STASIMUS:I’ faith, I could wish he was my slave, together with his savings.
Stasimvs:Edepol né ego istum velimmeum fíeri servom cum suo peculio.
PHILTO:Philto right heartily wishes health to both master and servant, Lesbonicus and Stasimus.
Philto:Erum atque servom plurumum Philto iubetsalvere, Lesbonicum et Stasimum.
LESBONICUS:May the Gods give you, Philto, whatever you may wish for. How is your son?
Lesbonicvs:Di duinttibi, Philto, quaequomque optes. quid agit filius?
PHILTO:He wishes well to you.
Philto:Bene volt tibi.
LESBONICUS:In good sooth, he does for me what I do for him in return!STASIMUS: (aside.)
Lesbonicvs:Edepol mutuom mecum facit.
That phrase, “He wishes well,” is worthless, unless a person does well too.
Stasimvs:Nequam illud verbumst “bene volt”, nisi qui bene facit.
I, too, “wish” to be a free man; I wish in vain. He, perhaps, might wish to become frugal; he would wish to no purpose.
ego quoque volo esse liber: nequiquam volo;hic postulet frugi esse: nugas postulet.
PHILTO:My son has sent me to you to propose an alliance and bond of friendship between himself and your family. He wishes to take your sister for his wife; and Ihave the same feelings, and I desire it.
Philto:Meus gnátus me ad te misit, inter te atque nosadfinitatem ut conciliarem et gratiam.tuam vólt sororem ducere uxorem; et mihisententia eademst et volo.
LESBONICUS:I really don’t understand your ways; amid your prosperity you are laughing at my adversity.
Lesbonicvs:Hau nosco tuom:bonis tuis rebus meas res inrides malas.
PHILTO:I am a man: you are a man. So may Jupiter love me, I have neither come to laugh at you, nor do I think you deserving of it! But as to what I said, my son begged meto ask for your sister as his wife.
Philto:Homo ego sum, homo tu es: ita me amabit Iuppiter,neque te derisum advenio neque dignum puto.verum hoc quod dixi: meus me oravit filius,ut tuam sororem poscerem uxorem sibi.
LESBONICUS:It is right that I should know the state of my own circumstances. My position is not on an equal footing with yours; seek some other alliance for yourselves.STASIMUS: (to LESBONICUS.)
Lesbonicvs:Mearúm me rerum novisse aequomst ordinem.cum vostra nostra non est aequa factio.adfinitatem vobis aliam quaerite.
Are you really sound in mind or intellectto refuse this proposal? For I perceive that he has been found for you a very friend in need.
Stasimvs:Satin tu es sanus mentis aut animi tui,qui condicionem hanc repudies? nam illum tibiferentárium esse amicum inventum intellego.
LESBONICUS:Get away hence, and go hang yourself.
Lesbonicvs:Abin hínc dierecte?
STASIMUS:Faith, if I should commence to go, you would be forbidding me.
Stasimvs:Si hercle ire occipiam, votes.
LESBONICUS:Unless you want me, Philto, for anything else, I have given you my answer.
Lesbonicvs:Nisi quid me aliud vis, Philto, respondi tibi.
PHILTO:I trust, Lesbonicus, that youwill one day be more obliging to me than I now find you to be. For both to act unwisely and to talk unwisely, Lesbonicus, are sometimes neither of them profitable.
Philto:Benigniorem, Lesbonice, te mihi,quam nunc experior esse, confido fore;nam et stulte facere et stulte fabularier,utrumque, Lesbonice, in aetate hau bonumst.
STASIMUS:Troth, he says what’s true.
Stasimvs:Verum hercle hic dicit.
LESBONICUS:I will tear out your eye if you add one word.
Lesbonicvs:Oculum ego ecfodiam tibi,si verbum addideris.
STASIMUS:Troth, but I will talk;
Stasimvs:Hercle qui dicam tamen;
for if I may not be allowed to do so as I am, then I will submit to be called the one-eyed man.
nam si sic non licebit, luscus dixero.
PHILTO:Do you now say this, that your position and means are not on an equal footing with ours?
Philto:Ita tu nunc dicis, non esse aequiperabilesvostras cum nostris factiones atque opes?
LESBONICUS:I do say so.
Lesbonicvs:Dico.
PHILTO:Well, suppose, now, you were to come to a building to a public banquet, and a wealthy man by chance were to come there as your neighbour.The banquet is set on table, one that they style a public one. Suppose that dainties were heaped up before him by his dependents, and suppose any-thing pleased you that was so heaped up before him, would you eat, or would you keep your place next to this wealthy man, going without your dinner?
Philto:Quid? nunc si in aedem ad cenam venerisatque ibi opulentus tibi par forte obvenerit(adposita cena sit, popularem quam vocant),si illi congestae sint epulae a cluentibus:si quid tibi placeat quod illi congestum siet,edisne an incenatus cum opulento accubes?
LESBONICUS:I should eat, unless he were to forbid me doing so.
Lesbonicvs:Edim, nisi si ille votet.
STASIMUS:But I, by my faith, even if he were to forbid me,would eat and cram with both cheeks stuffed out; and what pleased him, that, in especial, would I lay hold of beforehand; nor would I yield to him one jot of my very existence. At table it befits no one to be bashful; for there the decision is about things both divine and human.
Stasimvs:At pol ego etsi votetedim, atque ambabus malis expletis vorem,et quod illi placeat praeripiam potissimum,neque illí concedam quicquam de vita mea.verecundari neminem ápud mensam decet,nam ibi de divinis atque humanis cernitur.
PHILTO:You say what is the fact.
Philto:Rem fabulare.
STASIMUS:I will tell you without any subterfuge: I would make place for him on the highway, on the footpath, in the canvass for public honors; but as to what concerns the stomach—by my troth, not this much (shows the breadth of his finger-nail), unless he should first have thrashed me with his fists. With provisions at the present prices, a feast is a fortune without incumbrances.
Stasimvs:Non tibi dicam dolo:decedam ego illi de via, de semita,de honore populi; verum quod ad ventrem attinet,non hercle hoc longe, nisi me pugnis vicerit.cena hac annona est sine sacris hereditas.
PHILTO:Always, Lesbonicus, do you take care and think this, that that is the best, according as you yourself are the most deserving: if that you cannot attain to, at least be as near as possible to the most deserving. And now, Lesbonicus, I wish you to grant and accept these terms which I propose, and which I ask of you.
Philto:Semper tu hoc facito, Lesbonice, cogites,id optumum esse, tute uti sis optumus;si id nequeas, saltem ut optumis sis proxumus.nunc condicionem hanc, quam ego fero et quam abs te peto,dare atque accipere, Lesbonice, te volo.
