Page:Alexander and Dindimus (Skeat 1878).djvu/99

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NOTES TO ALEXANDER; B. 736.
55

736. Ill spelt. For wile, read wol. The sense is--'for every (one of them) expects to have from a man (i.e. worshipper) his own customary offering.' The passage in ll. 734-747 is not in the Latin text at the foot of the page, but it answers to the following passage in Bisse's edition of Palladius, p. 95: "Nec patiuntur idem, si necessitas exigat, commune sibi pulvinar offerri, sed unusquisque Deus proprios flamines et sorte subit datum munus assequitur, si tamen Dii appellandi sunt, quibus potestas non nisi in certis sibimet offerendis animalibus est data."

738. So in the MS., but it is nonsense. The right reading has since occurred to me, and is obvious enough when once guessed, though not easy to guess. For y of reed read y-offred; cf. ll. 711, 712, 718, 743. The sense is, of course--'Over such animals as are offered to them by men they have power, and over no other things.' The same thing is repeated below, in ll. 742, 743.

746. 'When the world fails,' i.e. comes to an end.

751. 'And every one (of them) is to pinch (or torment) that part of the body over which he presides, (in the place) where pain is unending,' i.e. in hell.

753. 'So many pains in the fire it will fall to your lot to endure.'

754. 'For your idle idols make you act ill.'

769. Any, annoy, annoyance, harm; cf. l. 816. 'It nourishes harm for you, because they hear you not.'

772. To do wreche, to wreak vengeance, to torment. Cf. l. 777.

773. Aftur; either 'after' or 'according to'; here it is merely the former; cf. ll. 778, 781.

774. A corrupt line; alliteration and sense are at fault. The right reading is easily seen. We have merely to insert the missing word wreche (cf. ll. 772, 777) after schulle. We thus get:--"For þei schulle wreche in þis word wirche for sinne," i.e. for they will have to work vengeance for sin in this world. Even thus, the words in þis word are not in a very good position; but the same objection applies to l. 779 below, which see.

786. Waken, watch; cf. vigilans in the Lat. text.

788. 'To you is lechery dear, and (you like) to live by stealing.'

791-801. There is no mention of Cerberus nor Hydra in the Latin text at the foot of the page; but we find in Bisse's edition of Palladius, at pp. 96, 97, the following passage: "Tantalus est inexplebilis semperque sitiens cupiditatis aviditas; Cerberus mala ventris edacitas, cui quia non sufficit unum, terna ora collata sunt. Hydræ sunt vitiorum post satietatem renascentium fœditates; viperina corona est actuum sordidorum squalor horribilis."

794. Foure hedus, four heads (!). Read 'thre hedus.'

796. Godus, goods, property, wealth; not 'gods.' So also in l. 963.

800. '(Who) is greedy to catch condemned souls.'

801. 'And, whether he gets few or many'

803, 804. 'For ye are famed (for being) covetous, and can never cease (from being greedy) but ever go about to acquire worldly wealth.'