ALCESIMARCHUS:May the Gods confound me—
Alcesimarchvs:Di me perdant—
MELAENIS:Whatever you wish for, I desire it may befall you.
Melaenis:Quodcumque optes, tibi velim contingere.
ALCESIMARCHUS:If ever I’ll marry that wife which my father has engaged for me.
Alcesimarchvs:Si illam uxorem duxero umquam, mihi quam despondit pater.
MELAENIS:And me, if ever I give you my daughter for a wife.
Melaenis:Et me, si umquam tibi uxorem filiam dedero meam.
ALCESIMARCHUS:Will you allow me to be forsworn?
Alcesimarchvs:Patierin me periurare?
MELAENIS:Yes, and a little more easily than myself and my affairs to go to ruin, and my daughter to be trifled with. Begone! go seek where there is confidence enough in your oaths; here now, with us, Alcesimarchus, you’ve renounced your title to our friendship.
Melaenis:Pol te aliquanto facilius,quam me meamque rem perire et ludificari filiam.alibi quaere ubi iuri iurando tuo satis sit subsidi:hic apud nós iam, Alcesimarche, confregisti tesseram.
ALCESIMARCHUS:Make trial of me but once.
Alcesimarchvs:Face semel periclum.
MELAENIS:I have made that trial full oft; which I lament has been so made.
Melaenis:Feci saepe, quod factum queror.
ALCESIMARCHUS:Give her back to me.
Alcesimarchvs:Redde mi illam.
MELAENIS:Under new circumstances I’ll use an old proverb: “What I have given, I wish I had not given; what’s left, that I shall not give.”
Melaenis:Inter novam rem verbum usurpabo vetus:quod dedi datum non vellem, quod relicuomst non dabo.
ALCESIMARCHUS:Won’t you restore her again to me?
Alcesimarchvs:Non remissura es mihi illam?
MELAENIS:Answer yourself for me.
Melaenis:Pro me responsas tibi.
ALCESIMARCHUS:You won’t restore her then?
Alcesimarchvs:Non remittes?
MELAENIS:You know the whole of my resolution already.
Melaenis:Scis iam dudum omnem meam sententiam.
ALCESIMARCHUS:Is that quite resolved upon by you in your heart?
Alcesimarchvs:Satin istuc tibi in corde certumst?
MELAENIS:Why, in fact, I’m thinking about something else;i’ faith, I don’t at present catch these words of yours with my ears.
Melaenis:Quin ego commentor quidem.
ALCESIMARCHUS:Not hear? Why, what are you doing?
Alcesimarchvs:Non edepol ⟨ego⟩ istaec tua dicta nunc in auris recipio.
MELAENIS:Then do you give heed at once, that you may know what you are doing.
Melaenis:Non? hem, quid agis igitur? animum advorte iam, ut quid agas scias.
ALCESIMARCHUS:Then, so may the Gods and Goddesses of above and below, and of middle rank, and so may Juno the queen and the daughter of supreme Jove, and so may Saturn his uncle—
Alcesimarchvs:At ita me di deaeque, superi atque inferi et medioxumi,itaque me Iuno regina et Iovis supremi filiaitaque me Saturnus eius patruos—
MELAENIS:I’ troth, his father—
Melaenis:Ecastor pater.
ALCESIMARCHUS:And so may Ops the opulent, his grandam—
Alcesimarchvs:Itaque me Ops opulenta illius avia—
MELAENIS:Indeed, his mother, rather.
Melaenis:Immo mater quidem.
ALCESIMARCHUS:Juno his daughter, and Saturn his uncle, supreme Jove—You are maddening me; it’s through you I make these mistakes.
Alcesimarchvs:Iuno filia et Saturnus patruos et summus Iuppiter—tu me delenis, propter te haec pecco.
MELAENIS:Go on saying so.
Melaenis:Perge dicere.
ALCESIMARCHUS:Is it that I’m to know what conclusion you are going to come to?
Alcesimarchvs:Anne etiam, ut quid consultura sis sciam, pérgis eloqui?
MELAENIS:Go on talking; I shall not send her back, that’s resolved upon.
Melaenis:Non remittam. definitumst.
ALCESIMARCHUS:Why then, so may Jupiter,and so may Juno and Saturn, to me, so may—I don’t know what to say—Now I know—Yes, madam, listen, that you may know my mind; may all the Deities, great and small, and those honored with the platter … cause me not surviving to give a kiss this day to Silenium, if I don’t this very day murder you and your daughter and myself,and after that, with the break of day, if I don’t to-morrow kill you both, and indeed, by all the powers, if at the third onset I don’t demolish you all, if you don’t send her back to me. I’ve said what I intended. Farewell.(Goes into his FATHER’S house.)
Alcesimarchvs:Enim vero ita me Iuppiteritaque me Iuno itaque Ianus ita—quid dicam nescio.iam scio. immo, mulier, audi, meam ut scias sententiam.di me omnes, magni minuti, ét etiam patellariifaxint, ne ego ⟨dem vivae⟩ vivos savium Selenio,nisi ego teque tuamque † filiam meque hodie obtruncavero,poste autem cum primo luci cras nisi ambo occidero,et equidem hercle nisi pedatu tertio † omnis efflixero,nisi tu illam remittis ad me. dixi quae volui. vale.—
MELAENIS: (to herself.)He’s gone in-doors in a rage. What shall I do now? If she comes back to him, matters will be just in the same position. When satiety begins to take possession;he’ll be turning her out of doors, when he shall be bringing home this Lemnian wife. But still I’ll go and follow him; there’s necessity for caution, lest he, in love, should be doing some mischief. In fine, since with strict justice a poor person’s not allowed to contend with a rich one, I’ll lose my labour rather than lose my daughter. But who’s this that straight along the street is directing his course this way?Both the other matter do I fear, and this do I dread; so utterly in trepidation am wretched I.(She stands aside.) (Enter LAMPADISCUS.)