The Gods are rich; wealth and station befit the Gods: but we poor mortal beings are, as it were, the salt-cellar for the salt of life. The moment that we have breathed forth this, the beggar is held of equal value at Acheron with the most wealthy man when dead.STASIMUS: (aside.)
di divites sunt, deos decent opulentiaeet factiones, verum nos homunculi,satillum animai qui quom extemplo emisimus,aequo mendicus atque ille opulentissimuscensetur censu ad Acheruntem mortuos.
It will be a wonder if you don’t carry your riches there with you. When you are dead, you may, perhaps, be as good as your name imports.
Stasimvs:Mirum quin tu illo tecum divitias feras.ubi mortuos sis, ita sis ut nomen cluet.
PHILTO:Now, that you may understand that position and means have no place here, and that we do not undervalue your alliance; I ask for your sister without a marriage-portion.
Philto:Nunc ut scias hic factiones atque opesnon esse neque nos tuam neglegere gratiam,sine dote posco tuam sororem filio.
May the matter turn out happily. Do I understand her to be promised? Why are you silent?
quae res bene vortat—habeon pactam? quid taces?
STASIMUS:O immortal Gods, what a proposal!
Stasimvs:Pro di immortales, condicionem quoius modi.
PHILTO:Why don’t you say, “May the Gods prosper it, I agree?”STASIMUS: (aside.)
Philto:Quin fabulare “di bene vortant, spondeo”?
Alas! when there was no advantage in the expression, he used to say, “I agree;” now, when there is advantage in it, he is not able to say so.
Stasimvs:Eheú ubi usus nil erat dícto, spondeodicebat; nunc hic, quom opus est, non quit dicere.
LESBONICUS:Since you think me, Philto, worthy of an alliance with you, I return you many thanks. But though this fortune of mine has sadly diminished through my folly, I have, Philto, a piece of land near the city here; that I will give as a portion to my sister: for, after all my follies,that alone, besides my existence, is left me.
Lesbonicvs:Quom adfinitate vostra me arbitraminidignum, habeo vobis, Philto, magnam gratiam.sed si haec res graviter cecidit stultitia mea,Philto, est ager sub urbe hic nobis: eum dabodotem sorori; nam is de divitiis meissolus superfit praeter vitam relicuos.
PHILTO:Really I care nothing at all about a portion.
Philto:Profecto dotem nil moror.
LESBONICUS:I am determined to give her one.STASIMUS: (whispers to LESBONICUS.)
Lesbonicvs:Certumst dare.
And are you ready, master, to sever that nurse from us which is supporting us? Take care how you do it. What are we ourselves to eat in future?LESBONICUS: (to STASIMUS.)Once more, will you hold your tongue?
Stasimvs:Nostramne, ere, vis nutricem, quae nos educat,abalienare a nobis? cave sis feceris.quid edemus nosmet postea?Lesbonicvs:Etiam tu taces?
Am I to be rendered accountable to you?STASIMUS: (aside.)We are evidently done for, unless I devise something or other. Philto, I want you.(He remeoves to a distance, and beckons to PHILTO.)
tibi ego rationem reddam?Stasimvs:Plane periimus,nisi quid ego comminiscor. Philto, te volo.
PHILTO:If you wish aught, Stasimus.
Philto:Si quid vis, Stasime.
STASIMUS:Step a little this way.
Stasimvs:Huc cóncede aliquantum.
PHILTO:By all means.
Philto:Licet.
STASIMUS:I tell you this in secrecy, that neither he nor any one else may learn it of you.
Stasimvs:Arcano tibi ego hoc dico, ne ille ex te sciatneve alius quisquam.
PHILTO:Trust me boldly with anything you please.
Philto:Crede audacter quidlubet.
STASIMUS:By Gods and men I warn you, not to allow that piece of land ever to become yours or your son’s. I’ll tell you my reasons for this matter.
Stasimvs:Per deos atque homines dico, ne tu illunc agrumtuom síris umquam fieri neque gnati tui.ei rei argumenta dicam.
PHILTO:Troth, I should like to hear them.
Philto:Audire edepol lubet.
STASIMUS:First of all then, when at any time the ground is being ploughed, in every fifth furrow the oxen die.PHILTO:Preserve me from it.
Stasimvs:Primum omnium olim terra cum proscinditur,in quinto quoque sulco moriuntur boves.
STASIMUS:The gate of Acheron is in that land of ours.
Philto:Apage, Acheruntis ostium in vostrost agro.
Then the grapes, before they are ripe, hang in a putrid state.LESBONICUS: (in a low voice.)
Stasimvs:Tum vinum prius quam coctumst pendet putidum.
He is persuading the man to something, I think. Although he is a rogue, still he is not unfaithful to me.STASIMUS:Hear the rest. Besides that, when elsewhere the harvest of wheat is most abundant,there it comes up less by one-fourth than what you have sowed.
Lesbonicvs:Consuadet homini, credo. etsi scelestus est,at mi infidelis non est.Stasimvs:Audi cetera.post id, frumenti quom alibi messis maximast,tribus tántis illi minus redit quam opseveris.
PHILTO:Ah! bad habits ought to be sown on that spot, if in the sowing they can be killed.
Philto:Em istic oportet opseri mores malos,si in opserendo possint interfieri.
STASIMUS:And never is there any person to whom that piece of land belongs, but that his affairs turn out most unfortunate. Of those to whom it has belonged,some have gone away in banishment; some are dead outright; some, again, have hanged themselves. See this man, now, to whom it belongs, how he has been brought to a regular backgammoned state.
Stasimvs:Neque umquam quisquamst, quoius ille ager fuit,quin pessume ei res vorterit: quoium fuit,alii exulatum abierunt, alii emortui,alii se suspendere. em nunc hic quoius est,ut ad incitas redactust.
PHILTO:Preserve me from this piece of land.
Philto:Apage a me istum agrum.
STASIMUS:“Preserve me from it,” you would say still more, if you were to hear everything from me. For there every other tree has been blasted with lightning;
Stasimvs:Magis apage dicas, si omnia ex me audiveris.nam fulguritae sunt alternae árbores;
the hogs die there most shockingly of inflammation in the throat; the sheep are scabby, as bare of all wool, see, as is this hand of mine. And then, besides, there is not one of the Syrian natives, a race which is the most hardy of men, who could exist there for six months; so surely do all die there of the solstitial fever.
sues moriuntur angina acerrume;oves scabrae sunt, tam glabrae, em, quam haec est manus.tum autem Surorum, genus quod patientissumumsthominum, nemo extat qui ibi sex menses vixerit:ita cuncti solstitiali morbo decidunt.
PHILTO:I believe, Stasimus, that it is so; but the Campanian race much outdoes that of the Syrians in hardiness. But, really, that piece of land, as I have heard you describe it, is one to which it were proper for all wicked men to be sent for the public good. Just as they tell of the Islands of the Blest,where all meet together who have passed their lives uprightly: on the other hand, it seems proper that all evildoers should be packed off there, since it is a place of such a character.
