TR2.1716 “Ry̆s, táke wĭth yów yŏure néce Ăntígŏné, TR2.1717 Ŏr whóm yŏw líst; ŏr nó fŏrs; hárdy̆lý TR2.1718 Thĕ léssĕ prées, thĕ bét; cŏm fórth wĭth mé, TR2.1719 Ănd lókĕ thát yĕ thónkĕn húmblĕlý TR2.1720 Hĕm állĕ thré, ănd whán yĕ máy gŏodlý TR2.1721 Yŏure týmĕ sé, tákĕth ŏf hém yŏure léevĕ, TR2.1722 Lĕst wé tŏ lónge hĭs réstĕs hým by̆réevĕ.”
Line Information
- Differences among the manuscripts and editions:
- English translation (Windeatt: 1998): Get up! Take with you your niece Antigone, or whoever you please, it doesn’t matter. Certainly, the less crowd the better. Come along with me, and mind you thank all three of them humbly, and when you can politely see the right moment, take your leave of them, in case we deprived him of his rest for too long.’
- Japanese translation (Sasamoto: 2012): 腰を上げなさい、姪のアンティゴネーを一緒に連れておいで、あるいはお前が好む者誰かを、まったく構わないよ、もちろん押しかける人が少なければ少ないほどいいが。私と一緒においで、第二に、お前たち二人については誰も全然怪しまないよ、さあ、できるだけ、急げ。目が眩んで人びとが見えない間こそ、書き入れ時だよ。
- Chinese translation (Fang: 1956): 同着恩娣供妮或旁人也可以；或者，不必带什么人，反正人愈少愈好，跟我来向他们三人致谢，看着到了相当时候就告辞，逗留过久了，他不好休息。
Word Information
- Etymology: OE
- Addresser: Pandarus
- Addressee: Criseyde
- Adjectives with which juxtaposed: N/A
- Counterpart in its source (Fil): N/A
- Noun(s) (NPs) modified: Others (in the expression “the lesse … the bet”)
- Attributive/ Predicative: predicative
Information in Previous Studies
- OED: Not quoted
- MED: (Quoted) 1b. the bet [OE þȳ bet], (all) the better; the more satisfactorily, successfully, properly, fully, etc.; all the more; wel the ~; never (no) the ~, no better (at all); don the ~, do or fare better; ben the ~, be better off; wurthen the ~, become all the better; it is the ~mid us, we are better off for that. (s.v. bet, adv. & adj.)
- Commented in other previous works:
- Windeatt (2003): N/A
- Fisher (1989): N/A
- Benson (1987): N/A
- Davis et al. (1979): Not quoted
- Donaldson (1975): N/A
- Baugh (1963): N/A
Possible Definitions
better
Comments from the Editor
By repeatedly emphasising that the room where Troilus is resting is too narrow, Pandarus succeeds in bringing only Criseyde, Eleyne and Deiphebus to Troilus. And now that Eleyne and Deiphebus are no longer necessary to the plan, Troilus hopes they leave. He hands them a document and a letter and asks whether the man mentioned in these files deserved to die. Eleyne and Deiphebus then retreat to a leafy arbour to discuss the files. (As to this scene, Basewell and Paul (1988: 306–07) suspect that Eleyne and Deiphebus might also be having a quiet affair.) Although the document and letter are necessary to the plan, the narrator claims that Troilus accidentally found them by the head of his bed (2.1696). This indicates two possibilities: one is that Pandarus arranged the files without telling Troilus, and the other is that Troilus has forgotten about them. Since Pandarus plans carefully, the latter possibility seems more likely. In fact, this description connects with the following scene in which Troilus forgets the speech he has prepared for Criseyde (3.78–84). In these ways, Chaucer successfully portrays a nervous Troilus.