Melaenis:Abiit intro iratus. quid ego nunc agam? si redieritilla ad hunc, ibidem loci res erit: ubi odium occeperit,illam extrudet, tum hanc uxorem Lemniam ducet domum.sed tamen ibo et persequar: amens ne quid faciat, cauto opust.postremo, quando aequa lege pauperi cum divitenon licet, perdam operam potius quam carebo filia.sed quis hic est qui recta platea cursum huc contendit suom?et illud paveo et hoc formido, ita tota sum misera in metu.
LAMPADISCUS: (to himself.)I’ve followed the old woman with my clamour through the streets; I’ve kept her most dreadfully plagued. In what a multitude of ways has she, this day, kept guard upon herself, and been able to remember nothing. How many alluring things, what advantages I’ve promised her.How many inventions I’ve applied to her, how many stratagems in questioning her. With difficulty have I extorted it from her that she should tell me, because I promised to give her a cask of wine.(Enter PHANOSTRATA, from her house.)
Lampadio:Anum sectatus sum clamore per vias,miserrumam habui. ut illaec hodie quot modismoderatrix ⟨linguae⟩ fuit atque immemorabilis.quot illí blanditias, quid illi promisi boni,quot admoenivi fabricas, quot fallaciasin quaestione. vix exculpsi ut diceret,quia ei promisi dolium vini dare.
PHANOSTRATA: (to herself.)I seemed just now to be hearing the voice of my servant Lampadiscus before the house.
Phanostrata:Audire vocem visa sum ante aedis modomei Lampadisci servi.
LAMPADISCUS: (stepping forward.)You are not deaf, mistress, you heard aright.
Lampadio:Non surda es, era:recte audivisti.
PHANOSTRATA:What are you doing here?
Phanostrata:Quid agis hic?
LAMPADISCUS:A thing for you to rejoice at.
Lampadio:Quod gaudeas.
PHANOSTRATA:What’s that?
Phanostrata:Quid id est?
LAMPADISCUS: (pointing to the house of SILENIUM.)A little while ago, I saw a woman coming out of that house there.
Lampadio:Hinc ex hisce aedibus paulo priusvidi exeuntem mulierem.
PHANOSTRATA:Her that took up my daughter?
Phanostrata:Illam quae meamgnatam sustulerat?
LAMPADISCUS:You have the matter rgiht.
Lampadio:Rem tenes.
PHANOSTRATA:What after that?
Phanostrata:Quid postea?
LAMPADISCUS:I told her in what way I had seen her take up the daughter of my mistress from the Hippodrome.Then she was in a fright.
Lampadio:Dico éi, quo pacto eam ab hippodromo viderimerilem nostram filiam sustollere.extimuit tum illa.
MELAENIS:(apart.) Now my body’s in a shudder, my heart is throbbing; for I recollect that from the Hippodrome the little female infant was brought to me, and that I brought it up as my own.
Melaenis:Iam horret corpus, cor salit.nam mihi ab hippodromo memini adferri parvolampuellam eamque me mihi supponere.
PHANOSTRATA:Come, prithee, do go on; my soul’s longing to hearhow the matter proceeded.
Phanostrata:Age perge, quaeso. ánimus audire expetitut gesta res sit.
MELAENIS:(apart.) I only wish you couldn’t hear.
Melaenis:Vtinam audire non queas.…
LAMPADISCUS:I proceed … saying, “This old woman calls you her daughter wrongfully. … For this woman here is your foster-mother, so don’t think she is your mother. I’m to take you back and invite you to opulence, where you may be settled in a noble family,”“where your father may present you with twenty great talents for a portion. For this is not a place where after the Etrurian mode you are disgracefully to earn a dowry for yourself by prostitution of your person.”
Lampadio:Pergo illa⟨m onerare⟩ dictis: “illaec ted anusfortu⟨nis ex secundis ad mi⟩seras vocat.nam illaec tibi nutrix est, ne matrem censeas.ego te reduco et revoco ad ⟨summas⟩ ditias,ubi tu locere in luculentam familiam,unde tíbi talenta magna viginti paterdet dotis; non enim hic, ubi ex Tusco modotute tibi indigne dotem quaeras corpore.”
PHANOSTRATA:Is she, pray, a Courtesan, who took it up?
Phanostrata:An, amabo, meretrix illa est quae illam sustulit?
LAMPADISCUS:Yes, she was a Courtesan. But how it happened, I’ll tell you about that matter. I was now winning her over to me by my persuasion. The old woman embraced her knees, weeping and entreating that she would not forsake her; saying that she was her own daughter; and she took a solemn oath to me that she herself had borne her.“Her,” said she, “whom you are in search of, I gave to a friend of mine to bring her up as her own daughter; and she is alive,” said she. “Where is she?” immediately said I.
Lampadio:Immo [meretrix] fuit; sed ut sit dé ea re, eloquar.iam perducebam illam ad me suadela mea:anus éi amplexa est genua, plorans, obsecrans,ne deserat se: eam suam esse filiam,seque eam peperisse sancte adiurabat mihi.“istanc quam quaeris” inquit “ego amicae meaededi, quae éducaret eam pro filiola sua;et vivit” inquit. “ubi ea est?” inquam extempulo.