Philto:Credo ego istuc, Stasime, ita esse; sed Campans genusmulto Surorum iam antidit patientia.sed istést ager profecto, ut te audivi loqui,malos in quem omnes publice mitti decet,sicut fortunatorum memorant insulas,quo cuncti qui aetatem egerint caste suamconveniant; contra istoc detrudi maleficosaequom videtur, qui quidem istius sit modi.
STASIMUS:’Tis a very receptacle of calamity. What need is there of many words? Look for any bad thing whatsoever, there you may find it.
Stasimvs:Hospitium est calamitatis: quid verbis opust?quamvis malam rem quaeras, illic reperias.
PHILTO:But, i’ faith, you may find it there and elsewhere too.
Philto:At tu hercle et illi et alibi.
STASIMUS:Please, take care not to say that I told you of this.
Stasimvs:Cave sis dixerisme tibi dixisse hoc.
PHILTO:You have told it me in perfect secrecy.
Philto:Dixisti arcano satis.
STASIMUS:For he, indeed (pointing at LESBONICUS), wishes it to be got rid of from himself, if he can find any one to impose upon about it.
Stasimvs:Quin hic quidem cúpit illum ab se abalienarier,si quem reperire possit cui os sublinat.
PHILTO:I’ faith, this land shall never become my property.
Philto:Meus quídem hercle numquam fiet.
STASIMUS:Aye, if you keep in your senses.
Stasimvs:Si sapies quidem.
(Aside.) I’ faith, I have cleverly frightened the old fellow away from this land; for, if my master had parted with it, there is nothing for us to live upon.
lepide hercle dé agro ego hunc senem deterrui;nam qui vivamus nihil est, si illum amiserit.
PHILTO:Lesbonicus, I now return to you.
Philto:Redeo ad te, Lesbonice.
LESBONICUS:Tell me, if you please, what has he been saying to you?
Lesbonicvs:Dic sodes mihi,quid hic est locutus tecum?
PHILTO:What do you suppose? He is a man; he wishes to become a free man, but he has not the money to give.
Philto:Quid censes? homost:volt fieri liber, verum quod det non habet.
LESBONICUS:And I wish to be rich, but all in vain.STASIMUS: (aside.)
Lesbonicvs:Et ego esse locuples, verum nequiquam volo.
You might have been, if you had chosen; now, since you have nothing, you cannot be.
Stasimvs:Licitumst, si velles; nunc, quom nihil est, non licet.
LESBONICUS:What are you talking about to yourself, Stasimus?
Lesbonicvs:Quid tecum, Stasime?
STASIMUS:About that which you were saying just now: if you had chosen formerly, you might have been rich; now you are wishing too late.
Stasimvs:De istoc quod dixti modo:si ante voluisses, esses; nunc sero cupis.
PHILTO:No terms can be come to with me about the marriage-portion;
Philto:De dote mecum convenire nil potest:
whatever pleases you, do you transact it yourself with my son. Now, I ask for your sister for my son; and may the matter turn out well. What now? are you still considering?
quid tibi lubet tute agito cum nato meo.nunc tuam sororem filio posco meo.quae res bene vortat. quid nunc? etiam consulis?
LESBONICUS:What—about that matter? Since you will have it so—may the Gods prosper it—I promise her.
Lesbonicvs:Quid istíc? quando ita vis: di bene vortant. spondeo.
PHILTO:Never, by my troth, was a sonborn so ardently longed for by any one, as was that expression “I promise her,” when born for me.
Stasimvs:Numquam edepol quoiquam ⟨tam⟩ expectatus filiusnatus quam illuc est spondeo natum mihi.
STASIMUS:The Gods will prosper all your plans.PHILTO:So I wish.Come this way with me, Lesbonicus, that a day may be agreed on for the nuptials, in the presence of Lysiteles: this agreement we will ratify on that same day.(Exit PHILTO.)
di fortunabunt vostra consilia.Philto:Ita volo.
LESBONICUS:Now, Stasimus, go you there (points to the house which he has sold to CALLICLES) to the house of Callicles, to my sister; tell her how this matter has been arranged.
Lesbonicvs:Sed, Stasime, abi huc ad meam sororem ad Calliclem,dic hoc negoti quo modo actumst.
STASIMUS:I will go.
Stasimvs:Ibitur.
LESBONICUS:And congratulate my sister.
Lesbonicvs:Et gratulator meae sorori.
STASIMUS:Very well.
Stasimvs:Scilicet.Philto:I hac, Lesbonice, mecum, ut coram nuptiisdies cónstituatur; eadem haec confirmabimus.—
LESBONICUS:Tell Callicles to meet me—
Lesbonicvs:[Tu ístuc cura quod iussi. ego iam hic ero.—]dic Callicli, me ut convenat.
STASIMUS:But rather do you go now—
Stasimvs:Quin tu i modo.
LESBONICUS:That he may see what is necessary to be done about the portion.
Lesbonicvs:De dote ut videat quid opus sit facto.
STASIMUS:Do go now.
Stasimvs:I modo.
LESBONICUS:For I have determined not to give her without a portion.
Lesbonicvs:Nam certumst sine dote haud dare.
STASIMUS:But rather do you go now.
Stasimvs:Quin tu i modo.
LESBONICUS:And I will never allow it to be a detriment to her by reason of—
Lesbonicvs:Neque enim illi damno umquam esse patiar
STASIMUS:Do be off now.
Stasimvs:Abi modo.
LESBONICUS:My recklessness—
Lesbonicvs:Meam néglegentiam.
STASIMUS:Do go now.
Stasimvs:I modo.
LESBONICUS:It seems by no means just, but that, since I have done wrong—
Lesbonicvs:⟨Nullo modo⟩aequom videtur quin quod peccarim
STASIMUS:Do go now.
Stasimvs:I modo.
LESBONICUS:It should be chiefly a detriment to myself.
Lesbonicvs:Potissimum mi id obsit.
STASIMUS:Do go now.
Stasimvs:I modo.
LESBONICUS:O my father!and shall I ever see you again?
Lesbonicvs:O pater,enumquam aspiciam te?—
STASIMUS:Do go now. Go—go now.LESBONICUS:I am going.Do you take care of that which I have asked you. I shall be here directly. (Exit LESBONICUS.)
Stasimvs:I modo, i modo, i modo.
STASIMUS:At length I have prevailed on him to go. In the name of the immortal Gods, i’ faith,’tis a matter well managed by wrongful means of performance, inasmuch as our piece of land is safe; although even now ’tis still a very doubtful matter what may be the result of this affair.
tandem impetravi abiret. di vestram fidem,edepol re gesta pessume gestam probe,si quidem ager nobis salvos est; etsi admodumin ambiguo est etiam nunc quid ea re fuat.
