Prologus:In the first place now, Spectators, at the commencement, do I wish health and happiness to myself and to you. I bring you Plautus, with my tongue, not with my hand: I beg that you will receive him with favouring ears.
PROLOGVS:Salutem primum iam a principio propitiammihi atque vobis, spectatores, nuntio.apporto vobis Plautum, lingua non manu,quaeso ut benignis accipiatis auribus.
Now learn the argument, and give your attention; in as few words as possible will I be brief.And, in fact, this subject is a Greek one; still, it is not an Attic, but a Sicilian one.
nunc argumentum accipite atque animum advortite;quam potero in verba conferam paucissuma.
But in their Comedies the poets do this; they feign that all the business takes place at Athens, in order that it may appear the more Grecian to you.
atque hoc poetae faciunt in comoediis:omnis res gestas esse Athenis autumant,quo íllud vobis graecum videatur magis;
I will not tell you that this matter happened anywhere except where it is said to have happened.
ego nusquam dicam nisi ubi factum dicitur.atque adeo hoc argumentum graecissat, tamennon atticissat, verum sicilicissitat.
This has been my preface to the subject of this play. Now will I give the subject, meted out to you,not in a measure, nor yet in a threefold measure, but in the granary itself; so great is my heartiness in telling you the plot.
huic argumento antelogium hoc fuit;nunc argumentum vobis demensum dabo,non modio, neque trimodio, verum ipso horreo:tantum ad narrandum argumentum ádest benignitas.
There was a certain aged man, a merchant at Syracuse; to him two sons were born, twins, children so like in appearance that their own foster-mother,who gave the breast, was not able to distinguish them, nor even the mother herself who had given them birth; as a person, indeed, informed me who had seen the children; I never saw them, let no one of you fancy so. After the children were now seven years old, the fatherfreighted a large ship with much merchandize. The father put one of the twins on board the ship, and took him away, together with himself, to traffic at Tarentum; the other one he left with his mother at home. By accident, there were games at Tarentum when he came there:
mercator quidam fuit Syracusis senex,eí sunt nati filii gemini duo,ita forma simili pueri, út mater suanon internosse posset quae mammam dabat,neque adeo mater ipsa quae illos pepererat,ut quidem ille dixit mihi, qui pueros viderat:ego illós non vidi, ne quis vostrum censeat.postquam iam pueri septuennes sunt, pateroneravit navem magnam multis mercibus;imponit geminum álterum in navem pater,Tarentum avexit secum ad mercatum simul,illum reliquit alterum ápud matrem domi.Tarenti ludi forte erant, cum illuc venit.
many persons, as generally happens at the games, had met together; the child strayed away there from his father among the people. A certain merchant of Epidamnus was there; he picked up the child, and carried it away to Epidamnus. But its father, after he had lost the child,took it heavily to heart, and through grief at it he died a few days after at Tarentum. Now, after news reached the grandfather of the children at home about this matter, how that one of the children had been stolen,the grandfather changed the name of that other twin. So much did he love that one which had been stolen, that he gave his name to the one that was at home. That you may not mistake hereafter, I tell you then this beforehand; the name of both the twin-brothers is the same. He gave the same name of Menaechmus to this one as the other had; and by the same name the grandfather himself was called.I remember his name the more easily for the reason that I saw him cried with much noise.
mortales multi, ut ad ludos, convenerant:puér aberravit inter homines a patre.Epidamniensis quidam ibi mercator fuit,is puerum tollit avehitque Epidamnium.pater eius autem postquam puerum perdidit,animum despondit, eaque is aegritudinepaucis diebus post Tarenti emortuost.postquam Syracusas de ea re rediit nuntiusad avom puerorum, puerum surruptum alterumpatremque pueri Tarenti esse emortuom,immutat nomen avos huic gemino alteri;ita illum dilexit, qui subruptust, alterum:illius nomen indit illi qui domi est,Menaechmo, idem quod alteri nomen fuit;et ipsus eodem est avos vocatus nomine(propterea illius nomen memini facilius,quia illúm clamore vidi flagitarier).ne mox erretis, iam nunc praedico prius:idem est ambobus nomen geminis fratribus.
Now must I speed back on foot to Epidamnus,that I may exactly disclose this matter to you. If any one of you wishes anything to be transacted for him at Epidamnus, command me boldly and speak out; but on these terms, that he give me the means by which it may be transacted for him. For unless a person gives the money, he will be mistaken;
nunc in Epidamnum pedibus redeundum est mihi,ut hanc rem vobis examussim disputem.si quis quid vestrum Epidamnum curari sibivelit, audacter imperato et dicito,sed ita ut det unde curari id possit sibi.nam nisi qui argentum dederit, nugas egerit;
(in a lower tone) except that he who does give it will be very much more mistaken. But I have returned to that place whence I set forth, and yet I am standing in the self-same spot. This person of Epidamnus, whom I mentioned just now, that stole that other twin child, had no children, except his wealth.
qui dederit, magis maiores nugas egerit.verum illuc redeo unde abii, atque uno asto in loco.Epidamniensis ille, quem dúdum dixeram,geminum illum puerum qui surrupuit alterum,ei liberorum, nisi divitiae, nil erat:
He adopted as his son the child so carried off, and gave him a well-portioned wife, and made him his heir when he himself died. For as, by chance, he was going into the country, when it had rained heavily, entering, not far from the city, a rapid stream,in its rapidity it threw the ravisher of the child off his legs; and hurried the man away to great and grievous destruction. And so a very large fortune fell to that youth. Here (pointing to the house) does the stolen twin now dwell. Now that twin, who dwells at Syracuse,has come this day to Epidamnus with his servant to make enquiry for this own twin-brother of his. This is the city of Epidamnus while this play is acting; when another shall be acted, it will become another town; just as our companies, too, are wont to be shifted about.
