18. Onese

by: John William Sutton (Editor)

from: The Dicts and Sayings of the Philosophers  2006

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Onese seith: "Whanne men wexen olde, theire vertues bene lesse preysed, and theire ricchesse is more ferefull thanne the poure mannes." And seithe: "The noble dethe is bettir and fairer thanne the foulle domynacioun." And seith: "Oon of the beste goodnesses that a man maye have is for to have a good felawe, wherfore loke thu fellaship thee with goode men and thu shalt be oon of hem." And seithe: "Oon of the moste inyquytees of the worlde is for to do velanye to a persone that is im- potente." And seith: "Yf thu haste done any delyte, loke thu repente thee anone withoute taryenge til on the morne." And seith: "Thu oughteste for to conne thanke to him that dothe thee good, of what estate or condycioun that ever he be of, with that he do it lyberally or with a good entente." And seith: "That man maye nat perceyve many thinges that maye nat perceyve and knowe himself." And seith: "Yf thu maiste have a durable love with anothir, loke [fol. 65v] thu do thi peyne to en- fourme him in goode maners." And seith: "Yf a kinge be juste and true, he shal be lorde over the comounes of his peple; and yf he be othirwyse, though so be thei calle him for here kinge, yet shulle thei have theire courages unto anothir."

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Footnotes

18. ONESE: FOOTNOTES

1 wexen, grow.

2 ferefull, precarious; poure mannes, poor man's.

3 dethe, death; domynacioun, domination; Oon, One.

4 felawe, companion.

6 moste inyquytees, greatest iniquities; velanye, villainy.

6-7 impotente, powerless.

7 anone, anon (soon).

8 taryenge, tarrying; oughteste, ought; conne, give.

9 dothe, does.

10 entente, intent.

12 peyne, pain.

12-13 enfourme, inform.

14 comounes, commons.

15 here, their.

18. ONESE: EXPLANATORY NOTE

ABBREVIATIONS: B = Dicts and Sayings of the Philosophers, ed. Bühler (1941); CA = Gower's Confessio Amantis; CT = Chaucer's Canterbury Tales; G = Pierpont Morgan Library MS G.66; MED = Middle English Dictionary; OED = Oxford English Dictionary; S = Scrope, Dicts and Sayings of the Philosophers, ed. Schofield (1936).

These explanatory notes cannot hope to provide a complete accounting for the source of every proverbial statement in Dicts and Sayings. That task would be a separate book in its own right. Instead, I have attempted to contextualize this rather heterogeneous body of lore by identifying the people and places named in the text, as well as noting points that may be of interest to students and general readers. Those interested in tracing the source of particular quotations should begin by consulting Whiting's Proverbs, Sentences, and Proverbial Phrases From English Writings Mainly Before 1500. Readers are also invited to consult the thorough notes to Knust's Bocados de Oro, the Spanish translation of the original Arabic ancestor of Dicts and Sayings.

1 Onese. Bühler notes: "In the Latin texts this philosopher is called Avesius, Erelius, Eveleus, Evelius, and Anesius. In the French texts Onese is usual," - although Anese, Nese, Eveze, Orose, and Uries are recorded as well. "Rivers has Anese, while Ashby writes Enesius" (B, p. 372n250 3-4).

18. ONESE: TEXTUAL NOTES

4 goodnesses. I follow B in emending from G's goodnesse.

13 And. G: nd preceded by a blank space for a capital A.