But, if the land is parted with,’tis all over with my neck; I must carry a buckler in foreign lands, a helmet too, and my baggage. He will be running away from the city when the nuptials have been celebrated; he will be going hence to extreme and utter ruin, somewhere or other, to serve as a soldier, either to Asia or to Cilicia.
sed id si alienatur, actumst de collo meo,gestandust peregre clupeus, galea, sarcina:effugiet ex urbe, ubi erunt factae nuptiae,ibít istac, aliquo, in maximam malam crucem,latrocinatum, aut in Asiam aut in Ciliciam.
I will go there (looking at the door of the house bouight by CALLICLES), where he has ordered me to go, although I detest this house ever since he has driven us out of our abode.(Exit into the house of CHARMIDES.) (Enter CALLICLES and STASIMUS.)CALLICLES:To what effect were you speaking about this, Stasimus?
ibo huc quo mi imperatumst, etsi odi hanc domum,postquam exturbavit hic nós ex nostris aedibus.—Callicles:Quó modo tu istuc, Stasime, dixti?
STASIMUS:That Lesbonicus, the son of my master, has betrothed his sister; in those terms.
Stasimvs:Nostrum erilem filiumLesbonicum suam sororem despondisse. em hoc modo.
CALLICLES:To what person has he betrothed her?
Callicles:Cuí homini despondit?
STASIMUS:To Lysiteles, the son of Philto; without a portion, too.
Stasimvs:Lysiteli Philtonis filio,sine dote.
CALLICLES:Without a portion, will he marry her into a family so rich? You are telling me a thing not to be credited.
Callicles:Sine dote ille illam in tantas divitias dabit?non credibile dicis.
STASIMUS:Why, faith, you would be for never believing. If you don’t believe this, at all events I shall be believing—
Stasimvs:At tu édepol nullus creduas.si hoc non credis, ego credidero—
CALLICLES:What?
Callicles:Quid?
STASIMUS:That I don’t care a fig for your belief.
Stasimvs:Me nihili pendere.
CALLICLES:How long since, or where, was this matter agreed to?
Callicles:Quam dudum istuc aut ubi actumst?
STASIMUS:On this very spot—here, before his door (pointing to PHILTO’S house). This moment-like, as the man of Praeneste says.
Stasimvs:Ilico hic ante ostium,tam modo, inquit Praenestinus.
CALLICLES:And has Lesbonicus, amid his ruined fortunes, become so much more frugal than in his prosperous circumstances?
Callicles:Tanton in re perdita,quam in re salva Lesbonicus factus est frugalior?
STASIMUS:Why, in fact, Philto himself came of his own accord to make the offer for his son.CALLICLES: (aside.)
Stasimvs:Atque equidem ipsus ultro venit Philto oratum filio.
By my troth, it really will be a disgrace, if a portion is not given to the maiden. In fine, I think, i’ faith, that that matter concerns myself. I will go to my corrector, and will ask advice of him.(Exit.)STASIMUS:I pretty nearly guess, and I have a strong suspicion, why he makes such speed on this: namely, that he may turn Lesbonicus out of his bit of land, after he has turned him out of his house. O Charmides, my master! since your property here is being torn to pieces in your absence, I wish I could see you return safe, that you might both take vengeance on your enemies, and give the reward to me according as I have behaved, and do behave towards you.
Callicles:Flagitium quidem hercle fiet, nisi dos dabitur virgini.postremo edepol ego istam rem ad me áttinere intellego.ibo ad meum castigatorem atque ab eo consilium petam.—Stasimvs:Propemodum quid illic festinet sentio et subolet mihi:ut agro evortat Lesbonicum, quando evortit aedibus.o ere Charmides, quam apsenti hic tua res distrahitur tibi!utinam te rediisse salvom videam, ut inimicos tuosulciscare, ut míhi, ut erga te fui et sum, referas gratiam.
’Tis an extremely difficult thing for a friend to be found really such as the name imports, to whom, when you have entrusted your interests, you may sleep without any care. But lo! I perceive our son-in-law coming, together with his neighbour. Something—what, I know not—is wrong between them. They are walking, each with a hasty step; the one is catching the other that is before him by the cloak.
nimium difficilest reperiri amicum ita ut nomen cluet,quoi tuam quom rem credideris, síne omni cura dormias.sed generum nostrum ire eccillum video cum adfini suo.nescio quíd non satis inter eos convenit: celeri gradueunt uterque, ille reprehendit hunc priorem pallio.
They have come to a stop in no very courteous fashion. I’ll step aside here a little distance. I have a wish to hear the conversation of these two that are to be connected by marriage.(He retires to a distance.) (Enter LYSITELES and LESBONICUS.)
haud ineuscheme astiterunt. huc aliquantum apscessero:est lubido orationem audire duorum adfinium.
LYSITELES:Stay, this moment; don’t turn away, and don’t hide yourself from me.(He catches hold of his cloak.)
Lysiteles:Sta ilico, noli avorsari neque te occultassis mihi.
LESBONICUS: (shaking him off)Can’t you allow me to go whither I was proceeding?
Lesbonicvs:Potin ut me ire quo profectus sum sinas?
LYSITELES:If, Lesbonicus, it seems to be to your interest, either for your glory or for your honour, I will let you go.
Lysiteles:Si in rem tuam,Lesbonice, esse videatur, gloriae aut famae, sinam.
LESBONICUS:You are doing a thing that it is very easy to do.
Lesbonicvs:Quod est facillumum, facís.
LYSITELES:What is that?
Lysiteles:Quid id est?
LESBONICUS:An injury to a friend.
Lesbonicvs:Amico iniuriam.
LYSITELES:It is no way of mine, and I have not learned so to do.
Lysiteles:Neque meumst neque facere didici.
LESBONICUS:Untaught as you are, how cleverly you do it. What would you have done, if any one had taught you to be thus annoying to me? You, who, when you pretend to be acting kindly to me, use me ill, and are intending evil.
Lesbonicvs:Indoctus quam docte facis.quid faceres, si quis docuisset te, ut sic odio esses mihi?[qui] bene cum simulas facere mihi te, male facis, male consulis.
LYSITELES:What!—I?
Lysiteles:Egone?
LESBONICUS:Yes—you.
Lesbonicvs:Tune.
LYSITELES:How do I use you ill?
Lysiteles:Quid male facio?
LESBONICUS:Inasmuch as you do that which I do not wish.
Lesbonicvs:Quod ego nolo, id cum facis.
LYSITELES:I wish to consult your advantage.
Lysiteles:Tuae rei bene consulere cupio.
LESBONICUS:Are you kinder to me than I am to myself? I have sense enough; I see sufficiently well those things that are for my own advantage.
Lesbonicvs:Tu [mihi] es melior quam egomet mihi?sat sapio, satis in rem quae sint meam ego conspicio mihi.
LYSITELES:And is it having sense enough to refuse a kindness from a well-wisher?
Lysiteles:An id est sapere, ut qui beneficium a benevolente repudies?