adoptat illum puerum surrupticiumsibi filium eique uxorem dotatam dedit,eumque heredem fecit, quom ipse obiit diem.nam rus ut ibat forte, ut multum pluerat,ingressus fluvium rapidum ab urbe haud longule,rapidus raptori pueri subduxit pedesabstraxitque hominem in maximam malam crucem.illi divitiae evenerunt maximae.is illic habitat geminus surrupticius.nunc ille geminus, qui Syracusis habet,hodie in Epidamnum veniet cum servo suohunc quaeritatum geminum germanum suom.haec urbs Epidamnus est, dum haec agitur fabula:quando alia agetur, aliud fiet oppidum;sicut familiae quoque solent mutarier:
The same person now acts the procurer, now the youth, now the old man, the pauper, the beggar, the king, the parasite, the soothsayer …(Enter PENICULUS.)PENICULUS:The young men have given me the name of Peniculus, for this reason, because when I eat, I wipe the tables clean. … The persons who bind captives with chains,and who put fetters upon runaway slaves, act very foolishly, in my opinion at least. For if bad usage is added to his misfortune for a wretched man, the greater is his inclination to run away and to do amiss. For by some means or other do they release themselves from the chains;
modo †ni caditat leno, modo adulescens, modo senex,pauper, mendicus, rex, parasitus, hariolus…Penicvlvs:Iuventus nomen fecit Peniculo mihi,ideo quia mensam, quando edo, detergeo.homines captivos qui catenis vinciuntet qui fugitivis servis indunt compedes,nimis stúlte faciunt mea quidem sententia.nam homini misero si ad malum accedit malum,maior lubido est fugere et facere nequiter.nam se ex catenis eximunt aliquo modo.
while thus fettered, they either wear away a link with a file, or else with a stone they knock out the nail;’tis a mere trifle this. He whom you wish to keep securely that he may not run away, with meat and with drink ought he to be chained; do you bind down the mouth of a man to a full table.
tum compediti ánum lima praeteruntaut lapide excutiunt clavom. nugae sunt eae.quem tu adservare recte, ne aufugiat, voles,esca atque potione vinciri decet.apud ménsam plenam homini rostrum deliges;
So long as you give him what to eat and what to drink at his own pleasure in abundance every day, i’ faith he’ll never run away, even if he has committed an offence that’s capital; easily will you secure him so long as you shall bind him with such chains. So very supple are these chains of food,the more you stretch them so much the more tightly do they bind. But now I’m going directly to Menaechmus; whither for this long time I have been sentenced, thither of my own accord I am going, that he may enchain me. For, by my troth, this man does not nourish persons, but he quite rears and reinvigorates them; no one administers medicine more agreably.
dum tu illi quod edit et quod potet praebeas,suo arbitratu ádfatim cottidie,numquam edepol fugiet, tam etsi capital fecerit,facile adservabis, dúm eo vinclo vincies.ita istaéc nimis lenta vincla sunt escaria:quam magis extendas, tanto adstringunt artius.nam ego ad Menaechmum húnc eo, quo iam diusum iudicatus; ultro eo ut me vinciat.nam illic homo homines non alit, verum educat,recreatque: nullus melius medicinam facit.
Such is this young man; himself with a very well-stocked larder, he gives dinners fit for Ceres; so does he heap the tables up, and piles so vast of dishes does he arrange, you must stand on your couch if you wish for anything at the top. But I have now had an interval these many days,while I’ve been lording it at home all along together with my dear ones;—for nothing do I eat or purchase but what it is most dear. But inasmuch as dear ones, when they are provided, are in the habit of forsaking us, I am now paying him a visit. But his door is opening; and see, I perceive Menaechmus himself; he is coming out of doors.(Enter MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus, from his house.)MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.: (speaking at the door to his WIFE within.)
ita est adulescens; ipsus escae maxumaecerialis cenas dat, ita mensas exstruit,tantas struices concinnat patinarias:standumst in lecto, si quid de summo petas.sed mi intervallum iam hos dies multos fuit:domi domítus sum usque cum caris meis.nam neque edo neque emo nisi quod est carissumum.id quoque iam, cari qui instruontur deserunt.nunc ad eum inviso. sed aperitur ostium.Menaechmum eccum ipsum video, progreditur foras.
Unless you were worthless, unless you were foolish, unless you were stark wild and an idiot, that which you see is disagreable to your husband, you would deem to be so to yourself as well. Moreover, if after this day you do any such thing to me, I’ll force you, a divorced woman, turned out of my doors to go visit your father. For as often as I wish to go out of the house, you are detaining me, calling me back, asking me questions;whither I am going, what matter I am about, what business I am transacting, what I am wanting, what I am bringing, what I have been doing out of doors? I’ve surely brought home a custom-house officer as my wife; so much am I obliged to disclose all my business, whatever I have done and am doing. I’ve had you hitherto indulged too much. Now, therefore, I’ll tell you how I am about to act.
Menaechmvs:Ní mala, ni stúlta sies, ni índomita impósque animi,quód viro esse odió videas, túte tibi odio habeas.praéterhac sí mihi tále post húnc diemfáxis, faxó foris vídua visás patrem.nám quotiens foras íre volo, mé retines, revocás, rogitas,quó ego eam, quám rem agam, quíd negotí geram,quíd petam, quid feram, quíd foris egerim.portitorem domum duxi, ita omnem mihirem necesse eloqui est, quidquid egi atque ago.nímium ego te habui délicatam; núnc adeo ut factúrus dicam.
Since I find you handsomely in maids, provisions, wool, gold trinkets, garments, and purple, and you are wanting in nought, you’ll beware of a mischief if you’re wise; you’ll leave off watching your husband. (In a lower voice.) And therefore, that you mayn’t be watching me in vain, for your pains I shall find me a mistress to-day, and invite her to dinner somewhere out of doors.PENICULUS: (apart.)
quando égo tibi ancillás, penum,lanam, aurum, vestem, purpuram bene praebeo nec quicquam eges,malo cavebis si sapis, virum observare desines.átque adeo, ne me nequiquam serves, ob eam industriamhodie ducam scortum ad cenam atque aliquo condicam foras.
This fellow pretends that he’s upbraiding his wife, but he’s addressing myself; for if he does dine out of doors, he really is punishing me, not his wife.MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.: (to himself.)
Penicvlvs:Illic homo se uxori simulat male loqui, loquitur mihi;nam si foris cenat, profecto me, haud uxorem, ulciscitur.
Hurra! I’ troth, by my taunts I’ve driven my wife from the door at last. Where now are your intriguing husbands? Why do they hesitate, all returning thanks, to bring presents to me who have fought so gallantly?
Menaechmvs:Euax, iurgio hercle tandem uxorem abegi ab ianua.ubi súnt amatores mariti? dona quid cessant mihiconférre omnes congratulantes, quia pugnavi fortiter?
This mantle of my wife’s (taking it from under his cloak) I’ve just now stolen from in-doors, and I’m taking it to my mistress. This way it’s proper for a clever trick to be played this knowing husband-watcher. This is a becoming action, this is right, this is skilful, this is done in workman-like style; inasmuch as at my own risk I’ve taken this from my plague, this same shall be carried off to destruction. With the safety of my allies I’ve gained a booty from the foe.PENICULUS: (aloud, at a distance.)
hánc modo uxori intus pallam surrupui, ad scortum fero.sic hóc decet, dari facete verba custodi catae.hoc fácinus pulchrumst, hoc probumst, hoc lepidumst, hoc factumst fabre:meó malo a mala abstuli hoc, ad damnum deferetur.avórti praedam ab hostibus nostrum salute socium.
