49. #seruið#: comp. with this and the following paragraphs a passage from an anonymous sermon of the fourteenth century, ‘Nota quam bonos (servos) habet diabolus qui ad nutum sibi obediunt, imo qui nutum eius praeveniunt. Habet suos ioculatores, scilicet lascivos; suos traiectores qui trahunt de sacco plus quam sit in sacco, omnes male iudicantes et maledicos; suos thesaurarios, omnes avaros; suos gladiatores, omnes contentiosos; suos advocatos, omnes detractores; suos insidiatores, omnes invidos; suos latrinarios, omnes gulosos; et sic de aliis. Certe periculosum est servire tali domino,’ Hauréau, Notices, iv. 101. #bringen o lahtre#, induce to laugh; a curious expression, which seems to be without parallel: ‘ut ad risu{m} prouocet,’ M, ‘p{ur} mettre en risee,’ F. 50 B. #liki# is a scribe’s mistake for loki. Comp. ‘Riht so hit farþ bi þan ungode | Þat nouht ne isyhþ to none gode,’ ON 245, 6. 51. #þider#: þiderwart C; þiderward N. #riht--heorte#: comp. ‘þa eagan minre heortan,’ Ælf. Lives, ii. 28/425, 38/559; ‘mid þe eȝene of his horte,’ OEH i. 157/28, 203/11; ‘Ablinde þe heorte, heo is eð ouercumen,’ AR 62/10, 90/22, 178/16; ‘opene to vnderstonde þe ehne of þin heorte,’ HM 3/15; ‘espiritel sacrement | Ke nus od le oil de cuer ueum,’ Adgar, 175/283. See also 115/119, and comp. ‘lay to the eere of thy herte,’ Rule of St. Benet, 1/3. For #ehe# C has echȝe. #winkið#: the writer had perhaps in mind, ‘Annuens oculo fabricat iniqua . . . novissime autem pervertet os suum, et in verbis tuis dabit scandalum,’ Ecclus. xxvii. 25, 26. 52. #o ꝥ half#: on C; oþere half N. He closes the eye which looks in the direction of the good deed: ‘S{ed} ex p{ar}te illa co{n}niue{n}t oclis,’ M. The readings of the passage which follows are, ⁊ bi halt o luft · ȝef þer is eawet to edwiten oðer · ladliche þiderwart schuleð wið eiðer · C; ⁊ biholdeð oluft ⁊ asquint · ⁊ ȝif þer is out to eadwiten · oðer lodlich[;] þiderward heo schuleð mid eiðer eien · N; ⁊ bihaldeð oluf ȝif þer is eyt to edwite{n} · oðer loken laðliche þiderward · sculeð mid eiðer hwe{n} &c. T. A means, turn away their unclosed eye to the left and suspiciously try to pick holes in the good, or else they scowl wickedly at it with both eyes. BCV seem to have lost an infinitive after oþer. In N lodlich agrees with out. M has ‘⁊ q{uas}i a sinist{ri}s vident · si q{ui}d sit ibi q{uo}d rep{re}hendant · u{e}l displicent{er} se h{abe}nt’: F ‘regardent del senestre sil i ad rien qe rep{ro}uer ou laid cele part regardent en esclench · dautre part q{a}nt il oient le bien,’ &c. #o luft#, on the left side, askance, an expression of suspicion, Milton’s ‘squint suspicion,’ Comus 413, or of incredulity as to the genuineness of the good deed. But ‘ibi’ in M suggests another explanation; he looks in another direction to see if he can there find something else to find fault with. 53. #skleatteð--adun#, slaps down the flaps of his ears: scletteð C; sleateð N; sclattes T; ‘dep{ri}m{un}t aures,’ M.