LESBONICUS:I reckon it to be no kindness, when it does not please him on whom you are conferring it. I know, and I understand myself what I am doing, and my mind forsakes not its duty;nor will I be driven by your speeches from paying due regard to my own character.
Lesbonicvs:Nullum beneficium ésse duco id quod quoi facias non placet.scio ego et sentio ipse quid agam, neque mens officio migrat,nec tuis depellar dictis quin rumori serviam.
LYSITELES:What do you say? For now I cannot be restrained from saying to you the things which you deserve. Have your forefathers, I pray, so handed down this reputation to you, that you, by your excesses, might lose what before was gained by their merit, and that you might become a bar to the honour of your own posterity?Your father and your grandfather made an easy and a level path for you to attain to honour; whereas you have made it to become a difficult one, by your extreme recklessness and sloth, and your besotted ways. You have made your election, to prefer your passions to virtue. Now, do you suppose that you can cover over your faults by these means? Alas!’tis impossible.
Lysiteles:Quid ais? nam retineri nequeo quin dicam ea quae promeres:itan tandem hanc maiores famam tradiderunt tibi tui,ut virtute eorum anteparta per flagitium perderes?atque honori posterorum tuorum ut vindex fieres,tibi paterque avosque facilem fecit et planam viamad quaerundum honorem: tu fecisti ut difficilis foret,culpa maxume et desidia tuisque stultis moribus.praeoptavisti, amorem tuom uti virtuti praeponeres.nunc te hoc pacto credis posse optegere errata? aha, non itast:
Welcome virtue to your mind, if you please, and expel slothfulness from your heart. Give your attention to your he-friends in the Courts of justice, and not to the couch of your she-friend, as you are wont to do. And earnestly do I now wish this piece of land to be left to you for this reason, that you may have wherewithal to reform yourself; so that those citizens, whom you have for enemies, may not be able altogether to throw your poverty in your teeth.
cape sis virtutem animo et corde expelle desidiam tuo:in foro operam amicis da, ne in lecto amicae, ut solitus es.atque ego istum agrum tíbi relinqui ób eam rem enixe expeto,ut tibi sit qui te corrigere possis, ne omnino inopiamcives obiectare possint tibi, quos tu inimicos habes.
LESBONICUS:All these things which you have been saying, I know—could even set my seal to them: how I have spoiled my patrimonial estate and the fair fame of my forefathers. I knew how it became me to live; to my misfortune I was not able to act accordingly. Thus, overpowered by the force of passion, inclined to ease, I fell into the snare; and now to you, quite as you deserve, I do return most hearty thanks.
Lesbonicvs:Omnia ego istaec quae tu dixti scio, vel exsignavero,ut rem patriam et gloriam maiorum foedarim meum:scibam ut esse me deceret, facere non quibam miser;ita vi Veneris vinctus, otio captus in fraudem incidi.et tibi nunc, proinde ut merere, summas habeo gratias.
LYSITELES:Still, I cannot suffer my labour to be thus lost, and yourself to despise these words; at the same time, it grieves me that you have so little shame. And, in fine, unless you listen to me, and do this that I mention, you yourself will easily lie concealed behind your own self, so that honour cannot find you; when you will wish yourself to be especially distinguished, you will be lying in obscurity.
Lysiteles:At operam perire meam sic et te haec dicta corde spernere †perpeti nequeo, simul me piget parum pudere te;et postremo, nisi mi auscultas atque hoc ut dico facis,tute pone te latebis facile, ne inveniat te Honor,in occulto iacebis cum te maxume clarum voles.
I know right well, for my part, Lesbonicus, your highly ingenuous disposition; I know that of your own accord you have not done wrong, but that it is Love that has blinded your heart; and I myself comprehend all the ways of Love. As the charge of the balista is hurled, so is Love; nothing is there so swift, or that so swiftly flies; he, too, makes the manners of men both foolish and froward.
pernovi equidem, Lesbonice, ingenium tuom ingenuom admodum;scio te sponte non tuapte errasse, sed amorem tibipectus opscurasse; atque ipse Amoris teneo omnis vias.ita est amor, ballista ut iacitur: nihil sic celere est neque volat;atque is mores hominum moros et morosos efficit:
That which is the most commended pleases him the least; that from which he is dissuaded pleases him. When there is a scarcity, then you long for a thing; when there is an abundance of it, then you don’t care for it. The person that warns him off from a thing, the same invites him; he that persuades him to it interdicts him.’Tis a misfortune of insanity for you to fly to Cupid for refuge. But I advise you again and again to think of this, how you should seek to act.
minus placet magis quód suadetur, quod dissuadetur placet;quom inopiast, cupias, quando eius copiast, tum non velis;[ille qui aspéllit is compellit, ille qui cónsuadet vetat.]insanum [et] malumst in hospítium devorti ad Cupidinem.sed te moneo hoc etiam atque etiam, ut reputes quid facere expetas.
If you attempt to do according as you are now showing signs, you will cause the conflagration of your family; and then, in consequence, you will have a desire for water with which to quench this conflagration of your family. And if you should obtain it, just as lovers are subtle in their devices, you will not leave even one spark with which your family may brighten up.
si istuc, ut conare, facis † indicium tuom incendes genus;tum igitur tibi aquae érit cupido, genus qui restinguas tuom,atque sí eris nactus, proinde ut corde amantes sunt cati—ne scintillam quidem relinques, genus qui congliscat tuom.
LESBONICUS:’Tis easy to be found: fire is granted, even though you should ask it of a foe.
Lesbonicvs:Facilest inventu: datur ignis, tametsi ab inimico petas.
But you, by your reproof, are urging me from my faults to a viler course. You are persuading me to give you my sister without a portion. But it does not become me, who have misused so great a patrimony, to be still in affluent circumstances, and to be possessing land, but her to be in want, so as with good reason to detest me. Never will he be respected by others who makes himself despised by his own relatives.
sed tu obiurgans me a peccatis rapis deteriorem in viam.meam [vis] sororem tibi dem suades sine dote. aha, non convenitme, qui abusus sum tantam rem patriam, porro in ditiisesse agrumque habere, egere illam autem, ut me merito oderit.numquam erit alienis gravis qui suis se concinnat levem.
As I said, I will do; I do not wish you to be in doubt any longer.
sicut dixi, faciam: nolo te iactari diutius.
LYSITELES:And is it so much preferable that for your sister’s sake you should incur poverty, and that I should possess that piece of land rather than yourself, who ought to be upholding your own walls?
Lysiteles:Tanto meliust te sororis causa egestatem exsequiatque eum agrum me habere, quam te, tua qui toleres moenia?
LESBONICUS:I do not wish you so much to have regard to myself, in order that you may relieve my poverty, as that in my neediness I may not become disgraced: that people may not spread about this report of me,that I gave my own sister without a portion to you, rather in concubinage than in marriage. Who would be said to be more dishonorable than I? The spreading of this report might do credit to you, but it would defile me, if you were to marry her without a portion. For you it would be a gain of reputation, for me it would be something for people to throw in my teeth.