Harkye! young man; pray what share have I in that booty?
Penicvlvs:Heús adulescens, ecqua in istac pars inest praeda mihi?
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:I’m undone; I’ve fallen into an ambuscade.PENICULUS:Say a safeguard rather. Don’t be afraid.
Menaechmvs:Perii, in insidias deveni.Penicvlvs:Immo in praesidium, ne time.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:What person’s this?PENICULUS:’Tis I.(Coming up to him.)MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:O my convenient friend—O my ready occasion, save you.PENICULUS:And save you.(they shake hands.)MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:What are you about?
Menaechmvs:Quis homo est?Penicvlvs:Ego sum.Menaechmvs:O mea Commoditas, o mea Opportunitas,salve.
PENICULUS:Holding my good Genius in my right hand.
Penicvlvs:Salve.Menaechmvs:Quid agis?Penicvlvs:Teneo dextera genium meum.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:You couldn’t have come to me more à propos than you have come.
Menaechmvs:Non potuisti magis per tempus mi advenire quam advenis.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus. PENICULUS:I’m in the habit of doing so; I understand all the points of ready occasion.
Penicvlvs:Ita ego soleo: commoditatis omnis articulos scio.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:Would you like to be witness of a brilliant exploit?PENICULUS:What cook has cooked it? I shall know at once if he has made any mistake, when I see the remnants..
Menaechmvs:Vin tu facinus luculentum inspicere?Penicvlvs:Quis id coxit coquos?iam sciam, si quid titubatumst, ubi reliquias videro.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:Tell me—did you ever see a picture painted on a wall, where the eagle is carrying off Ganymede, or Venus Adonis?
Menaechmvs:Dic mi, enumquam tu vidisti tabulam pictam in pariete,ubi aquila Catameitum raperet aut ubi Venus Adoneum?
PENICULUS:Many a time. But what are these pictures to me?MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:Come, look at me. Do I at all bear any resemblance to them?
Penicvlvs:Saepe. sed quid istaé picturae ad me attinent?Menaechmvs:Age me aspice.ecquid adsimulo similiter?
PENICULUS:What’s this garb of yours?
Penicvlvs:Quis istest ornatus tuos?
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:Pronounce me to be a very clever fellow.PENICULUS:Where are we to feed?
Menaechmvs:Dic hominem lepidissimum esse me.Penicvlvs:Vbi essuri sumus?
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:Only do you say that which I requested you.PENICULUS:Well, I do say so; very clever fellow.
Menaechmvs:Dic modo hoc quod ego te iubeo.Penicvlvs:Dico: homo lepidissime.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:And don’t you venture to add anything of your own to it?PENICULUS:— And very pleasant fellow.
Menaechmvs:Ecquid audes de tuo istuc addere?Penicvlvs:Atque hilarissime.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:Go on.PENICULUS:I’ faith, I really can’t go on, unless I know for what reason. You’ve had a fall-out with your wife; on that ground am I the more strongly on my guard against you.MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:While you are interrupting me, you are delaying yourself.PENICULUS:Knock out my only eye, Menaechmus, if I speak one word but what you bid me.
Menaechmvs:Perge ⟨porro⟩.Penicvlvs:Non pergo hercle, nisi scio qua gratia.litigium tibi est cum uxore, eo mi ábs te caveo cautius.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:… where, unknown to my wife, we will erect the funeral pile … and let us consume this day upon it.
Menaechmvs:Clam uxoremst ubi pulchre habeamus atque hunc comburamus diem.
PENICULUS:Well, come then, since you request what’s fair, how soon am I to set fire to the pile?Why really, the day’s half dead already down to its navel.MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:Come this way from the door.
Penicvlvs:Age sane igitur, quando aequom oras, quam mox incendo rogum?dies quidem iam ad umbilicum est dimidiatus mortuos.Menaechmvs:Te morare, mihi quom obloquere.
PENICULUS:Be it so.(Moves from the door.)MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:Come still more this way.
Penicvlvs:Oculum ecfodito per solummihi, Menaechme, si ullum verbum faxo nisi quod iusseris.Menaechmvs:Concede huc a foribus.
PENICULUS:Very well.(Moves.)
Penicvlvs:Fiat.Menaechmvs:Etiam concede huc.Penicvlvs:Licet.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus:Even still, step aside boldly from the lioness’s den.PENICULUS: (still moving.)
Menaechmvs:Etiam nunc concede audacter ab leonino cavo.
Well done; by my troth, as I fancy, you really would bean excellent charioteers.
Penicvlvs:Eu edepol ne tu, ut ego opinor, esses agitator probus.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:Why so?PENICULUS:That your wife mayn’t follow you, you are looking back ever and anon.
Menaechmvs:Quidum?Penicvlvs:Ne te uxor sequatur, respectas identidem.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:But what say you?PENICULUS:What, I? Why, whatever you choose, that same do I say, and that same do I deny.
Menaechmvs:Sed quid ais?Penicvlvs:Egone? id enim quod tu vis, id aio atque id nego.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:Could you make any conjecture at all from the smell, if perchance you were to take a smell at something?PENICULUS:Were the college of Augurs summoned …MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.: (holds out the skirt of the mantle.)
Menaechmvs:Ecquid tu de odore possis, si quid forte olfeceris,facere coniecturam …? …(Penicvlvs):… captum sit collegium.
Come then, take a sniff at this mantle that I’m holding. What does it smell of? Do you decline?
Menaechmvs:Agedum odorare hanc quam ego habeo pallam. quid olet? apstines?
PENICULUS:It’s as well to smell the top of a woman’s garment; for at this other place the nose is offended with an odour that can’t be washed out.MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.: (holding another part.)
Penicvlvs:Summum ólfactare oportet vestimentum muliebre,nam ex istoc loco spurcatur nasum odore † inlucido.
Take a smell here then, Peniculus, as you are so daintily nice.PENICULUS:Very well.(He smells it.)
Menaechmvs:Olfacta igitur hinc, Penicule. lepide ut fastidis.Penicvlvs:Decet.
