fol. 10r (cont.)I
pR.4.0: At the extreme right margin, on the same line as the passus
rubric, there is a small, brown <p>, presumably the remains of a cropped
guide.
¶R.4.0:
Possibly other material was erased along with the parasign.Passus quartus de visione petri plowman . vt supra
.
¶ SessethR.4.1: There is no blue ornamental capital at the head of this line;
instead, the <S> is the same size and color as all line initials. seyde þe kyng
I suffre ȝow no lengere .
For he schal reule my reume and rede me þe beste .R.4.9: Like most
B manuscripts, R here lacks a following line attested in YOC2 as well as in the Crowley imprints and in versions A
and C:
Of Mede and of mo oþere what man shal hire wedde.
Of Mede and of mo oþere what man shal hire wedde.
How þow lernest þe poeple lered and lewede .R.4.11: R is unique in dropping two determiners from
the Bx b-verse (þe lered and þe lewede). Cf. F's boþe lerede & þe
lewede.
And sette my sadel vppeR.4.19:
R's vppe is unique; Bx reads vppon, the same reading found in Ax and Cx. suffre til I se my tyme .
And hange on hym þe heuy bridel to heldeR.4.21:
R's helde is a unique form; the other B copies read
holde. his hede lowe
fol. 10vI
For he wil make wehe tweyeR.4.22: Only LM agree with this R
reading. Cf. F's to trewþe and the predominant beta reading twies. ere he be þere .
¶R.4.23: This paraph marker is blotted and smeared. Þanne consience
vppon his capel cayreth forth faste
Whiche maystries on eerth mede þe mayde makethR.4.25:
R's phrasing here reflects an alpha error; cf. beta's Mede maketh on þis
erthe. Not only is the alliterative pattern of beta's a-verse appropriate (where
alpha's is not); in its favor there is also the fact that Cx's a-verse
(in a revised line) is identical to beta's.
Folwed hem faste R.4.27: R shares with L an omission (for
þei) at the head of this b-verse. The reading of Ax agrees with
that of the B majority. However, because of the extraordinary accuracy
that the R and L scribes regularly demonstrate, and because these copies are at the top of
any credible B stemma, it seems likelier that their shared mistake here
attests the presence of a marginal correction in Bx (which both scribes
overlooked) than a purely random convergence in ordinary omission. haued to done .
R.4.28KD.4.29
In þe chekerR.4.28:
After cheker, R uniquely omits and. L and R then agree
against all the other B copies in reading at(te) þe
chauncerie where the majority reads in þe chauncerie with W (and,
probably, Ax). F simply omits the prepositional phrase altogether,
reading & Chawncerye. atte þe chauncerie to be
descharged of thinges .
For to saue hem fro siluerR.4.30: R's fro siluer is a unique error but may reflect alpha;
most other B manuscripts here read for siluer. Cf.
F's & hem. fram schame and fram harmes .
R.4.32KD.4.33
And badR.4.32:
R uniquely omits resoun from the phrase, And bad resoun ride. ride faste and recche of
here nother .
¶¶
R.4.35: R
uniquely omits the line-head conjunction witnessed in other B
manuscripts as Ac (a majority), And or But. Cx reads Ac.
Þere is loue and lewte þei wole nouȝte come þere .
For-thiR.4.42: R's omission of the
vocative resoun after For-thi is derived from alpha and shared with F.
late hem ride þo riche be hem-selue .
¶¶ Curteiselich þe kynge þanne come
aȝeyne resoun .R.4.46: There is a superfluous bar over the <n> of resoun.
fol. 11rI
He borwed of me bayard and brouȝt itR.4.55:
Where the other B manuscripts read the pronoun reference to Bayard as
hym, R uniquely reads it. Both Ax
and Cx agree with the B majority. home
neuere .
He meynteneth his men to murther myn heuuesR.4.57: The variant
heuues derives from alpha. F's spelling here is heuuys
; cf. beta's hewen = "servants." Kane-Donaldson transcribe this variant in
R as hennes and F's as hennys). What the R scribe
actually thought he was writing is open to doubt since neither he nor the F scribe again uses
<uu> for <w> after <e>. However, R writes the name "Stowe" as stouue at R5.28, and it is reasonable to assume that is what he intended here.
.
He forstallethR.4.58: R uniquely adds He at line-head position. Cf. F's & to. Beta simply begins the line with Forstalleth.
The Ax reading agrees with beta's, but Cx begins
the line And forstalleth. my feyres and fiȝteth in
my chepynge .
R.4.64KD.4.62
Þat wronge was a wikked lusteR.4.64: R shares this obvious transcriptional error
(luste for luft) with G and BmBoCot by convergent
variation. F's wyght has the appearance of a typical smoothing, so R may
have derived the error from alpha. and muche sorwe wrouȝte .R.4.64: R's b-verse
involves a transposition (uniquely shared with H) of the Bx phrase,
which reads and wrouȝte moche sorwe.
And seyde hadde I loue ofR.4.67: Here alpha and Cr omit a stave; in beta the
phrase would have read my lorde þe kynge.
þe kynge lytel wolde I recche .
