L.8.126KD.8.130 And whether he be man · or manL.8.126: L alone reads man. Most other B witnesses have womman, though BCR have no man. The corrector's <+> in the left margin may be for a correction here, or may refer to a mistake subsequently corrected, since
wolde later in this line is written over an erasure. · þis man fayne .....wolde aspye
M.8.126KD.8.130And wh.....eiþer he be man . or womman þis man fayne ——M.8.126: M's original reading agreed with WCrLRF. M's erasure of fayne brings it into agreement with HmGYOC2CB. wolde aspie
Cr1.8.126KD.8.130 And whether he be man or woman , this man fain wold espy
C.8.124KD.8.130 And whether he be man or no man · þis man wolde aspye
R.8.117KD.8.130 And whether he be man or nomanR.8.117: In place of R's noman (which probably reflects alpha's reading — F reads noon), beta had either womman (the reading of the majority) or man (the reading of L). If L's reading is correct (which seems likelier),
then beta also had an interlinear correction, no, which was overlooked by
L, transmitted in the same form — as an interlinear — through beta prime, and
then deciphered correctly by C as well as the B group (which agree with R) while being
garbled to wo by most later witnesses. þis man fayn wold
aspie .