MENAECHMUS:How now? What does it smell of? Answer me.PENICULUS:Theft, a mistress, and a breakfast. To you …MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:You have spoken out … now it shall be taken to this mistress of mine, the Courtesan Erotium. I’ll order a breakfast at once to be got ready, for me, you, and her;
Menaechmvs:Quid igitur? quid olet? responde.Penicvlvs:Furtum, scortum, prandium.tibi fuantelocutus, namnunc ad amicam deferetur hanc meretricem Erotium.mihi, tibi atque illi iubebo iam adparari prandium.Penicvlvs:Eu.
then will we booze away even to the morrow’s morning star.PENICULUS:Capital. You’ve spoken out distinctly. Am I to knock at the door then?MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:Knock—or hold, rather.
Menaechmvs:Inde usque ad diurnam stellam crastinam potabimus.Penicvlvs:Eu,expedite fabulatu's fabulatus es. iam fores ferio?Menaechmvs:Feri.vel mane etiam.
PENICULUS:You’ve removed the goblet a full mile by that.
Penicvlvs:Mille passum commoratu's commoratus es cantharum.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:Knock gently.PENICULUS:You’re afraid, I think, that the doors are made of Samian crockery. (Goes to knock.)MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:Hold, prithee, hold, i’ faith; see, she’s coming out herself. (The door of EROTIUM’S house is opened.) Ha you behold the sun, is it not quite darkened in comparison with the bright rays of her person.(Enter EROTIUM, from her house.)
Menaechmvs:Placide pulta.Penicvlvs:Metuis, credo, ne fores Samiae sient.Menaechmvs:Mane, mane obsecro hercle: eapse eccam exit. oh, solem videssatin ut occaecatust prae huius corporis candoribus?
EROTIUM:My life, Menaechmus, save you.
Erotivm:Anime mi, Menaechme, salve.
PENICULUS:And what for me?
Penicvlvs:Quid ego?
EROTIUM:You are out of my number.
Erotivm:Extra numerum es mihi.
PENICULUS:… that same thing is wont to be done for the other supernumeraries of the legion.MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:I would order a skirmish to be got ready there at your house for me to-day.
Penicvlvs:Idem istuc aliis adscriptivis fieri ad legionem solet.Menaechmvs:Ego istic mihi hodie adparari iussi apud te proelium.
EROTIUM:To-day it shall be done.MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:In that skirmish we two shall drink. Him shall you choose that shall be found there the better warrior with the goblet; do you make up your mind with which of the two you’ll pass this night. How much, my love, when I look upon you, do I hate my wife.
Erotivm:Hodie id fiet.Menaechmvs:In eo uterque proelio potabimus;uter ibi melior bellator erit inventus cantharo,† tuest legio adiudicato, cum utro hanc noctem sies.ut ego uxorem, mea voluptas, ubi te aspicio, odi male.
EROTIUM:Meantime, however, you cannot help being wrapped in something of hers. What’s this?(Takes hold of the mantle.)MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.: (taking it off.)’Tis a new dress for you, and a spoil from my wife, my rosebud.
Erotivm:Interim nequis quin eius aliquid indutus sies.quid hoc est?Menaechmvs:Induviae tuae atque uxoris exuviae, rosa.
EROTIUM:You have a ready way of prevailing, so as to be superior in my eyes to any one of those that pay me suit.(Embraces him.)PENICULUS: (aside.)
Erotivm:Superas facile, ut superior sis mihi quam quisquam qui impetrant.
The harlot’s coaxing in the meantime, while she’s looking out what to plunder …(to EROTIUM) for if you really loved him, by this his nose ought to have been off with your teething him..
Penicvlvs:Meretrix tantisper blanditur, dum illud quod rapiat videt;nam si amabas, iám oportebat nasum abreptum mordicus.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:Take hold of this, Peniculus: I wish to dedicate the spoil that I’ve vowed.
Menaechmvs:Sustine hoc, Penicule: exuvias facere quas vovi volo.
PENICULUS:Give it me. (Holds it while MENAECHMUS puts it on.) But, i’ faith, prithee, do dance afterwards with the mantle on in this way.
Penicvlvs:Cedo; sed obsecro hercle, salta sic cum palla postea.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:I—dance? I’ faith, you’re not in your senses.PENICULUS:Are you or I the most? If you won’t dance, then take it off.MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.: (to EROTIUM.)At a great risk have Istolen this to-day. In my opinion, indeed, Hercules didn’t ever carry off the belt from Hippolyta with danger as great. Take this for yourself (he takes it off, and gives her the mantle), since you are the only one alive that’s compliant with my humours.
Menaechmvs:Ego saltabo? sanus hercle non es.Penicvlvs:Egone an tu magis?si non saltas, exue igitur.Menaechmvs:Nimio ego hanc periculosurrupui hodie. meo quidem animo ab Hippolyta subcingulumHercules haud aeque magno umquam abstulit periculo.cape tibi hanc, quando una vivis meis morigera moribus.
EROTIUM:With such feelings ’tis proper that real lovers should be animated.PENICULUS: (aside.)
Erotivm:Hoc animo decet animatos esse amatores probos.
Those, indeed, who are making haste to bring themselves down to beggary.
Penicvlvs:Qui quidem ad mendicitatem se properent detrudere.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:I purchased that for my wife a year since at the price of four minae.PENICULUS: (aside.)
Menaechmvs:Quattuor minis ego emi istanc anno uxori meae.
The four minae are clearly gone for ever, as the account now stands.
Penicvlvs:Quattuor minae perierunt plane, ut ratio redditur.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:Do you know what I wish you to attend to?EROTIUM:I don’t know; but I’ll attend to whatever you do wish.
Menaechmvs:Scin quid volo ego te accurare?Erotivm:Scio, curabo quae voles.
MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:Order a breakfast, then, to be provided for us three at your house, and some dainties to be purchased at the market;kernels of boars’ neck, or bacon off the gammon, or pig’s head, or something in that way, which, when cooked and placed on table before me, may promote an appetite like a kite’s: and-forthwith—EROTIUM:I’ faith, I will.MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:We’re going to the Forum: we shall be here just now. While it’s cooking, we’ll take a whet in the meantime.
Menaechmvs:Iube igitur tribus nóbis apud te prandium accurarieratque aliquid scitamentorum de foro opsonarier,glandionidam suillam, laridum pernonidam,aut sincipitamenta porcina aut aliquid ad eum modum,madida quae mi adposita in mensa miluinam suggerant;atque actutum.Erotivm:Licet ecastor.Menaechmvs:Nos prodimus ad forum.iam hic nos erimus: dum coquetur, interim potabimus.
EROTIUM:Come when you like, the things shall be ready.MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.:Only make haste, then. Do you follow me(to PENICULUS.)