¶ Þo wanR.4.69: Only L and C agree with R's wan; F omits the
entire line, while most beta copies read wente. The b-verse of this line
is unmetrical and the entire line is a revision of the A version
(K4.53), but the uniformity of attestation for its text from L and R (with C's concurrence) make it clearly a genuine Bx line. wysdom
and sire waryn þe witty .
c iij
fol. 11vI
R.4.92KD.4.90
And so amende þat is mysdo and euere beR.4.92:
R's phrase, euere be, is unique, but alpha and Cr agree on euere; cf. beta's euermore. F reads the entire phrase as he shal do euere þe bettre. Both Ax and Cx agree with beta. þe bettere .
ÞatR.4.94:
Þat is an alpha addition unattested by any beta manuscript. Both Ax and Cx agree with beta on the phrasing of this
a-verse.
bettere is þat bote bale adoun brynge .
R.4.100KD.4.98
¶¶R.4.100: This paraph marker was
mistakenly executed in red and then erased, in anticipation of being redrawn in blue.
Pytousliche pees þanne preyed to þe kynge .
For mede hath made mynR.4.105:
For alpha's myn, beta reads me. Both Ax and Cx attest possessive case for this pronoun rather than
objective case. amendes I may namore axe .
fol. 12rI
R.4.120KD.4.118
And harlotes holynesse be holden for nauȝte .R.4.120: R's nauȝte is unique; cf. F's vanyte and beta's an hyne. The C version
completely revises this b-verse, but the Ax version agrees exactly with
beta's rendering.
Til bisshopes bayardes ben beggereR.4.126: Beta shows the genitive plural beggeres; F reads beggerys in.
chaumbres .
Here haukes and here houndes help to pouere
religiouses .R.4.127: R's plural form is unique; beta reads Religious, while F
has relygyouse howsys.
R.4.136KD.4.134
¶¶R.4.136: This paraph marker was
mistakenly executed in red and then erased, in anticipation of being redrawn in blue.
And ȝet quod resoun be þe rode I schal no reuthe
haue .
c iiij
fol. 12vI
Ne gete my grace þoruȝR.4.143:
R's þoruȝ is an alpha variant shared exclusively with F. Beta reads
for. Cx is revised immediately beyond this point in
the line, but it agrees with alpha on the identity of this preposition. Ax reads the entire a-verse exactly as alpha does. gyftes so me god
saue .
I falle in floreyns quod þeR.4.158:
R's þe is an alpha variant (cf. beta's þat), shared by
convergence with Cr2-3. freke and faile speche ofte .
¶ Alle riȝtful recordede þat resounR.4.159: The
scribe's rendering of this word is ambiguous; he has placed a dot over the final character
rather than the customary nasal bar, but his typical spelling suggests that he intended this
word to be construed here as resoun. trewthe tolde .
And þe most poeple in þisR.4.161:
R's þis is unique. The other B manuscripts read þe. halle and many of þe grete .
¶¶
Loue loueLoue lett of hire lyȝte and leute welR.4.163:
R's wel is an alpha variant shared with Hm by convergence. Beta reads ȝit. Cx agrees with beta. lasse .
But he be knowe for a kokewolde bitteR.4.166: R's bitte is unique error. The other B manuscripts read kut, which matches the line's alliterative
pattern. Both Ax and Cx agree with the B majority's reading.
of my nose .
fol. 13rI
And modiliche vppon mede miȝte þat kyng loke .R.4.175: Alpha wrongly construed myȝte as a modal instead of a
noun.
And as alleR.4.183:
R's alle is an alpha reading. Cf. beta's moste. If beta
is original at this point, the omission of the second alliterating stave wel at the end of the a-verse is also derived from an alpha error but one shared with
Cr, G, and H. However, it is quite conceivable that F's reading for this half-line is the
authorial one (though unlikely to have been derived from alpha): & as alle
wyȝes witnesse. folke witnesseth wronge schal be ydemed .
Alle ȝoureR.4.186:
R uniquely omits beta's lige from the phrase lige
leodes; cf. F's phrase, londys leedys. In the C
tradition, the phrase is either identical to beta's (a majority of C
witnesses) or more closely resembles beta's (XYcP2 = lege
lordes). Most A witnesses also agree with beta. leedes
to lede þus euene .
¶ And I assente quatzR.4.190: Here beta probably read seith (the reading of LMCrW), but several beta witnesses (HmGOH) support alpha's quod (F) or quatz (R). Ax clearly
agrees with the alpha reading, despite its deficient alliteration. þe kyng by
seint marie my lady .
R.4.192KD.4.190
¶¶ Ac redily resoun þow
schalte nouȝt ride fro me . In the right margin, in black ink, there
is an early ownership stamp for the Bodleian Library. The thirteenth leaf
of Rawlinson is slit (part of the same act as the cropping of leaves 1-7) at the right edge
of the writing area for a space of some 2 cm, from R4.192-94.
R.4.196KD.4.194
And I graunt quod þe kyng
godesforbodegodes forbode
heR.4.196:
For R's he, cf. F's þou and beta's it. Ax agrees with R's reading. faile .