PHANOSTRATA:Preserve me, ye Gods, I do entreat you.
Phanostrata:Servate di med obsecro.
MELAENIS: (apart.)But me you are undoing!
Melaenis:At me perditis.
PHANOSTRATA:You ought to have enquired to whom she gave it.
Phanostrata:Quoi illam dedisset exquisisse oportuit.
LAMPADISCUS:I did enquire, and she said to the Courtesan Melaenis.
Lampadio:Quaesivi, et dixit meretrici Melaenidi.
MELAENIS: (apart.)He has mentioned my name? I’m utterly undone!
Melaenis:Meum elocutust nomen, interii ⟨oppido⟩.
LAMPADISCUS:When she mentioned her, I straightway asked, “Where does she live?” said I; “take and show me.” “She has been carried off hence,” says she, “to live abroad.”
Lampadio:Vbi elocuta est, ego continuo [anum] interrogo;“ubi habitat?” inquam “duc ac demonstra mihi.”“avecta est” inquit “peregre hinc habitatum.”
MELAENIS:He’s sprinkling a little cold water now.
Melaenis:Obsipataculam.
LAMPADISCUS:“Wherever she has been carried off, thither we will follow. Do you trifle in this fashion? You are undone, if, i’ faith, you don’t disclose this.”I insisted to such a degree, that the old woman swore that she would soon inform me.
Lampadio:Quo avecta est, eo sequemur. sicineagis núgas? periisti hercle, ni …… ⟨non⟩ hoc longe destitiinstare, usque adeo donec se adiurat anusiam mihi monstrare.
PHANOSTRATA:But you oughtn’t to have let her go.
Phanostrata:Át non missam oportuit.
LAMPADISCUS:She’s all safe; but she said that she wished first to meet a certain woman, a friend of hers, with whom this was a matter of interest in common, and I’m sure she’ll come.
Lampadio:Servatur. sed illaec se quandam aibat mulieremsuam bene volentem convenire etiam prius,commune quacum id esset sibi negotium.et scio venturam.
MELAENIS: (apart.)She’ll be discovering me, and adding her own distress to mine.
Melaenis:Me indicabit, et suasad meas miserias † alias faciem consciam.
PHANOSTRATA:Make me acquainted what you now wish me to do.
Phanostrata:Quid nunc vis facere me?
LAMPADISCUS:Go in-doors, and be of good heart. If your husband shall come, bid him wait at home, lest he should be required by me, if I want him for anything. I’m going to run back to the old woman.
Lampadio:Intro abi atque animo bono es.vir tuos si veniet, iube domi opperirier,ne in quaestione mihi sit, si quid eum velim.ego ad ánum recurro rursum.
PHANOSTRATA:Lampadio, prithee, do take care.
Phanostrata:Lampadio, obsecro,cura.
LAMPADISCUS:I’ll have this matter well managed.
Lampadio:Perfectum ego hoc dabo negotium.
PHANOSTRATA:I trust in the Gods and in yourself.
Phanostrata:Deos téque spero.—
LAMPADISCUS:And I in the same.—that you’ll now go home.(PHANOSTRATA goes into her house.)
Lampadio:Eosdem ego, uti abeas domum.
MELAENIS: (coming forward.)Young man, stay and listen.
Melaenis:Adulescens, asta atque audi.
LAMPADISCUS:What, are you calling to me, woman?
Lampadio:Men, mulier, vocas?
MELAENIS:To you.
Melaenis:Te.
LAMPADISCUS:What’s the matter? For I’m fully engaged.
Lampadio:Quid negoti est? nam occupatus sum ampliter.
MELAENIS: (Pointing to the house of DEMIPHO.)Who lives there?
Melaenis:Quis istic habitat?
LAMPADISCUS:Demipho, my master.
Lampadio:Demipho dominus meus.
MELAENIS:It is he, I suppose, that has betrothed his daughter with such great wealth to Alcesimarchus?
Melaenis:Nempe istic est, qui Alcesimarcho filiamsuam despondit in divitias maxumas?
LAMPADISCUS:It is he himself.
Lampadio:Is ipsust.
MELAENIS:How now, you? What other daughter, then, are you people now in search of?
Melaenis:Eho tu, quam vos igitur filiamnunc quaeritatis alteram?
LAMPADISCUS:I’ll tell you; not his daughter by his wife, but his wife’s daughter.
Lampadio:Ego dicam tibi:non ex uxore natam uxoris filiam.
MELAENIS:What’s the meaning of that speech?
Melaenis:Quid istuc est verbi?
LAMPADISCUS:By a former woman, I say, my master had a daughter born.
Lampadio:Ex priore mulierenata, inquam, meo ero est filia.
MELAENIS:Surely, just now you said you were in search of the daughter of her who has been talking here.
Melaenis:Certe modohuius, quaé locuta est, quaerere aibas filiam.
LAMPADISCUS:Her daughter I am in search of.
Lampadio:Huius ergo quaero.
MELAENIS:In what way then, pray, is she a “former woman,” who is now his wife?
Melaenis:Quo modo igitur, obsecro,haec est prior, quae nupta nunc est?
LAMPADISCUS:Woman, whoever you are, you weary me with your prating.
Lampadio:Conteristu tua me oratione, mulier, quisquis es.
The middle woman whom he had for a wife, of her this maiden was born that’s being given to Alcesimarchus. That wife is dead. Do you understand now?MELAENIS:I understand that quite well; but it’s this knotty point I’m enquiring about, howthe first can be the last, the last be the first.
medioxumam quam duxit uxorem, ex eanata est haec virgo, Alcesimarcho quae datur.ea uxór diem obiit. iam scis?Melaenis:Teneo istuc satis.sed ego illud quaero confragosum, quo modoprior pósterior sit et posterior sit prior?