Erotivm:Quando vis veni, parata res erit.Menaechmvs:Propera modo.sequere tu.—
PENICULUS:By my troth, I certainly shall keep an eye on you, and follow you. I wouldn’t take the wealth of the Gods to lose you this day.(Exeunt MENAECHMUS and PENICULUS.)
Penicvlvs:Ego hercle vero te et servabo et te sequar,neque hodie ut te perdam, meream deorum divitias mihi.—
EROTIUM: (speaking at the door of her house.)Call Cylindrus, the cook, out of doors this moment from within.(Enter CYLINDRUS, from the house.)
Erotivm:Evocate intus Culindrum mihi coquom actutum foras.
EROTIUM:Take a hand-basket and some money. See, you have three didrachmns here.(Giving him money..)
Erotivm:sportulam cape atque argentum. eccos tris nummos habes.
CYLINDRUS:I have so.
Cylindrvs:Habeo.
EROTIUM:Go and bring some provisions, see that there’s enough for three; let it be neither deficient nor overmuch.
Erotivm:Abi atque obsonium adfer; tribus vide quod sit satis:neque defiat neque supersit.
CYLINDRUS:What sort of persons are these to be?
Cylindrvs:Cuius modi hí homines erunt?
EROTIUM:Myself, Menaechmus, and his Parasite.
Erotivm:Ego et Menaechmus et parasitus eius.
CYLINDRUS:Then these make ten, for the Parasite easily performs the duty of eight persons.
Cylindrvs:Iam isti sunt decem;nam parasitus octo hominum munus facile fungitur.
EROTIUM:I’ve now told you the guests; do you take care of the rest.
Erotivm:Elocuta sum convivas, ceterum cura.
CYLINDRUS:Very well.
Cylindrvs:Licet.
It’s cooked already; bid them go and take their places.EROTIUM:Make haste back.
cocta sunt, iube ire accubitum.Erotivm:Redi cito.
CYLINDRUS:I’ll be here directly.(Exit CYLINDRUS, and EROTIUM goes into her house.) (Enter MENAECHMUS SOSICLES and MESSENIO.)
Cylindrvs:Iam ego hic ero.—
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:There’s no greater pleasure to voyagers, in my notion, Messenio, than at the moment when from sea they espy the land afar.
Menaechmvs:Voluptas nullast navitis, Messenio,maior meo animo, quam quom ex alto proculterram conspiciunt.
MESSENIO:There is a greater, I’ll say it without subterfuge,—if on your arrival you see the land that is your own.
Messenio:Maior, non dicam dolo,[quam] si adveniens terram videas quae fuerit tua.
But, prithee, why are we now come to Epidamnus? Why, like the sea, are we going round all the islands?
sed quaeso, quam ob rem nunc Epidamnum venimus?an quasi mare omnis circumimus insulas?
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:To seek for my own twin-brother born?
Menaechmvs:Fratrem quaesitum geminum germanum meum.
MESSENIO:Why, what end is there to be of searching for him? This is the sixth year that we’ve devoted our attention to this business.
Messenio:Nam quid modi futurum est illum quaerere?hic annus sextust postquam ei reí operam damus.
We have been already carried round the Istrians, the Hispanians, the Massilians, the Illyrians, all the Upper Adriatic Sea, and foreign Greece, and all the shores of Italy, wherever the sea reaches them. If you had been searching for a needle, I do believe you would, long ere this, have found the needle, if it were visible.
Histros, Hispanos, Massiliensis, Hilurios,mare superum omne Graeciamque exoticamorasque Italicas omnis, qua adgreditur mare,sumus círcumvecti. sí acum, credo, quaereres,acum invenisses, si appareret, iam diu.
Among the living are we seeking a person that’s dead; for long ago should we have found him if he had been alive.
hominem inter vivos quaeritamus mortuom;nam invenissemus iam diu, si viveret.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:For that reason I am looking for a person to give me that information for certain, who can say that he knows that he really is dead; after that I shall never take any trouble in seeking further.
Menaechmvs:Ergo istuc quaero certum qui faciat mihi,qui sese dicat scire eum esse emortuom:operam praeterea numquam sumam quaerere.
But otherwise I shall never, while I’m alive, desist; I know how dear he is to my heart.
verum aliter vivos numquam desistam exsequi.ego illúm scio quam cordi sit carus meo.
MESSENIO:You are seeking a knot in a bulrush. Why don’t we return homeward hence, unless we are to write a history?
Messenio:In scirpo nodum quaeris. quin nos hinc domumredimus, nisi si historiam scripturi sumus?
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:Have done with your witty sayings, and be on your guard against a mischief.
Menaechmvs:Dictum facessas, datum edis, caveas malo.
Don’t you be troublesome; this matter shan’t be done at your bidding.MESSENIO: (aside.)Aye, aye; by that same expression do I rest assured that I’m a slave; he couldn’t in a few words have said more in a plain-spoken way. But still I can’t restrain myself from speaking. (Aloud.) Do you hear, Menaechmus? When I look in the purse,I find, i’ faith, we’re only equipped for our journey like summer travellers. By my troth, I guess, if you don’t be returning home, while you’re seeking your twin-brother, you’ll surely be groaning, when you have nothing left. For such is this race of people; among the men of Epidamnus there are debauchees and very great drinkers;
molestus ne sis, non tuo hoc fiet modo.Messenio:Emilloc enim vérbo esse me servom scio.non potuit paucis plura plane proloqui.verum tamen néqueo contineri quin loquar.audin, Menaechme? quom inspicio marsuppium,viaticati hercle admodum aestive sumus.ne tu hercle, opinor, nisi domum revorteris,ubi nihil habebis, geminum dum quaeres, gemes.nam ita est haec hominum natio: in Epidamnieisvoluptárii atque potatores maxumi;
swindlers besides, and many wheedlers are living in this city; then the women in the harlot line are said nowhere in the world to be more captivating. The name of Epidamnus was given to this city for the very reason, because hardly any person sojourns here without some damnable mishaps.
tum sycophantae et palpatores plurumiin urbe hac habitant; tum meretrices mulieresnusquam perhibentur blandiores gentium.propterea huic urbi nomen Epidamno inditumst,quia nemo ferme huc sine damno devortitur.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:I’ll guard against that. Just give me the purse this way.
Menaechmvs:Ego istúc cavebo. cedo dum huc mihi marsuppium.
MESSENIO:What do you want with it?
Messenio:Quid eo vis?
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:I’m apprehensive then about yourself, from your expressions.
Menaechmvs:Iam aps te metuo de verbis tuis.