Lesbonicvs:Nolo ego mihi te tam prospicere, qui meam egestatem leves,sed ut inops infamis ne sim, ne mi hanc famam differant,me germanam meam sororem in concubinatum tibi,si sine dote ⟨dem⟩, dedisse magis quam in matrimonium.quis me improbior perhibeatur esse? haec famigeratioté honestet, me conlutulentet, si sine dote duxeris:tibi sit emolumentum honoris, mihi quod obiectent siet.
LYSITELES:Why so? Do you suppose that you will become Dictator if I accept the land of you?
Lysiteles:Quid? te dictatorem censes fore, si aps té agrum acceperim?
LESBONICUS:I neither wish, nor require, nor do I think so; but still, to be mindful of his duty, is true honour to an upright man.
Lesbonicvs:Neque volo neque postulo neque censeo, verum tamenis est honos homini pudico, meminisse officium suom.
LYSITELES:For my part, I know you, how you are disposed in mind; I see it, I discover it, I apprehend. You are doing this, that when you have formed an alliance between us,and when you have given up this piece of land, and have nothing here with which to support life, in beggary you may fly from the city, in exile you may desert your country, your kindred, your connexions, your friends,—the nuptials once over. People would suppose that you were frightened hence by my means, and through my cupidity. Do not fancy in your mind that I will act so as to allow that to happen.STASIMUS: (advanccing.)
Lysiteles:Scio equidem te animatus ut sis; video, subolet, sentio:id agis, ut, ubi adfinitatem inter nos nostram adstrinxerisatque eum agrum dederis nec quicquam hic tibi sit qui vitam colas,effugias ex urbe inanis; profugus patriam deseres,cognatos, adfinitatem, amicos factis nuptiis:mea opera hinc proterritum te meaque avaritia autument.id me commissurum ut patiar fieri, ne animum induxeris.
Well, I cannot but exclaim, “Well done, well done, Lysiteles, encore.” Easily do you win the victory; the other is conquered: your performance is superior. This one (pointing to LYSITELES) acts better in character, and composes better lines. By reason of your folly do you still dispute it? Stand in awe of the fine.
Stasimvs:Non enim póssum quin exclamem euge. euge, Lysiteles, πάλιν.facile palmam habes: hic victust, vicit tua comoedia.hic agit magis ex argumento et versus melioris facit.etiam ob stultitiam tuam te † curis multabo mina.
LESBONICUS:What means this interruption of yours, or your intrusion here upon our conversation?
Lesbonicvs:Quid tibi intérpellatio aut in consilium huc accessio est?
STASIMUS:The same way that I came here I’ll get me gone.
Stasimvs:Eodem pacto, quo huc accessi, apscessero.
LESBONICUS:Step this way home with me, Lysiteles; there we will talk at length about these matters.
Lesbonicvs:I hac mecum domum,Lysiteles, ibi de istis rebus plura fabulabimur.
LYSITELES:I am not in the habit of doing anything in secret. Just as my feelings are I will speak out. If your sister, as I think it right, is thus given to me in marriage without a portion, and if you are not about to go away hence, that which shall be mine, the same shall be yours.
Lysiteles:Nil ego in occulto agere soleo. meus ut animust, eloquar:si mihi tua soror, ut ego aequom censeo, ita nuptum datur,sine dote, neque tu hinc abituru's abiturus es, quod meum erit id erit tuom;
But if you are minded otherwise, may that which you do turn out for you for the best. I will never be your friend on any other terms; such is my determination.(Exit LESBONICUS, followed by LYSITELES.)STASIMUS:Faith, he’s off. D’ye hear—Lysiteles? I want you. He’s off as well. Stasimus, you remain alone. What am I now to do, but to buckle up my baggage and sling my buckler on my back,and order soles to be fastened beneath my shoes? There is no staying now. I see that no long time hence I shall be a soldier’s drudge. And when my master has thrown himself into the pay of some potentate, I guess that among the greatest warriors he will prove a brave —hand at running away, and that there he will capture the spoil, who-shall come to attack my master.
sin aliter animatus es, bene quod agas eveniat tibi,ego amicus numquam tibi ero alio pacto. sic sententia est.—Stasimvs:Abiit [hercle] ille quidem. ecquid audis, Lysiteles? ego te volo.hic quoque hinc ábiit. Stasime, restas solus. quid ego nunc agam,nisi uti sarcinam constringam et clupeum ad dorsum accommodem,fulmentas iubeam suppingi soccis? non sisti potest.video caculam militarem me futurum haud longius:ad aliquem regem in saginam erus sése coniciet meus;credo ad summos bellatores acrem fugitorem foreet capturum spolia ibi illum quí [meo] ero adversus venerit.
I myself, the moment that I shall have assumed my bow and quiver and arrows, and the helmet on my head, shall-go to sleep very quietly in my tent. I’ll be off to the Forum; I’ll ask that talent back of the person to whom I lent it six days since, that I may have some provision for the journey to carry with me.(Exit.) (Enter MEGARONIDES and CALLICLES.)MEGARONIDES:According as you relate the matter to me, Callicles, it really can by no meansbe but that a portion must be given to the girl.
egomet autem quom extemplo arcum [mihi] et pharetram et ságittas sumpsero,cassidem in caput, dormibo placide ín tabernaculo.ad forum ibo: nudius sextus quoi talentum mutuomdedi, reposcam, ut habeam, mecum quod feram, viaticum.—Megaronides:Vt mihi rem narras, Callicles, nullo modopotest fíeri prosus quin dos detur virgini.
CALLICLES:Why, troth, it would hardly be honestly done on my part, if I were to allow her to contract a marriage without a portion, when I have her property in my possession at home. …
Callicles:Namque hercle honeste fieri ferme non potest,ut eam perpetiar ire in matrimoniumsine dote, quom eius rem penes me habeam domi.
MEGARONIDES:… A portion is ready at your house; unless you like to waituntil her brother has disposed of her in marriage without a portion. After that, you might go to Philto yourself, and might say that you present her with a portion, and that you do it on account of your intimacy with her father. But I dread this, lest that offer might bring you into crimination and disgrace with the public.
Megaronides:Parata dos domist; nisi expectare vis,ut eam sine dote frater nuptum conlocet.post adeas tute Philtonem et dotem darete ei dicas, facere id eius ob amícitiam patris.verum hoc ego vereor, ne istaec pollicitatiote in crimen populo ponat atque infamiam;
They would say that you were so kind to the girl not without some good reason; that the dowry which you presented her was given you by her father; they would think that you were portioning her out of that, and that you had not kept it safe for her just as it was given, and that you had withheld some part. Now, if you wish to await the return of Charmides,the time is very long; meanwhile, the inclination to marry her may leave this Lysiteles; this proposal, too, is quite a first-rate one for her.
non temere dicant te benignum virgini:datam tibi dotem, ei quam dares, eius a patre,ex ea largiri te illi, neque ita ut sit datacolumem te sistere illi, et detraxe autument.nunc si opperiri vis adventum Charmidi,perlongumst: huic ducendi interea abscesseritlubido; atque ea condicio huic vel primaria est.
