HEGIO, an aged Athenian, kinsman of Sostrata. AESCHINUS, son of Demea, £adopted by Micio. CTESIPHO, another son of Demea. SANNIO, a Procurer. GETA, servant of Sostrata. PAMPHILA, a young woman beloved by Aeschinus. SOSTRATA, a widow, mother of Pamphila. CANTHARA, a Nurse. A Music-girl.THE TITLE OF THE PLAY. PERFORMED at the, Funeral Games of Aemilius Paulus, which were celebrated by Q. Fabius Maximns and P. Cornelius Africanus. L. Atilius Praenestinus and Minutius Prothimus performed it. Flaccus, the freedman of Claudius, composed the music for Sarranian flutes. Taken from the Greek of Menander, L. Anicius and M. Cornelius being Consuls.THE PROLOGUE.:Since the Poet has found that his writings are carped at by unfair critics, and that his adversaries represent in a bad light the Play that we are about to perform, he shall give information about himself; you shall be the judgeswhether this ought to be esteemed to his praise or to his discredit. The Synapothnescontes is a Comedy of Diphilus; Plautus made it into a Play called the “Commorientes.” In the Greek, there is a young man, who, at the early part of the Play, carries off a Courtesan from a Procurer; that part Plautushas entirely left out. This portion he has adopted in the Adelphi, and has transferred it, translated word for word. This new Play we are about to perform; determine then whether you think a theft has been committed, or a passage has been restored to notice which has been passed over in neglect.For as to what these malevolent persons say, that men of noble rank assist him, and are always writing in conjunction with him—that which they deem to be a heavy crimination, he takes to be the highest praise; since he pleases those who please you all and the public;the aid of whom in war, in peace, in private business, each one has availed himself of, on his own occasion, without any haughtiness on their part. Now then, do not expect the plot of the Play; the old men who come first will disclose it in part;a part in the representation they will make known. Do you cause your impartial attention to increase the industry of the Poet in writing?(Enter MICIO, calling to a servant within.)MICIO:Storax! Aeschinus has not returned home from the entertainment last night, nor any of the servants who went to fetch him. (To himself.) Really, they say it with reason, if you are absent anywhere, or if you stay abroad at any time,’twere better for that to happenwhich your wife says against you, and which in her passion she imagines in her mind, than the things which fond parents fancy. A wife, if you stay long abroad, either imagines that you are in love or are beloved, or that you are drinking and indulging your inclination, and that you only are taking your pleasure, while she herself is miserable.As for myself, in consequence of my son not having returned home, what do I imagine? In what ways am I not disturbed? For fear lest he may either have taken cold, or have fallen down somewhere, or have broken some limb. Oh dear! that any man should take it into his head, or find out what is dearer to him than he is to himself!And yet he is not my son, but my brother’s. He is quite different in disposition. I, from my very youth upward, have lived a comfortable town life, and taken my ease; and, what they esteem a piece of luck, I have never had a wife. He, on the contrary to all this,has spent his life in the country, and has always lived laboriously and penuriously. He married a wife, and has two sons. This one, the elder of them, I have adopted. I have brought him up from an infant, and considered and loved him as my own. In him I centre my delight; this object alone is dear to me.On the other hand, I take all due care that he may hold me equally dear. I give—I overlook; I do not judge it necessary to exert my authority in every thing; in fine, the things that youth prompts to, and that others do unknown to their fathers, I have used my son not to conceal from me.For he, who, as the practice is, will dare to tell a lie to or to deceive his father, will still more dare to do so to others. I think it better to restrain children through a sense of shame and liberal treatment, than through fear. On these points my brother does not agree with me, nor do they please him.He often comes to me exclaiming, “What are you about, Micio? Why do you ruin for us this youth? Why does he intrigue? Why does he drink? Why do you supply him with the means for these goings on? You indulge him with too much dress; you are very inconsiderate.” He himself is too strict, beyond what is just and reasonable;and he is very much mistaken, in my opinion, at all events, who thinks that an authority is more firm or more lasting which is established by force, than that which is founded on affection. Such is my mode of reasoning; and thus do I persuade myself. He, who, compelled by harsh treatment, does his duty,so long as he thinks it will be known, is on his guard: if he hopes that it will be concealed, he again returns to his natural bent. He whom you have secured by kindness, acts from inclination; he is anxious to return like for like; present and absent, he will be the same. This is the duty of a parent, to accustom a sonto do what is right rather of his own choice, than through fear of another. In this the father differs from the master: he who can not do this, let him confess that he does not know how to govern children. But is not this the very man of whom I was speaking? Surely it is he. I don’t know why it is I see him out of spirits; I suppose he’ll now be scolding as usual.Demea, I am glad to see you well.(Enter DEMEA.)DEMEA:Oh,—opportunely met; you are the very man I was looking for.