MESSENIO:Why are you apprehensive?
Messenio:Quid metuis?
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:Lest you should cause me some damnable mishap in Epidamnus. You are a great admirer of the women, Messenio, and I’m a passionate man, of an unmanageable disposition;
Menaechmvs:Ne mihi damnum in Epidamno duis.tu magnus amator mulierum es, Messenio,ego autem homo iracundus, animi perditi;
of both these things will I have a care, when I’ve got the money, that you shall not commit a fault, and that I shall not be in a passion with you.MESSENIO: (giving him the purse.)
id utrumque, argentum quando habebo, cavero,ne tu delinquas neve ego irascar tibi.
Take and keep it; with all my heart you may do so.(Enter CYLINDRUS, with a basket of provisions.)
Messenio:Cape atque serva. me lubente feceris.
CYLINDRUS:I’ve catered well, and to my mind. I’ll set a good breakfast before the breakfasters.
Cylindrvs:Bene opsonavi atque ex mea sententia,bonum anteponam prandium pransoribus.
But see, I perceive Menaechmus. Woe to my back; the guests are now already walking before the door, before I’ve returned with the provisions. I’ll go and accost him. Save you, Menaechmus.MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:The Gods bless you, whoever you are. …
sed eccúm Menaechmum video. vae tergo meo,prius iám convivae ambulant ante ostium,quam ego opsonatu redeo. adibo atque alloquar.Menaechme, salve.Menaechmvs:Di te amabunt quisquis ⟨es⟩.
CYLINDRUS:… who I am?
Cylindrvs:Quisquis … ⟨quis⟩ ego sim?
MESSENIO:I’ faith, not I, indeed.CYLINDRUS:Where are the other guests?
Menaechmvs:Non hercle vero.Cylindrvs:Vbi convivae ceteri?
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:What guests are you enquiring about?
Menaechmvs:Quos tu convivas quaeris?
CYLINDRUS:Your Parasite.
Cylindrvs:Parasitum tuom.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:My Parasite? Surely this fellow’s deranged.
Menaechmvs:Meum parasitum? certe hic insanust homo.
MESSENIO:Didn’t I tell you that there were many swindlers here?
Messenio:Dixin tibi esse hic sycophantas plurumos?…
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:What Parasite of mine, young man, are you enquiring about?CYLINDRUS:Peniculus.MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:… Where is my …?
Menaechmvs:Quem tu parasitum quaeris, adulescens, meum?
MESSENIO:See, I’ve got your sponge [Peniculus] all safe in the wallet.
Messenio:Peniculum éccum in vidulo salvom fero.
CYLINDRUS:Menaechmus, you’ve come here too soon for breakfast; I’m but now returning with the provisions.
Cylindrvs:Menaechme, numero huc advenis ad prandium.nunc opsonatu redeo.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:Answer me this, young man: at what price do pigs sell here,unblemished ones, for sacrifice?
Menaechmvs:Responde mihi,adulescens: quibus hic pretiis porci veneuntsacres sinceri?
CYLINDRUS:At a didrachm a-piece.
Cylindrvs:Nummis.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES: (holding out his hand.)Receive, then, a didrachm of me; bid a sacrifice be made for you at my expense; for, by my faith, I really am sure in very truth that you are deranged, who are annoying me, a person that’s a stranger, whoever you are.
Menaechmvs:Nummum a me accipe:iube té piari de mea pecunia.nam équidem insanum esse te certo scio,qui mihi molestu's molestus es homini ignoto, quisquis es.
CYLINDRUS:I am Cylindrus; don’t you know my name?
Cylindrvs:Cylindrus ego sum: non nosti nomen meum?
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:Whether you are Cylindrus or Caliendrus, confound you. I don’t know you, and, in fact, I don’t want to know you.
Menaechmvs:Si tu Cylindrus seu Coriendrus, perieris.ego te non novi, neque novisse adeo volo.
CYLINDRUS:Well, your name, however, is Menaechmus, that I do know.
Cylindrvs:Est tibi Menaechmo nomen, tantum quod sciam.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:You speak like a sane person when you call me by my name. But where have you known me?
Menaechmvs:Pro sano loqueris quom me appellas nomine.sed ubi novisti me?
CYLINDRUS:Where have I known you,you who have Erotium, this mistress of mine (pointing to the house), for your lady?
Cylindrvs:Vbi ego te noverim,qui amicam habes eram meam hanc Erotium?
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:By my troth, I have not, nor do I know yourself what person you are.
Menaechmvs:Neque hercle ego habeo, neque te quis homo sis scio.
CYLINDRUS:Not know who I am, who have many a time filled the cups for your own self at our house, when you’ve been drinking?
Cylindrvs:Non scis quis ego sim, qui tibi saepissimecyathisso apud nos, quando potas?
MESSENIO:Woe to me, that I’ve got nothing with which to break this fellow’s head.
Messenio:Ei mihi,quom nihil est qui illi homini diminuam caput.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:Are you in the habit of filling the cups for me, who, before this day, have never beheld Epidamnus, nor been there?
Menaechmvs:Tun cyathissare mihi soles, qui ante hunc diemEpidamnum numquam vidi neque veni?
CYLINDRUS:Do you deny it?
Cylindrvs:Negas?
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:Upon my honor,, I decidedly do deny it.
Menaechmvs:Nego hercle vero.
CYLINDRUS:Don’t you live in that house?(Pointing to the house of MENAECHMUS of Epidamnus.)
Cylindrvs:Non tu in illisce aedibus† habitas?
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:May the Gods send to perdition those that live there.
Menaechmvs:Di illos homines, qui illic habitant, perduint.
CYLINDRUS:Surely, this fellow’s mad, who is thus uttering curses against his own self.
Cylindrvs:Insanit hic quidem, qui ipse male dicit sibi.
Do you hear, Menaechmus?MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:What do you want?
audin, Menaechme?Menaechmvs:Quid vis?
CYLINDRUS:If you take my advice, that didrachm, which you just now promised to give me—you would order, if you were wise, a pig to be procured with it for yourself.For, i’ faith, you really for sure are not in your senses, Menaechmus, who are now uttering curses against your own self.
Cylindrvs:Si me consulas,nummum illum quem mihi dudum pollicitu's pollicitus es dare—nam tu quidem hercle certo non sanu's sanus es satis,Menaechme, qui nunc ipsus male dicas tibi—iubeas, si sapias, porculum adferri tibi.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:Alas! By my faith, a very silly fellow, and an annoyance to me.CYLINDRUS: (to MESSENIO.)