LAMPADISCUS:The fact is this; this woman he ravished before he took her home as his wife; before that she was pregnant, and before that she gave birth to a daughter: after she gave birth to her, she ordered the infant to be exposed; I myself exposed her; another woman took her away;I was on the look-out; after that, my master married her. That girl, her daughter, we are now in search of. (MELAENIS turns aside her head.) Why now, with face upturned, are you looking up towards the heavens?
Lampadio:Prius hanc compressit quam uxorem duxit domum,prius grávida facta est priusque peperit filiam;eam póstquam peperit, iussit parvam proici:ego eam proieci, ália mulier sustulit,ego inspectavi. érus hanc duxit postibi.eam núnc puellam filiam eius quaerimus.quid nunc supina susum in caelum conspicis?
MELAENIS:Now, then, be off at once whither you were hastening; I won’t detain you; I understand it now.
Melaenis:Ei nunciam istuc quo properabas, nil moror.nunc intellexi.
LAMPADISCUS:I’ troth, to the Deities I do give thanks;for if you hadn’t understood me, I do think you would never have let me go.(Exit.)
Lampadio:Dis hercle habeo gratiam,nam ni intellexes, numquam, credo, amitteres.—
MELAENIS: (to herself.)Now it’s necessary for me to be honest, whether I will or no, although I had rather not; I find the thing is discovered. Now will I myself lay them under an obligation to me, rather than she shall peach upon me. I’ll go home,and I’ll bring Silenium to her parents.(Exit.) (Enter MELAenis, SILENIUM, and HALISCA.)
Melaenis:Nunc mihi bonae necessumst esse ingratiis,quamquam esse nolo. rem palam esse intellego:nunc egomet potius hanc inibo gratiamab illis, quam illaec me indicet. ibo domum,atque ad parentes redducam Selenium.—
MELAENIS:I’ve disclosed the whole matter to you; follow, my Silenium, that you may rather belong to those to whom you ought to belong, than be mine. Although against my will I shall part with you, still I’ll reconcile my mind to consult that which in especial conduces to your benefit. (Giving her a casket.)
Melaenis:Rem élocuta sum tibi omnem; sequere hac me, Selenium,ut eorum quoiam esse oportet te sis potius quam mea.quamquam invita te carebo, ánimum ego inducam tamenut illud quem ⟨ad modum⟩ tuam in rem bene conducat consulam.
For here in this are the trinkets, together with which she who gave you to me formerly brought you to me; that your parents may recognize you the more easily. Take this casket, Halisca, and then go and knock at that door (pointing to the house of DEMIPHO): say that I request that some one will come from within. Make haste, quickly.ALCESIMARCHUS: (Enter ALCESIMARCHUS, from his FATHER’S house, with his sword drawn.) (calling aloud.)
nam hic crepundia insunt, quibuscum te illa olim ad me detulit,quae mihí dedit, parentes te ut cognoscant facilius.accipe hanc cistellam, Halisca. ágedum pulta illas fores.dic me orare ut aliquis intus prodeat propere ocius.
Death, receive me unto thyself, a friend and well-wisher to me!SILENIUM:My mother, to our sorrow, we are undone!
Alcesimarchvs:Recipe me ad te, Mors, amicum et benevolum.Selenivm:Mater mea,periimus miseraé.
ALCESIMARCHUS: (aloud, to himself.)Whether shall I pierce my side here (striking his right side) or on the left.MELAENIS: (to SILENIUM.)
Alcesimarchvs:Vtrum hac me feriam an ab laeva latus?
What’s the matter with you?SILENIUM: (pointing.)Don’t you see Alcesimarchus? He’s grasping a sword.ALCESIMARCHUS: (aloud, in a frantic manner.)
Melaenis:Quid tibi est?Selenivm:Alcesimarchum non vides? ferrum tenet.
What art about? Thou art delaying. Quit the light of day.SILENIUM:Do run and aid him, pray, that he mayn’t kill himself.(They run to assist him, on which HALISCA drops the casket.)
Alcesimarchvs:Ecquid agis? remorare. lumen linque.Selenivm:Amabo, accurrite,ne se interemat.
ALCESIMARCHUS:O Safety more healthful than my own safety, you now, whether I wish or don’t wish, alone do cause me to live.
Alcesimarchvs:O Salute méa salus salubrior,tu nunc, si ego volo seu nolo, sola me ut vivam facis.
MELAENIS:Fie on it! Were you ready to commit such violence?
Melaenis:Haud voluisti istuc severum facere.
ALCESIMARCHUS:I’ve nought to do with you—to you I’m dead. (Clasping SILENIUM in his arms.) Her, as I hold her, I’m determined not to lose. For, by heaven, I am resolved henceforth to have her entirely rivetted fast unto me. (Goes to the door of the house, and calls.) Where are you, servants? Shut the door with bolts, with bars,when I shall have carried her within the threshold!(He carries SILENIUM into the house, followed by HALISCA.)
Alcesimarchvs:Nil mecum tibi,mortuos tibi sum: hanc ut habeo certum est non amittere;nam hercle iam ad me adglutinandam totam decretum est dare.ubi estis, servi? occludite aedis pessulis, repagulisilico: hanc ego tetulero intra limen.—
MELAENIS: (exclaiming, while wringing her hands.)He’s gone off: he has carried the damsel away. I’ll go—I’ll at once follow him in-doors, that he may know of me these same things, if from being angered with me I can render him pleased.(Goes into the house.) (Enter LAMPADISCUS.)