CALLICLES:All these very same things suggest themselves to my mind.
Callicles:Nam hercle omnia istaec veniunt in mentem mihi.
MEGARONIDES:Consider if you think this more feasible and more to the purpose: go to the young man himself, and tell him how the matter really stands.
vide si hóc utibile magis atque in rem deputas,ut adeam Lesbonicum, edoceam ut res se habet.
CALLICLES:Should I now discover the treasure to a young man, ill-regulated, and brimful of passion and of wantonness? No, faith, most assuredly, by no means. For I know, beyond a doubt, that he would devour even all that spot where it is buried. I fear to dig for it, lest he should hear the noise;lest, too, he might trace out the matter itself, if I should say I will give her a portion.
sed ut égo nunc adulescenti thensaurum indicemindomito, pleno amoris ac lasciviae?minime, minime hercle vero. nam certo scio,locum quoque illum omnem, ubi situst, comederit;quem fodere metuo, sonitum ne ille exaudiatneu rem ipsam indaget, dotem dare si dixerim.
MEGARONIDES:By what method, then, can the portion be secretly taken out?
Megaronides:Quo pacto ergo igitur clam dos depromi potest?
CALLICLES:Until an opportunity can be found for that business, I would, in the meanwhile, ask for a loan of the money from some friend or other.
Callicles:Dum occasio ei ⟨rei⟩ reperiatur, interimab amico alicunde mutuom argentum rogem.
MEGARONIDES:Can it be obtained from some friend or other?
Megaronides:Potin est ab amico alicunde exorari?
CALLICLES:It can.
Callicles:Potest.
MEGARONIDES:Nonsense; you’ll certainly meet with this answer at once: “O, upon my faith, I really have not anything that I can lend you.”
Megaronides:Gerrae. ne tu illud verbum actutum inveneris:“mihi quidem hercle non est quod dem mutuom.”
CALLICLES:Troth, I would rather they would tell me the truth than lend me the money with a bad grace.
Callicles:Malim hercle ut verum dicas, quam ut des mutuom.
MEGARONIDES:But consider this plan, if it pleases you.
Megaronides:Sed vide consilium, si placet.
CALLICLES:What is the plan?
Callicles:Quid consilist?
MEGARONIDES:I have found out a clever plan, as I think.
Megaronides:Scitum, ut ego opinor, consilium inveni.
CALLICLES:What is it?
Callicles:Quid est?
MEGARONIDES:Let some person, now, be hired,of an appearance as much unknown as possible, such as has not been often seen.Let this person be dressed up to the life after a foreign fashion, just as though he were a foreigner.
Megaronides:Homo cónducatur aliquis iam, quantum potest,[quasi sit peregrinus.]
CALLICLES:What is he to understand that he must do after that?
Callicles:[Quid is scit facere postea?]Megaronides:ignota facie, quae ⟨hic⟩ non visitata sit;
MEGARONIDES:It is necessary for him to be some lying,deceiving, impudent fellow—a lounger from the Forum.
mendacilocum aliquemCallicles:[Quid is scit facere postea?]Megaronides:falsidicum, confidentem.
CALLICLES:And what then, after that?
Callicles:Quid tum postea?Megaronides:Is homo exornetur graphice in peregrinum modum;
MEGARONIDES:Let him come to the young man as though from Seleucia, from his father; let him pronounce his salutation to him in the words of his father, say that he is prospering in business, and is alive and well, and that he will be shortly coming back again. Let him bring two letters;let us seal these, as though they are from his father. Let him give the one to him, and let him say that he wishes to give the other to yourself.CALLICLES:Go on, and tell me still further.
quasi ad adulescentem a patre ex Seleuciaveniat, salutem ei nuntiet verbis patris:illum bene gerere rem et valere et vivere,et eum rediturum actutum; ferat epistulasduas, éas nos consignemus, quasi sint a patre:det alteram illi, álteram dicat tibidare sese velle.Callicles:Perge porro dicere.
MEGARONIDES:Let him say that he is bringing some gold as a marriage-portion from her father for the girl, and that his father has requested him to deliver it to you.
Megaronides:Seque aurum ferre virgini dotem a patredicat patremque id iussisse aurum tibi dare.
Do you understand me now?CALLICLES:Pretty nearly; and I listen with great satisfaction.
tenes iam?Callicles:Propemodo, atque ausculto perlubens.
MEGARONIDES:Then, in consequence, you will finally give the gold to the young man when the girl shall be given in marriage.
Megaronides:Tum tú igitur demum adulescenti aurum dabis,ubi erit locata virgo in matrimonium.
CALLICLES:Troth,’tis very cleverly contrived.
Callicles:Scite hercle sane.
MEGARONIDES:By this means, when you have dug up the treasure, you will have removed all cause for suspicion from the young man.
Megaronides:Hoc, ubi thensaurum effoderis,suspicionem ab adulescente amoveris:
He will think that the gold has been brought to you from his father; whereas, you will be taking it from the treasure.CALLICLES:Very cleverly and fairly contrived; although I am ashamed, at this time of life, for me to be playing a double part. But when he shall bring the letters sealed, don’t you suppose that the young man will thenrecollect the impression of his father’s signet?
censebit aurum esse a patre allatum tibi,tu de thensauro sumes.Callicles:Satis scite et probe;quamquam hoc me aetatis sycophantari pudet.sed epistulas quando opsignatas adferet,[sed quom opsignatas attulerit epistulas]nonne arbitraris eum adulescentem anulipaterni signum novisse?
MEGARONIDES:Will you be silent now? Reasons innumerable may be found for that circumstance. That which he used to have he has lost, and he has since had another new one made. Then, if he should bring them not sealed at all, this might be said,—that they had been unsealed for him by the custom-house officers,and had been examined. On matters of this kind, however,’tis mere idleness to spend the day in talk; although a long discussion might be spun out. Go now, at once, privately to the treasure; send to a distance the men-servants and the maids; and—do you hear?
Megaronides:Etiam tu taces?sescentae ad eam rem causae possunt conligi:illum quem habuit perdidit, alium post fecit novom.†iam si opsignatas non feret, dici hoc potest,apud pórtitorem eas resignatas sibiinspectasque esse. in huius modi negotiodiem sermone terere segnities merast:quam vis sermones possunt longi texier.abi ad thensaurum iam confestim clanculum,servos ancillas amove. atque audin?
CALLICLES:What is it?
Callicles:Quid est?