Messenio:Eu hercle hominem multum, et odiosum mihi.
He’s in the habit of often joking with me in this fashion. How very droll he is, when his wife isn’t present. How say you—?MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:What do you mean, you rascal?
Cylindrvs:Solet iocari saepe mecum illoc modo.quam vis ridiculus est, ubi uxor non adest.quid ais tu?Menaechmvs:Quid vis, inquam.
CYLINDRUS: (pointing to the basket.)Has this that you seebeen provided in sufficient quantity for three persons, or am I to provide still more for yourself and the Parasite and the lady?
Cylindrvs:Satin hoc quod videstribus vóbis opsonatumst, an opsono amplius,tibi et parasito et mulieri?
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:What ladies—what Parasites are you talking about?
Menaechmvs:Quas [tu] mulieres,quos tu parasitos loquere?
MESSENIO:What, you villain, urges you to be an annoyance to him?
Messenio:Quod te urget scelus,qui huic sis molestus?
CYLINDRUS:Pray what business have you with me? I don’t know you; I’m talking to this person, whom I do know.
Cylindrvs:Quid tibi mecum est rei?ego te non novi: cum hoc quem novi fabulor.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:By my troth, you are not a person in his right senses, that I know for sure.
Messenio:Non edepol tú homo sanus es, certo scio.
CYLINDRUS:I’ll have these things cooked directly; there shall be no delay. Don’t you be going after this anywhere at a distance from the house. Do you want anything?
Cylindrvs:Iam ergo haec madebunt faxo, nil morabitur.proin tu ne quo abeas longius ab aedibus.numquid vis?
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:You to go to utter and extreme perdition.
Menaechmvs:Vt eas maximam malam crucem.
CYLINDRUS:I’ faith,’twere better for you to go in-doors at once and take your place,while I’m subjecting these things to the strength of the fire. I’ll go in-doors now, and tell Erotium that you are standing here, that she may fetch you away hence, rather than you be standing here out of doors.(He goes into the house.)
Cylindrvs:Ire hercle meliust te interim atque accumbere,dum ego haec appono ad Volcani violentiam.ibo intro et dicam te hic adstare Erotio,ut te hinc abducat potius quam hic adstes foris.—
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:Is he gone then? He is gone. By my faith, I find by experience that your words are not untrue.
Menaechmvs:Iamne abiit ⟨illic⟩? edepol haud mendaciatua verba experior esse.
MESSENIO:Do you only be on your guard;
Messenio:Observato modo:
for I do believe that some woman in the harlot line is living here, as, in fact. this madman said, who has just gone away from here.
nam istic meretricem credo habitare mulierem,ut quidem ille insanus dixit, qui hinc abiit modo.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:But I wonder how he came to know my name.
Menaechmvs:Sed miror qui ille noverit nomen meum.
MESSENIO:I’ faith,’tis far from surprising: courtesans have this custom; they send servant-boys and servant-girls down to the harbour;
Messenio:Minime hercle mirum. morem hunc meretrices habent:ad portum mittunt servolos, ancillulas;
if any foreign ship comes into port, they enquire of what country it is, and what its name is; after that, at once they set themselves to work, and fasten themselves upon him; if they inveigle him, they send him home a ruined man. Now in this harbour there stands a piratical craft,against which I really think that we must be on our guard.
si quae peregrina navis in portum advenit,rogitant cuiatis sit, quid ei nomen siet,postilla extemplo se applicant, agglutinant:si pellexerunt, perditum amittunt domum.nunc ín istoc portu stát navis praedatoria,aps qua cavendum nobis sane censeo.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:I’ troth, you really counsel aright.
Menaechmvs:Mones quidem hercle recte.
MESSENIO:Then, in fine, shall I be sure that I’ve counselled aright, if you are rightly on your guard.
Messenio:Tum demum sciamrecte monuisse, si tu recte caveris.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:Be silent for a moment, then; for the door makes a noise. Let’s see who’s coming out from there.
Menaechmvs:Tace dúm parumper, nam concrepuit ostium:videamus qui hinc egreditur.
MESSENIO:Meanwhile, I’ll lay this down. (He puts down the wallet.)
Messenio:Hoc ponam interim.
Do you keep watch upon these things, if you please, you sailors.(Enter EROTIUM from her house.)EROTIUM: (speacking to her SERVANTS within.)Leave the door ajar thus; begone. I don’t want it shut: prepare, attend, and provide within; what is requisite, let it be done. Lay down the couches, burn the perfumes; neatness,that is the charm for the minds of lovers. Our agreableness is for the lover’s loss, for our own gain. (To herself.) But where is he whom the Cook said was in front of the house? O, I see him there—one who is of service to me, and who profits me very much. And right willingly is such usage shown to him, as he deserves to be of especial importance in my house.
asservatote haec sultis, navales pedes.Erotivm:Sine fóres sic, abi, nolo óperiri.intús para, curá, vide, quod opúst fiat:sterníte lectos, incéndite odores; múnditiainlécebra animost amántium.amánti amoenitás malost, nobís lucrost.sed ubi ílle est, quem coquos ánte aedis esse áit? atque eccum video,qui mi ést usui et plurímum prodest.item hinc últro fit, ut méret, potissimus nostraé domi ut sit;
Now I’ll accost him; I’ll address him of my own accord. (To MENAECHMUS.) My dear life, it seems wonderful to me that you are standing here out of doors, for whom the door is wide open, more so than your own house, inasmuch as this house is at your service. Everything’s ready as you requestedand as you desired; nor have you now any delay in-doors. The breakfast, as you ordered, is prepared here; when you please, you may go and take your place.
nunc éum adibo, adloquar ultro.animúle mi, mihi mirá videntur,te hic stáre foris, fores quoí pateant,magis quám domus tua domus quom haéc tua sit.omné paratumst, ut iússistiatque út voluisti, néque tibiullá morast intus.prandium, út iussisti, hic cúratumst:ubi lúbet, ire licet áccubitum.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:To whom is this woman addressing herself?
Menaechmvs:Quícum haec mulier loquitur?
EROTIUM:Why, I’m talking to yourself.
Erotivm:Equidem tecum.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:What business have I ever had with you, or have I now?
Menaechmvs:Quid mecum tibifuit umquam aut nunc est negoti?
EROTIUM:Troth, inasmuch as Venus has willed that you singly above all I should exalt; and that not without your deserving it. For, by my faith, you alone make me, by your kindnesses, to be thriving.