Melaenis:Abiit, abstulitmulierem. ibo, persequar iam illum intro, ut haec ex me sciatéadem, si possum tranquillum facere ex irato mihi.
LAMPADISCUS:I do believe I never saw a more tormenting old nag than this is. What she just now confessed to me, is she to be denying it?
Lampadio:Nullam ego me vidisse credo magis anum excruciabilemquam illaec est, quae dudum fassa est mihi quaene infitias eat.
But look, I see my mistress. Why (seeing the casket on the ground), how’s this, that this casket is lying here with these trinkets, and that I see no other person in the street? I must act the child’s part; I’ll stoop to pick up the casket.(Picks it up.)PHANOSTRATA: (from her house.)
sed eccam eram video. sed quíd hoc est, haec quod cistella hic iacetcum crepundiis? nec quemquam conspicor alium in via.faciundum est puerile officium: conquiniscam ad cistulam.
What are you about, Lampadio?LAMPADISCUS: (giving the casket to PHANOSTRATA.)Is this casket from out of our house here, I wonder. For I picked it up, lying here near the door.
Phanostrata:Quid agis, Lampadio?Lampadio:Haec cistella numnam hinc ab nobis domo est?nam hinc ab ostio iacentem sustuli.
PHANOSTRATA:What news do you bring about the old woman?
Phanostrata:Quid nuntiassuper anu?
LAMPADISCUS:That there’s not one other on earth more wicked. She denies all those things which she just now confessed to me. But, i’ faith, for me to allow that old jade to be laughing at me, it’s preferable for me to die by any kind of death.
Lampadio:Scelestiorem in terra nullam esse alteram.omnia infitiatur ea quae dudum confessa est mihi.nam hercle ego ⟨quam⟩ illam anum inridere me ut sinam, satiust mihiquovis exitio interire.
PHANOSTRATA:Ye Gods, I do adjure you by our trust in you!(Opening the casket.)
Phanostrata:Di, obsecro vostram fidem.
LAMPADISCUS:Why do you call upon the Gods?
Lampadio:Quid deos obsecras?
PHANOSTRATA:Save us!
Phanostrata:Servate nos.
LAMPADISCUS:What’s the matter?
Lampadio:Quid est?
PHANOSTRATA:These are the trinkets with which you exposed my little daughter to death.
Phanostrata:Crepundiahaec sunt, quibuscum tu extulisti nostram filiolam ad necem.
LAMPADISCUS:Are you in your senses?
Lampadio:Sanane es?
PHANOSTRATA:These certainly are.
Phanostrata:Haec sunt profecto.
LAMPADISCUS:Do you persist?
Lampadio:Pergin?
PHANOSTRATA:These are they.
Phanostrata:Haec sunt.
LAMPADISCUS:If any other woman were to speak to me after that fashion, I should say she was drunk.
Lampadio:Si mihialia mulier istoc pacto dicat, dicam esse ebriam.
PHANOSTRATA:By heaven! I’m talking no nonsense.But prithee, whence in the world did these come, or what Deity placed this before our door? As thoughfor a given purpose, at the very instantsacred Hope comes to my aid?(Enter HALISCA, at a distance, from the house of the FATHER of ALCESIMARCHUS.)HALISCA: (to herself.)
Phanostrata:Non ecastor falsa memoro.Lampadio:Nam, obsecro, unde haec gentium?aut quis deus obiecit hanc ante ostium nostrum, quasidedita opera, in tempore ipso?Phanostrata:Spes mihi sancta subveni.
Unless the Gods give me some aid, I’m utterly undone; nor do I know whence I am to seek for aid. To such a degree does carelessness possess wretched me in mind, which I sadly fear may be lighting upon my own back, if my mistress knows that I’m so negligent as I really am.
Halisca:Nisi quíd mi opis di dant, dísperii, neque unde aúxilium expetam hábeo.itaque † petulantia mea me animi miseram habet.quae in térgum meúm ne veniánt, male formído,si era méa ⟨me⟩ sciát tam socórdem esse quám sum.
The casket which I took and held in my hands here before the door, where it is I know not; except, as I fancy, it was dropt by me about this spot. (Looks about on the ground.) My good sirs (to the AUDIENCE), my kind Spectators, do give me information if any one has seen it, if any one has taken it away, or any one picked it up; and whether in this direction or that he has taken his departure?(She pauses for a reply.)
quamne ín manibus ténui atque accépi hic ante aédiscistéllam, ubi ea sít nesció, nisi ut opínorloca haec circiter excidit mihi.mei hómines, mei spectátores, facite índicium, si quís vidit,quis eam ábstulerit quisve sústulerit et utrum hác an illac iter ínstiterit.
