44. #þerf he#, copied by mistake from the preceding line. The MSS. agree substantially with T: e has, þer ne mei hí be nime. #laðe . . . loue#: formal; comp. ‘mid lufe ge mid laþe,’ BH 45/8; ‘litel me is of ower luue, leasse of ower laððe,’ SJ 27/14. 45. #of ȝeve ne of ȝelde#, of bribes to officials and of taxes; things which subtract from his gains on earth. Comp. ‘hem þat desireth | Ȝiftes or ȝeresȝyues · bi cause of here offices,’ Piers Plowman, B. iii. 98, 99; Böddeker, Alteng. Dicht. 104/53; 44/256: Mede was very busy in those days. This is undoubtedly the original reading; J D concur, but E has of wiue ne of childe, similarly e; M of ȝunge ne of ȝelde: #here# in T is hire, usury. 46. For #solf bereð# E has the singular variant, suuel and bred, savoury meat and bread. 47, 48. Not in D. #draȝen ⁊ don#, convey our wealth and deposit it: comp. ‘La devriüm traire | trestot nostre afaire, | nostre estage prendre, | le nostre doner | por nos delivrer, | partir e despendre,’ Reimpredigt 56/110, which is possibly the source of the English; see also 51 note. Otherwise #draȝen# with #þider# would naturally mean, proceed to that place, as in ‘Traez uers cel pais chascon a grant espleit,’ Guischart 1259, but that leaves #don# without meaning. It has the sense of the fuller phrase in l. 42: see NED, #do# I 3. Morris indeed connects don wel which is against the metrical pause as indicated by the point after #don# in E e J: E e moreover read wel oft ⁊ wel ȝelome, and J has hit in l. 48 for naut. For #wel ofte# see 49/329, for wel ilome, 134/97. M reads þider we scolde bere ⁊ draȝe, ofte ⁊ wel ylome, with hit in the next line, as in J. #ofte ⁊ ilome#: OE. #oft and gelōme#; comp. 48/325, 119/78, 127/360; ‘Hi hedden teone and seorewe · ofte and ilome,’ OEM 89/14, 169/22; ON 1545; L 16500. 48. #wrangwise dome#: comp. 44/256. E reads mid wronge ne mid woȝe. 50. #ne reue#: ne se ireue e, the others with T. The ‘reue’ is the sheriff. Comp. ‘Ia nuls hom ki cel (i.e. luer) ad ne se deit esmaer | Kar li nel pot tolir ne prouost ne ueier,’ Guischart 614, 15; ‘Il nen i ad prouost ne nad plaiz ne contez | Sun aueir ni ert pris ne a marche menez,’ id. 375, 6. 51. #hefden#: hedde e; the others have the present. Comp. ‘Tut le mielz ke auum a deu nus deurum traire,’ Guischart 329. 53. #er#, for her, which the other MSS. have. 55. #halden wel#, possess to good purpose, make good use of. M reads wel wile wite. 56. #hies#: his E e; hit J; hi D; he M. #hes#: heo hit E; he his e; he hit J; he hi D; hi M. 58. #doð#: yeueþ J, with T. 62. #Eiðer#, both. Both of them shall hereafter seem both too little and too much; a curious way of saying, He shall think his good deeds too little and his bad deeds too much. The MSS. are in accord. Comp. ‘De tut le plus kat fait est dolens e pensanz | Del bien li semble poi · li mals li semble granz,’ Guischart 30, 31.