Erotivm:Quia pol te unum ex omnibusVenus me voluit magnificare, neque id haud immerito tuo.nam ecastor solus benefactis tuis me florentem facis.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:For sure this woman is either mad or drunk, Messemo, that addresses me, a person whom she knows not in so familiar a way.
Menaechmvs:Certo haec mulier aut insana aut ebria est, Messenio,quaé hominem ignotum compellet me tam familiariter.
MESSENIO:Didn’t I say that these things are in the habit of occurring here? The leaves are falling now; in comparison with this, if we shall be here for three days, the trees will be tumbling upon you. For to such a degree are all these Courtesans wheedlers out of one’s money. But only let me address her. Harkye, woman, I’m speaking to you.
Messenio:Dixin égo istaec hic solere fieri? folia nunc cadunt,praeut si triduom hoc hic erimus: tum arbores in te cadent.nam ita sunt hic meretrices: omnes elecebrae argentariae.sed sine me dum hanc compellare. heus mulier, tibi dico.
EROTIUM:What’s the matter?
Erotivm:Quid est?
MESSENIO:Where have you yourself known this person?
Messenio:Vbi tu húnc hominem novisti?
EROTIUM:In that same place where he has known me for this long time,in Epidamnus.
Erotivm:Ibidem ubi hic me iam diu,in Epidamno.
MESSENIO:In Epidamnus? A man who, until this day, has never put a foot here inside of this city.
Messenio:In Epidamno? qui huc in hanc urbem pedem,nisi hodie, numquam intro tetulit?
EROTIUM:Heyday! You are making fun, my dear Menaechmus. But, prithee, why not go in? There, it will be more suitable for you.
Erotivm:Heia, delicias facis.mi Menaechme, quin, amabo, is intro? hic tibi erit rectius.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:I’ faith, this woman really does address me rightly by my name. I wonder very much what’s the meaning of this business.
Menaechmvs:Haec quidem edepol recte appellat meo me mulier nomine.nimis miror, quid hoc sít negoti.
MESSENIO: (aside.)That purse that you are carrying has been smelt out by her.
Messenio:Oboluit marsuppiumhuic istuc quod habes.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES: (aside.)I’ faith, and rightly have you put me in mind. Take it, then; I’ll know now whether she loves myself or the purse most.(Gives him the purse.)
Menaechmvs:Atque edepol tu me monuisti probe.accipe dum hoc. iam scibo, utrum haec me mage amet an marsuppium.
EROTIUM:Let’s go in the house to breakfast.
Erotivm:Eamus intro, ut prandeamus.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:You invite me kindly; so far, my thanks.
Menaechmvs:Bene vocas: tam gratiast.
EROTIUM:Why then did you bid me a while since prepare a breakfast for you?
Erotivm:Cur igitur me tibi iussisti coquere dudum prandium?
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:I, bid you prepare?
Menaechmvs:Egon te iussi coquere?
EROTIUM:Certainly you did, for yourself and your Parasite.
Erotivm:Certo, tibi et parasito tuo.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:A plague, what Parasite? Surely this woman isn’t quite right in her senses.
Menaechmvs:Cui, malum, parasito? certo haec mulier non sanast satis.
EROTIUM:Peniculus.
Erotivm:Peniculo.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:Who is this Peniculus The one with which the shoes are wiped clean?
Menaechmvs:Quis iste ést Peniculus? qui extergentur baxeae?
EROTIUM:Him, I mean, who came with you a while ago, when you brought me the mantle which you purloined from your wife.
Erotivm:Scilicet qui dudum tecum venit, quom pallam mihidetulisti, quám ab uxore tua surrupuisti.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:What do you mean? I, gave you a mantle, which I purloined from my wife? Are you in your senses?
Menaechmvs:Quid est?tibi pallam dedi, quam uxori meae surrupui? sanan es?
Surely this woman dreams standing, after the manner of a gelding.
certe haec mulier cantherino ritu ástans somniat.
EROTIUM:Why does it please you to hold me in ridicule, and to deny to me things that have been done by you?
Erotivm:Qui lubet ludibrio habere me atque ire infitias mihifacta quae sunt?
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:Tell me what it is that I deny after having done it?
Menaechmvs:Dic quid est id quod negem quod fecerim?
EROTIUM:That you to-day gave me your wife’s mantle.
Erotivm:Pallam te hodie mihi dedisse uxoris.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:Even still do I deny it. Indeed, I never had a wife, nor have I one; norhave I ever set my foot here within the city gate since I was born. I breakfasted on board ship; thence did I come this way, and here I met you.
Menaechmvs:Etiam nunc nego.ego quidem neque umquam uxorem hábui neque habeo, neque hucumquam, postquam natus sum, intra portam penetravi pedem.prandi in navi, inde huc sum egressus, te conveni.
EROTIUM:See that now; I’m undone, wretched creature that I am! What ship are you now telling me about?
Erotivm:Eccere,perii misera, quam tu mihi nunc navem narras?
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:A wooden one, weather-beaten full oft, cracked full oft, many a time thumped with mallets. Just as the implements of the furrier; so peg is close to peg.
Menaechmvs:Ligneam,saepe tritam, saepe fixam, saepe excussam malleo;quasi supellex pellionis, palus palo proxumust.
EROTIUM:Now, prithee, do leave off making fun of me, and step this way with me.
Erotivm:Iám, amabo, desiste ludos facere atque i hac mecum semul.
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:… for, madam, you are looking for some other person, I know not whom, not me.
Menaechmvs:Nescio quem, mulier, alium hóminem, non me quaeritas.
EROTIUM:Don’t I know you, Menaechmus, the son of your father Moschus, who are said to have been born in Sicily, at Syracuse, where King Agathocles reigned, and after him Pintia, the third Liparo, who at his death left the kingdom to Hiero—which Hiero is now king?
Erotivm:Non ego te novi Menaechmum, Moscho prognatum patre,qui Syracusis perhibere natus esse in Sicilia,ubi rex Agathocles regnator fuit et iterum Phintia,tertium Liparo, qui in morte regnum Hieroni tradidit,nunc Hiero est?
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES:You say, madam, what is not untrue.
Menaechmvs:Haud falsa, mulier, praedicas.
MESSENIO:By Jupiter, hasn’t this woman come from there, who knows you so readily? …
Messenio:Pro Iuppiter,num istaec mulier illinc venit, quae te novit tam cate?
MENAECHMUS SOSICLES: (apart.)Troth, I think she must not be denied.
Menaechmvs:Hercle opinor, pernegari non potest.
MESSENIO: (apart.)Don’t you do it. You are undone, if you enter inside her threshold.
Messenio:Ne feceris. periisti, si intrassis intra limen.