I’m none the wiser for asking these persons, or for worrying them, who are always delighted at a woman’s mishaps. Now I’ll mark if there are any footsteps here; for if no one had passed this way since I went in-doors, the casket would be lying here. Why say “here?” It’s lost, I guess;
non súm scitiór, quae hos rogem aút quae fatígem,qui sémper maló muliebrí sunt lubéntes.nunc véstigia híc si qua súnt noscitábo.nam sí nemo hac praéter iít, postquam intro ábii,cistélla hic iacéret. quid híc? perii, opínor.
it’s done for. It’s all over with unhappy and unlucky me! It’s nowhere, and nowhere am I. This, by its loss, has proved my loss. But still, as I’ve begun, I’ll e’en go on; I’ll make search; for both within do I fear, and without I am afraid; so much, on either side, does fear agitate me now. In this are mortals intensely wretched.
actum ést, ilicét me infelícem et sceléstam.nulla ést, neque ego sum úsquam. perdíta perdidít me.sed pérgam ut coépi tamén, quaeritábo.nam et intús paveo et foris fórmido,ita núnc utrubique metús me agitat.ita súnt homines miseré miseri:
He is now joyous, whoever he is, that has found it, which is of no use at all to any person else; to myself it may be. But I cause delay to myself, while I’m doing this with remissness. Halisca, attend to what you are about: look down upon the ground, and look round about; search with your eyes; guess with shrewdness.LAMPADISCUS: (apart, at a distance.)
ílle nunc laétus est, quísquis est, qui íllam habet,quaé neque illa ílli quicquam úsui et mi exítio est.sed mémet morór, quom hoc agó setius.Halísca, hoc age, ad térram aspice ét despice,oculís investíges, astúte augura.
Mistress!PHANOSTRATA: (apart.)Well, what’s the matter?
Lampadio:Era.Phanostrata:Hém quid est?
LAMPADISCUS: (apart.)That’s she.(Pointing at HALISCA.)
Lampadio:Haec ést.
PHANOSTRATA: (apart.)Who?
Phanostrata:Quis est?
LAMPADISCUS: (apart.)She who let fall the casket.
Lampadio:Quoi haec éxcidit cistélla.
Why surely she’s tracing out that spot where it fell.PHANOSTRATA: (apart.)It seems so.HALISCA: (to herself, looking on the ground.)
Phanostrata:Certe est, eum locum signat, ubí ea excidit: apparet.
But that person has gone this way; this way I perceive the imprint of his shoe; this way I’ll follow him. (She moves along, still looking on the ground.) In this spot now has he stopped, along with another person. Here now a circle presents itself to my sight,nor did he go straight forward this way; here he came to a pause. This way did he come out of that circle. Here was a conference with some one. It points to two persons now. Who are these? Heyday I see the footsteps of only one. But he has gone this way. I’ll consider it: hither he went from thence; from hence he has never gone.
Halisca:Sed is hác iit, hac soccí videovestígium in pulvere, pérsequar hac.in hoc iám loco cum altero cónstitit. hicmeis túrba oculis modo se óbiecit:neque prórsum iit hac: hic stétit, hinc illoexiít. hic conciliúm fuit.ad duós attinet, liquidúmst. attat,singulúm video vestígium.sed is hác abiit. contémplabor. hinc húc iit, hinc nusquam ábiit.
I’m troubling myself to no purpose. What’s lost is lost; my hide along with the casket. I’ll go in-doors again.(Going towards the house of the FATHER of ALCESIMARCHUS.)PHANOSTRATA: (calling out.)Hallo, woman-stop; there are some persons who wish to meet with you.
actám rem ago. quod periít, periit: meum córium ⟨cum⟩ cistélla.redeo íntro.Phanostrata:Muliér, mane. sunt quí volunt té conventam.
HALISCA:Who’s calling me back?
Halisca:Quis mé revocat?
LAMPADISCUS:A good female and a bad male want you.
Lampadio:Bona femina et malus masculus volunt te.
HALISCA:Away with you, bad male; I want a good one. (To herself.) After all, he who calls knows better what he wants than I who am called; I’ll return. (Aloud.) Prithee, have you seen any person hereabouts pick up a casket with some trinkets, which I, to my misfortune, have lost here?
Halisca:… postremo illeplus qui vocat scit quod velit, quam ego quae vocor. revortor.[ecquem vidisti † quaerere hic, amabo, in hac regione]cistellam cum crepundiis, quam ego hic amisi misera?
For when, just now, we were running into the house of Alcesimarchus, that he mightn’t put an end to his life, at that moment I think that, through terror, the casket fell down from me here.LAMPADISCUS: (aside to PHANOSTRATA.)
nam dudum ut accucurrimus ad Alcésimarchum, ne sevita interemeret, tum ⟨éam mihi op⟩inor excidisse.
This woman’s to our purpose; let’s then give heed to her a little, mistress.
Lampadio:Cistellam haec mulier ⟨perdidit. tace⟩amus, era, parumper.
HALISCA:To my sorrow, I’m utterly undone. What shall I say to my mistress, who bade me with such earnestness take care of it, through which Silenium might the more readily recognize her parents—who, when little, was adopted by my mistress as her own,and whom a certain Courtesan gave to her?
Halisca:Disperii misera. quid ego erae dicam? quae me opere tantoservare iussit, qui suos Selenium parentesfacilius posset noscere, quae erae [meae] supposita est parva,quam quaedam meretríx ei dedit.
LAMPADISCUS:(aside.) She’s talking about this matter of ours. According as she gives these indications by her talk, she must surely know where your daughter is.
Lampadio:Nostram haec rem fabulatur,hanc scire oportet, filia tua ubí sit, signa ut dicit.
HALISCA:Now is she desirous of her own accord to restore her to her father and mother, whose daughter she is; prithee, my good sir, you are attending to something else; I commend my matter to you.
Halisca:Nunc eam volt suae matri et patri, quibus nata est, reddere ultro.mi homo, obsecro, alias res geris, ego tibi meas res mando.
LAMPADISCUS:I’m giving my attention to this, and this is as good as food to me, that you are talking of; but amid my attending to this matter, I was answering this mistress of mine what she was enquiring; now I return to you. If you have need of anything, say you, and give your orders. What were you looking, for?
