition 'of,' the singular noun being then substituted for the plural through confusion of the preposition with the article. A more correct view seems to be that 'many' is the A.S. _manig_, which was in old English used with a singular noun and without the article, _e.g._ _manig mann_ = many men. In the thirteenth century the indefinite article began to be inserted; thus _mony enne thing_ = many a thing, just as we say 'what _a_ thing,' 'such _a_ thing.' This would seem to show that 'a' is not a corruption of 'of,' and that there is no connection with the French word _mesnie_. Milton, in this passage, uses 'many a friend' with a plural verb. ~gratulate~. The simple verb is now replaced by the compound _congratulate_ (Lat. _gratulari_, to wish joy to a person). 950. ~wished~, _i.e._ wished for; see note, l. 574. ~and beside~, _i.e._ 'and where, besides,' etc. 952. ~jigs~, lively dances. 958. ~Back, shepherds, back!~ On the rising of the curtain, the stage is occupied by peasants engaged in a merry dance. Soon after the attendant Spirit enters with the above words. ~Enough your play~, _i.e._ we have had enough of your dancing, which must now give way to 'other trippings.' 959. ~sunshine holiday~. Comp. _L'Alleg._ 98, where the same expression is used. There is a close resemblance between the language of this song and lines 91-99 of _L'Allegro_. Milton's own spelling of 'holiday' is 'holyday,' which shows the origin of the word. The accent in such compounds (comp. blue-bell, blackbird, etc.) falls on the adjective: it is only in this way that the ear can tell whether the compound forms (_e.g._ hóliday) or the separate words (_e.g._ hóly dáy) are being used. 960. ~Here be~: see note, l. 12. ~without duck or nod~: words used to describe the ungraceful dancing and awkward courtesy of the country people.