MEGARONIDES:Take care that you conceal this matter from that same wife of yours as well; for, i’ faith, there is never any subject which they can be silent upon. Why are you standing now? Why don’t you take yourself off hence, and bestir yourself? Open the treasure, take thence as much gold as is requisite for this purpose; at once close it up again, but secretly,as I have enjoined you; turn all out of the house.
Megaronides:Vxorem quoque eampse hanc rem uti celes face,nam pol tacere numquam quicquamst quod queat.quid nunc stas? quin tu hinc amoves et te moves?aperi, deprome inde auri ad hanc rem quod sat est,continuo operíto denuo; sed clanculum,sicut praecepi; cunctos exturba aedibus.
CALLICLES:I will do so.
Callicles:Ita faciam.
MEGARONIDES:But, really, we are continuing too long a discourse; we are wasting the day, whereas there is need now of all expedition. There is nothing for you to fear about the seal; trust me for that. This is a clever excuse to give, as I mentioned,that they have been looked at by the officers. In fine, don’t you see the time of day? What do you think of him being of such a nature and disposition? He is drunk already; anything you like may be proved for him. Besides, what is the greatest point of all, this person will say that he brings, and not that he applies for, money.
Megaronides:At énim nimis lóngo sermone utimur,diem conficimus quod iam properatost opus.nihil est de signo quod vereare; me vide:lepida est illa caúsa, ut commemoravi, dicereapud pórtitores esse inspectas. deniquediei tempus non vides? quid illúm putas,natura illa atque ingenio? iam dudum ebriust.quidvis probare poterit; tum, quod maxumumst,adferre, non petere hinc se dicet.
CALLICLES:Now, that’s enough.
Callicles:Iam sat est.
MEGARONIDES:I am now going to hire a sharper from the Forum, and then I will seal the two letters; and I’ll send him thither (pointing to the house of CHARMIDES), well tutored in his part, to this young man.
Megaronides:Ego sycophantam iam conduco de foroepistulasque iam consignabo duas,eumque húc ⟨ad⟩ adulescentem meditatum probemittam.
CALLICLES:I am going in-doors then to my duty in consequence. Do you see about this matter.
Callicles:Eo ego igitur intro ad officium meum.tu istuc age.—
MEGARONIDES:I’ll take care it’s done in the very cleverest style.(Exeunt.) (Enter CHARMIDES.)
Megaronides:Actum reddam nugacissume.—
CHARMIDES:To Neptune, potent o’er the deep and most powerful, the brother of aethereal Jove, joyously and sincerely do I proffer praise, and return my grateful thanks; to the salt waves, too, with whom lay supreme power over myself,—one, too, that existed over my property and my life, —inasmuch as from their realms they have returned me safe and sound even to my own native city. And, Neptune, before the other Deities, do I both give and return to you extreme thanks.
Charmides:Salsípotenti et mulsípotenti Iovis frátri et Nerei Néptunolaetús lubens laudes ágo et grates gratiásque habeo et fluctibus salsis,quos pénes mei ⟨fuit saepé⟩ potestas, bonis meís quid foret et meaé vitae,quom suís med ex locis ín patriam suavíssumam reducem fáciunt.atque égo, Neptune, tibi ánte alios deos grátias ago atque habeó summas;
For all people talk of you as being cruel and severe, of voracious habits, filthy, unsightly, unendurable, and outrageous; on the other hand, I have experienced your kindly aid. For, in good sooth, I have found you mild and merciful upon the deep, even to that degree that I wished. This commendation, too, I had already heard with these ears before of you among men,—that you were accustomed to spare the poor, and to depress and overawe the rich.
nam te ómnes saevomqué severumque atque ávidis moribus cómmemorant,spurcíficum, immanem, intólerandum, vesánum: contra opera éxpertus,nam pól placido te et clémenti meo usqué modo, ut volui, usús sum in alto.atque hánc tuam gloriam iam ánte auribus accéperam, et nobilest ápud homines,paupéribus te parcére solitum, dités damnare atqué domare.
Adieu! I commend you; you know how to treat men properly, according as is just. This is worthy of the Gods; they should ever prove benignant to the needy; to men of high station, quite otherwise. Trusty have you proved, though they are in the habit of saying that you cannot be trusted. For, without you, it would have happened, I am very sure, that on the deep your attendants would have shockingly torn in pieces and rent asunder wretched me, and, together with me, my property as well, in every direction throughout the azure surface of ocean.
abi, laúdo, scis ordíne, ut aequomst, tractáre homines; hoc dís dignumst.[semper mendicis modesti sint.]fidús fuisti: infidum ésse iterant; nam apsqué foret te, sat scío in altodistráxissent disqué tulissent satellítes tui me miserúm foedebonaque ómnia ⟨mea⟩ item uná mecum passím caeruleos pér campos:
But just now, like raging dogs, and no otherwise, did the winds in hurricane beset the ship; storms and waves, and raging squalls were about to roar, to break the mast, to bear down the yards, to split the sails; had not your favouring kindness been nigh at hand. Have done with me, if you please; henceforth have I now determined to give myself up to ease; enough have I got. With what pains have I struggled, while I was acquiring riches for my son.
ita iám quasi canes, haud sécus, circum stabánt navem turbinés venti,imbrés fluctusque atqué procellae infénsae frangere málum,ruere ántemnas, scindére vela, ni túa pax propitia fóret praesto.apage á me sis, dehinc iám certumst otió dare me; satis pártum habeoquibus aérumnis delúctavi, filió dum divitiás quaero.
But who is this that is coming up the street with his new-fangled garb and appearance? I’ faith, though I wish to be at home, I’ll wait awhile; at the same time, I will give my attention to see what business this fellow is about.(He retires aside.) (Enter the SHARPER.)
sed quís hic est, qui in plateam íngrediturcum nóvo ornatu speciéque simul?pol quámquam domi cupio, ópperiar,quam hic rém agat animum advortam.
A SHARPER.:To this day I give the name of “The Festival of the Three Pieces” (Trinummus); for, on this day, have I let out my services in a cheating scheme for three pieces of money.
Sycophanta:Huíc ego die nomén Trinummo fáciam: nam ego operám meamtribus nummis hodie locavi ad artis nugatorias.
I am just arrived from Seleucia, Macedonia, Asia, and Arabia,—places which I never visited either with my eye or with my foot. See now, what business poverty brings upon the man that is wretchedly destitute; inasmuch as I am now obliged, for the sake of three pieces of money, to say that I received these letters from a certain person, about whom I don’t know,nor have I ever known, who the man is, nor do I know this for certain, whether he was ever born or not.CHARMIDES: (behind.)
advenio ex Seleucia, Macedonia, Asia atque Arabia,quas ego neque oculis nec pedibus umquam usurpavi meis.viden egestas quid negoti dat homini misero mali,quin ego nunc subigor trium nummum causa ut hasce epistulasdicam ab eo homine me accepisse, quem ego qui sit homo nescioneque novi, neque natus necne is fuerit, id solide scio.