Lampadio:Istuc ago, atque istic mihi cibus est, quod fabulare,sed inter rém agendam istam erae huic respondi quod rogabat.[nunc ad te redeo: si quid est opus, dic, impetratumst.]quid quaeritabas?
HALISCA:My good sir and my good madam, I greet you.
Halisca:Mí homo et mea mulier, vos saluto.
PHANOSTRATA:And we you. But what are you looking for?
Phanostrata:Et nos te. sed quid quaeritas?
HALISCA:I’m tracing footsteps here,the way that something has escaped me here, I don’t know how.PHANOSTRATA:What is it?
Halisca:Vestigium hic requiro,qua aufugit quaedam … aestio …
LAMPADISCUS:What is it, pray?
Lampadio:Quid id? quid nam est?
HALISCA:Something to bring a loss to another, and a calamity on our family.LAMPADISCUS: (aside to PHANOSTRATA.)
Halisca:Alienum … et maerorem familiarem.
A worthless baggage is this, mistress, and a crafty one.PHANOSTRATA: (aside.)I’ faith, and so she seems.LAMPADISCUS: (aside.)
Lampadio:Mala mers, era, haec et callida est.Phanostrata:Ecastor ita videtur.
She imitates a worthless animal and a mischievous.PHANOSTRATA: (aside.)Which one, prithee?LAMPADISCUS: (aside.)
Lampadio:Imitatur nequam bestiam et damnificam.Phanostrata:Quamnam, amabo?
A caterpillar, which twisting about winds itself in the leaf of the vine;
Lampadio:Involvolum, quae in pampini folio intorta implicat se:
just in the same way does she begin a story that twists about. (To HALISCA.) What are you looking for?HALISCA:A casket, my good young man, has flown away from me here.
itidem haec exorditur sibi intortam orationem.quid quaeritas?Halisca:Cistellula hinc mi, adulescens, evolavit.
LAMPADISCUS:You ought to have put it in a cage.
Lampadio:In caveam latam oportuit.
HALISCA:I’ faith, the booty was no great one.
Halisca:Non edepol praeda magna.
LAMPADISCUS:It’s a wonder, if a whole troop of slaves isn’t there in the casket.
Lampadio:Mirum quin grex venalium in cistella infuerit una.
PHANOSTRATA:Do let her speak.
Phanostrata:Sine dicat.
LAMPADISCUS:If indeed she would speak.
Lampadio:Si dicat quidem.
PHANOSTRATA: (to HALISCA.)Come say you, what was in it?
Phanostrata:Age lóquere [tu] quid ibi infuerit.
HALISCA:Trinkets only.
Halisca:Crepundia una.
LAMPADISCUS:There’s a certain man, who declares that he knows where it is.
Lampadio:Est quidam homo, qui illam ait se scire ubi sit.
HALISCA:But, by my faith, he’ll confer an obligation on a certain woman if he’ll discover it.
at pol ille a quadam muliere, si eam monstret, gratiam ineat.
LAMPADISCUS:But this certain man wishes a reward to be given to him.
Lampadio:At sibi ille quidam volt dari mercedem.
HALISCA:But, by my faith, this certain woman, that has lost this casket, declares that she has nothing to give to this certain man.
Halisca:At pol illa quaedam,quae illam cistellam perdidit, quoidam negat esse quod det.
LAMPADISCUS:But still this certain man looks for some money.HALISCA:But still he looks for it in vain.
Lampadio:At enim ille quidam o⟨peram bonam magis⟩ expetit quam argentum.
LAMPADISCUS:But, by my faith, good woman, in no matter does this certain man give his pains for nothing.
Halisca:At pol illi quoidam mulieri nulla opera gratuita est.
PHANOSTRATA:Lend me your conversation: it will now be for your own advantage. We confess that we have got the casket.
Phanostrata:Commodule quaedam. tu tibi nunc prodes. confitemurcistellam habere.
HALISCA:Then may Salvation preserve you; where is it now?PHANOSTRATA: (producing the casket.)
Halisca:At vos Salus servassit. ubi ea nunc est?
See, here it is, safe. But I wish to discourse with you upon a matter of importance to myself; I take you as a sharer with me in my own preservation.
Phanostrata:Salvam eccam. sed ego rem meam magnam confabularitecum volo: sóciam te mihi adopto ad meam salutem.
HALISCA:What matter is this, or who are you?
Halisca:Quid istúc negoti est? aut quis es?
PHANOSTRATA:I am the mother of her who had these things with her, when exposed.
Phanostrata:Egó sum illius mater,quae haec gestitavit.
HALISCA:Do you live here then?(Pointing to the house.)
Halisca:Hicine tu ergo habitas?
PHANOSTRATA:You are a diviner. But, prithee, good woman, do lay aside all mystification, and to the point; tell me at once, whence did you get these trinkets?
Phanostrata:Hariolare.sed quaéso, ambages, mulier, mitte atque hoc age.eloquere, unde haec sunt tibi, cito, crepundia.
HALISCA:This daughter of my mistress had them.
Halisca:Mea haec erilis gestitavit filia.
LAMPADISCUS:You tell a falsehood; for my own mistress’s daughter had them, not yours.
Lampadio:Mentiris, nam mea gestitavit, non tua.
PHANOSTRATA:Don’t interrupt.
Phanostrata:Ne obloquere.
LAMPADISCUS:I’ll be mum.
Lampadio:Taceo.
PHANOSTRATA:Good woman, go on speaking. Where is she who had them?
Phanostrata:Mulier, perge dicere.ubi ea est, quae gestitavit?
