Today | News | Books | Recipes Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History Bookession--'tertia sors annis domuit repetita nouenis' (Met. viii. 171), which Golding translates by--'The third time at the ninth yeares end the lot did chance to light On Theseus,' &c. But Hyginus (Fab. xli) says:--'Instituit autem ut anno unoquoque septenos liberos suos Minotauro ad epulandum mitterent.' 1944. _Egeus_, Ægeus, king of Athens; Met. vii. 402, 404. 1954. 'That thou wouldst be deeply indebted to any one who,' &c. 1960. 'Furthermore, after he [Theseus] was arrived in Creta, he slew there the Minotaur ... by the means and help of Ariadne: who being fallen in fancy with him, did give him a clue of thread, by the help wherof she taught him, how he might easily wind out of the turnings and crancks of the labyrinth.'--Shak. Plutarch, p. 283. Cf. Ovid, Met. viii. 172; Hyginus, Fab. xlii. 1962. _Foreyne_, outer chamber; belonging to the _chambres grete_, or set of larger rooms occupied by the daughters of the king. It seems to answer to the A.S. _búr_, mod. E. _bower_, explained in Murray's Dict. as 'an inner apartment, esp. as distinguished from the "hall," or large public room; _also_, esp. applied to a lady's private apartment; boudoir.' It is merely a peculiar use of our word _foreign_; the O. Fr. _forain_ (fem. _foraine_) often meant 'outer,' as in the phrases _une foraine rue_, an outer (more retired) street; _es tenebres forennes_, into outer darkness; see Godefroy's F. Dict. I agree with Mätzner, that there is no sufficient reason for explaining the word in this passage by 'privy,' though it admittedly has that meaning also (as given in Levins). 1965. _Maister-strete_, principal street; as in Kn. Ta., A 2902. 1966. Most MSS. begin the line with _Of Athenes_, as in l. 2306. This would be a most extraordinary oversight, as the scene is laid in Crete, in the town of Gnossus. MS. T. substitutes 'In mochell myrthe'; and the old printed editions have 'Of the towne,' which scans badly, though 'Of thilke toune' would do well enough. We seem justified in rejecting the reading _Of Athenes_, because Chaucer distinctly mentions _Athenes_ in ll. 1940, 1944, as being the place whence Theseus was sent 'unto the court of Minos'; l. 1949. Besides this, in l. 2122 Theseus calls Ariadne by the prospective title of 'duchess of Athens'; on which Ariadne playfully remarks that she and her sister are now 'assured to royal positions in Athens'; l. 2128. From all which it does not seem fair to charge the error upon Chaucer himself; and I therefore make the bold alteration suggested by MS. T., and supported by MS. Addit. 9832, which has 'In moche myrth.' In the title of the poem, Ariadne is called 'Adriane de Athenes,' but this is another matter, and has reference to l. 2122. She became 'duchess of Athens' in the right of her husband Theseus. 1969. _Adrian_ or _Adriane_, the M.E. spellings of Ariadne: see Ho. Fame, 407; Prol. to Man of Law, B 67. Ariadne and Phædra were the daughters of Minos; Theseus took both of them away from Crete; and, on the voyage, deserted Ariadne for her sister. 1990. 'And make this sorrowful man come with him.' 1992. _Quit_, free, delivered. It seems to have been an understood thing, that if a captive Athenian should succeed in slaying the Minotaur, he should go free, and the tribute paid by the Athenians should be remitted. One account in Plutarch says that Minos himself 'chose Theseus, upon condition agreed between them; ... and that after the death of the Minotaur this tribute should cease.'--Sh. Plut. p. 282. One condition was, that the captives should be _unarmed_. This explains Phædra's plan, in l. 1994, for arming Theseus surreptitiously; cf. l. 2011. 1993. _Taste_, test. The word _test_ was formerly used only as a sb., of a vessel in which gold or silver was tested; the place of the mod. E. verb to test was supplied by the M.E. _tasten_, and there can be little doubt that the words _taste_ and _test_ have been partially confused; see these words in my Etym. Dict., whence I quote the following: 'The M.E. _tasten_ meant both to feel and to taste. "I rede thee, lat thyn _hand_ upon it falle, And _taste_ it wel, and stoon thou shalt it finde"; Ch. C. T. 15970 (G 502). "Every thyng Himseolf schewith in _tastyng_;" King Alisaunder, 4042.--F. _taster_, to taste or take an assay of; also to handle, feel, touch; Cotgrave. Cf. mod. F. _tâter_; Ital. _tastare_, "to taste, to assaie, to feele, to grope, to trye, to proofe, to touch"; Florio.' 1996. The former syllable of _Fighten_ forms a foot by itself. 1997. 'Where he will have to descend.' 2002. _Shal do_, will be sure to do. 2004. Bell remarks that this resembles the stratagem by which Daniel destroyed the dragon at Babylon. 'Tulit igitur Daniel picem, et adipem, et pilos, et coxit pariter: fecitque massas, et dedit in os draconis, et diruptus est draco'; Dan. xiv. 26 (Vulgate). 2009. _To-hepe_, together; i.e. 'before they come to closer quarters.' Bell alters this, the reading of all the MSS. and old editions, to _to kepe_, which gives no sense; and Morris and Corson follow suit. Yet _to-hepe_, lit. 'to a heap,' but used adverbially in the precise sense of 'together,' is not a recondite expression. Morris explains it rightly elsewhere, viz. in Chaucer's tr. of Boethius, bk. iv. pr. 6, l. 182, where 'y-medled to-hepe' means 'mixed together.' It is also in Troil. iii. 1764:--'that Love halt now _to-hepe_,' which Love now holds together. And yet again, in Ch. Astrolabe, pt. i. § 14. 5. See also P. Plowm. Crede, 727. 2012. _The hous_, i.e. the famous labyrinth. _Crinkled_, full of turns or 'cranks'; see note to l. 1960. Cf. Mid. Du. _krunckel-winckel_, or _krinckel-winckel_, 'crooked here and there'; Hexham (A.D. 1658); Du. _krinkel_, a winding, _krinkelen_ or _kronkelen_, to wind about; all allied to E. _crank_, a twist, hence a twisted handle. Cf. Ovid, Met. viii. 173; Æn. vi. 27. And see Trevisa, tr. of Higden, i. 9. 2020. Read _drede_, dread; not _stede_, place. The Rime-indexes shew that, in the ending _-ede_ in Chaucer, the former _e_ is usually long (_-[=e]de_, _-eede_). However, _st[)e]de_, in the sense of 'stead' (A.S. _st[)e]de_), rimes once with _dr[=e]de_, in Ho. Fame, 829. 2028. _Sit on his knee_, kneels down. We also find _to setten him on knees_, _to fallen on knees_, _to knelen on knees_, _he lay on kne_, &c. See Mätzner, s.v. _cneo_, p. 442. 'On knes she sat adoun'; Lay le Freine, 159. Cf. Man of Lawes Tale, B 638. 2029. _The righte_; here used as a vocative case. 2037. Cf. Arcite's service as a page; Kn. Ta., A 1427. 2040. _Nat but_, only, merely; the familiar Northern E. _nob-but_. See l. 2091. 2041. _Swinke_, toil, labour hard. It is curious that this word should be obsolete. Perhaps no word that is now obsolete was once more common. It occurs in Chaucer, Langland, Gower, Spenser, &c.; but not in Shakespeare. 2044. 'Nor any one else, shall be able to espy me.' 2048. 'In order to have my life, and to retain your presence.' The sense is quite clear. The note |