HALISCA: (pointing to the house of ALCESIMARCHUS.)Here, next door.
Halisca:Hic in proximo.
PHANOSTRATA:By the powers, surely the son-in-law of my husband is living there.LAMPADISCUS:Surely—
Phanostrata:Istic quidem edepol mei virí habitat gener.…
PHANOSTRATA: (to LAMPADISCUS.)Interrupting again? (To HALISCA.) Go on relating it. How many years old is she said to be?
Phanostrata:Ne obloquere rusus. perge porro dicere.quot annos nata dicitur?
HALISCA:Seventeen.
Halisca:Septemdecim.
PHANOSTRATA:She is my own daughter then!LAMPADISCUS:’Tis she, as the number of her years has proved.
Phanostrata:Mea est.Lampadio:East: u⟨… numer⟩us annorum attulit.
HALISCA:What you are seeking, you have found; I now seek what’s mine.
Halisca:Quid qua ⟨tibi causa haec dixi?⟩ iam quaero meam.
LAMPADISCUS:Why, faith, they’ve found what’s their own, I’ll seek for number three.
Lampadio:At po⟨l ego … ⟩ sunt, quaero tertiam.
PHANOSTRATA:My daughter, the object which I was seeking, I have discovered.
Phanostrata:Quod quaeritabam, filiam inveni meam.
HALISCA:It’s proper to keep in safety what has been entrusted in confidence, lest a kindness should turn out a detriment to the well-deserving. This fosterling of ours is assuredly your daughter,and my mistress is about to restore you your own, and for that purpose has she come from her house. But, prithee,enquire of her own self; I am but a servant.
Halisca:Aequom est ⟨reponi⟩ per fidem quod creditum est,ne bene merenti sit malo benignitas.nostra haec alumna est, tua profecto filia:…et redditura est tuam tibi, et ea gratiadomo profecta est. ceterum ex ipsa, obsecro,exquaeritote: ego serva sum.
PHANOSTRATA:You ask what’s just.
Phanostrata:Aequom postulas.
HALISCA:To her rather do I choose this obligation to belong. But I beg that you’ll restore me that casket.
Halisca:Illius égo istanc esse malo gratiam.sed istánc cistellam te opsecro ut reddas mihi.
PHANOSTRATA:What’s to be done, Lampadio?
Phanostrata:Quid fit, Lampadio?
LAMPADISCUS:What’s your own, keep as your own.
Lampadio:Quod tuom est teneas tuom.
PHANOSTRATA:But I feel compassion for her.
Phanostrata:At me huius miseret.
LAMPADISCUS:This I think ought to be done;
Lampadio:Sic faciundum censeo:
give her the casket, and go in-doors together with her.
da isti cistellam et intro abi cum istac semul.
PHANOSTRATA:I’ll follow your advice. (Giving it to HALISCA.) Take you the casket. Let’s go in-doors. But what’s the name of your mistress?HALISCA:Melaenis.
Phanostrata:Tibi auscultabo. tene tu cistellam tibi,abeamus intro. sed quid ⟨est⟩ nomen tuaedominae?Halisca:Melaenis.
PHANOSTRATA:Go first; I’ll follow you at once.(Exit LAMPADISCUS, and the others go into the house of the FATHER of ALCESIMARCHUS.) (Enter DEMIPHO.)
Phanostrata:I prae, iám ego te sequar.—
DEMIPHO:What affair is this, that all persons are talking about in the street—that my daughter has been found? They say, too, that Lampadio has been seeking me in the Forum.(Enter LAMPADISCUS.)
Demipho:Quíd hoc negoti est, quód omnes homines fabulantur per viasmihi esse filiam inventam? et Lampadionem me in foroquaesivisse aiunt.
LAMPADISCUS:Master, whence come you?
Lampadio:Ere, unde is?
DEMIPHO:From the Senate.
Demipho:Ex senatu.
LAMPADISCUS:I rejoice that through my means there is an addition to your children.
Lampadio:Gaudeotibi mea opera liberorum esse amplius.
DEMIPHO:But it don’t please me; I don’t want that I should be having more children by means of another person. But what is the meaning of this?
Demipho:Enim non placet.nil moror aliena mi opera fieri pluris liberos.sed quid istúc est?
LAMPADISCUS: (pointing to the house of the FATHER of ALCESIMARCHUS.)Make haste, and go in-doors here to the house of your neighbour; you’ll at once recognize your daughter. Your wife’s in-doors there as well. Go quickly.
Lampadio:Propera ire intro húc ad adfinem tuom,filiam tuam iám cognosces intus. íbidem uxor tua est.abi cito.
DEMIPHO:I’m resolved that this shall, before all other matters, be attended to.(They go into the house of the FATHER of ALCESIMARCHUS.)The Company of COMEDIANS:Don’t you wait, Spectators, till they come out to you; no one will come out; they’ll all finish the business indoors; when that shall be done, they’ll lay aside their dress; then, after that,he that has done amiss will get a beating; he that has not done amiss will get some drink. Now as to what’s left, Spectators, for you to do, after the manner of your ancestors, give your applause at the conclusion of the Play.
Demipho:Praevorti hoc certumst rebus aliis omnibus.—Caterva:Ne exspectetis, spectatores, dum illi huc ad vos exeant:nemo exibit, omnes intus conficient negotium.ubi id erit factum, ornamenta ponent; postidea lociqui deliquit vapulabit, qui non deliquit bibet.nunc quod ad vos, spectatores, relicuom relinquitur,more maiorum date plausum postrema in comoedia.