INTRODUCTION. This play derives its name from the two pairs of brothers who are introduced. Demea and Micio, the elders, had always been very dissimilar in character and manner of life. Micio was a pleasant old bachelor, and had always lived in town, and was very lenient and indulgent towards his young relations. Demea on the contrary had kept up the thrifty habits of his early years, residing on his farm and taking a severe view of the conduct of his sons. Ctesipho, the younger of his sons, lived with his father at this farm; but Aeschinus, the elder, had been adopted by his uncle. They had accordingly been very differently brought up. Ctesipho had been kept very strictly at home, and was, to the best of his father’s belief, a model of propriety. Aeschinus had been indulged by his uncle in every way, till he was notorious for his dissipation. He went so far at last as to offer violence to a young lady named Pamphila, whom he met one night when he was intoxicated. This was the last of his excesses. He promised to make all amends in his power by marrying Pamphila, and on this condition the matter was kept quiet by Sostrata her mother. Ctesipho in one of his visits to the town had fallen in love with a music girl belonging to a slave-merchant, and was carrying on an intercourse with her under the cover of his brother’s name; for Aeschinus had taken the credit of the affair to himself that his father might not hear of Ctesipho’s doings. After a time the slave-merchant gave notice to Ctesipho that unless he bought the music girl at his price she should be immediately sold. Ctesipho was in the greatest despair at this announcement, and was half inclined to run away from his troubles and leave the country, when Aeschinus, hearing the state of the case, cut matters short by breaking into the house of Sannio the slave-merchant, maltreating him, and carrying off the girl to his own house, where she was received by Ctesipho.Here the action of the play commences. Demea coming into town hears of this new outrage of Aeschinus’, and accuses his brother Micio of being the cause of all this excess. It was his indulgence that had made Aeschinus so dissolute. How different was the conduct of his brother Ctesipho who had been brought up strictly at home in the country! Micio in return justifies his mode of education. Meanwhile Aeschinus is busied, with the assistance of his slave Parmeno, in arranging matters with Sannio, who blusters loudly at first, but finds at last that the best plan is to pocket his affront and trust to the young men to pay him, for he will lose more by waiting to prosecute the affair, as he is on the eve of a voyage to Cyprus, than if he abandons the slave altogether. The news of Aeschinus’ prank had spread over the city, and it was now carried to Sostrata his destined mother-in-law by Geta her slave, who had witnessed the whole affair. Sostrata sends her trusty Geta to Hegio, an old friend of her late husband Simulus, who will stand by her, and see that her daughter has justice done her. Demea in the mean time is in consternation, for he has heard that Ctesipho was with Aeschinus when this music girl was carried off; but Syrus, one of Micio’s slaves, contrives, with great skill, to make the fact increase his good opinion of his son; for he represents Ctesipho to have taken part in the affair only to blame his brother’s dissolute conduct, and says that as soon as the matter was over he had returned to the country to his usual work. Demea is greatly affected to find that he has one son who is a credit to his family, and sets off for his farm. On his way he meets Hegio, from whom he learns the circumstances of Aeschinus’ connexion with Pamphila; and at the same time he finds from one of his farm servants that Ctesipho has never been to the farm at all, as Syrus had pretended. These news send him back to Micio in a rage; but he is again met with a new fiction by Syrus, who revenges himself on him by sending him on a fool’s errand over the whole town to look for his brother. Micio meanwhile has been with Hegio to Sostrata and Pamphila, and has comforted them by giving his consent to the marriage of the young lady and Aeschinus. Demea now returns from his fruitless search after his brother, and there is a general disturbance, particularly when one of the slaves accidentally betrays the fact of Ctesipho’s being in Micio’s house, where his father finds him with the music girl. After some more discussions between Demea and Micio, the former suddenly determines to change his demeanour; and to the surprise of every one whom he meets, and not a little to his own, he acts the courteous and complaisant man. He falls in with all their humours, and promotes the happiness of all parties. Pamphila is married to Aeschinus; Sannio is paid; Micio is made to marry Sostrata; Hegio is provided for; and Syrus and his wife are freed in consideration of the great services which the cunning slave had rendered to morality. The play concludes with a speech in which Demea explains the meaning of his late conduct, and gives his hearers a little wholesome advice for the future.ADELPHI. ACTA LUDIS FUNEBRIBUS AEMILII PAULLI QUOS FECERE Q. FABIUS MAXIMUS, P. CORNELIUS AFRICANUS. EGERE L. ATTILIUS PRAENESTINUS, MINUTIUS PROTHIMUS. MODOS FECIT FLACCUS CLAUDII, TIBIIS SARRANIS. FACTA GRAECA MENANDRU L. ANICIO M. CORNELIO COSS.PROLOGUS:POSTQUAM Poëta sensit scripturam suamAb iniquis observari, et adversariosRapere in peiorem partem quam acturi sumus,Indicio de se ipse erit; vos eritis iudicesLaudine an vitio duci id factum oporteat.Synapothnescontes Diphili comoedia est.Eam Commorientes Plautus fecit fabulam.In Graeca adolescens est qui lenoni eripuitMeretricem in prima fabula. Eum Plautus locumReliquit integrum: eum hic locum sumpsit sibiIn Adelphos; verbum de verbo expressum extulit.Eam nos acturi sumus novam: pernosciteFurtumne factum existimetis, an locumReprehensum qui praeteritus negligentia est.Nam quod isti dicunt malevoli, homines nobilesEum adiutare, assidueque una scribere;Quod illi maledictum vehemens esse existimantEam laudem hic ducit maximam, quum illis placetQui vobis universis et populo placent;Quorum opera in bello, in otio, in negotio,Suo quisque tempore usus est sine superbia.Dehinc ne exspectetis argumentum fabulae:Senes qui primi venient ii partem aperient;In agendo partem ostendent. Facite, aequanimitasPoëtae ad scribendum augeat industriam.(MICIO.)MICIO.:Storax—Non rediit hac nocte a coena Aeschinus,Neque servulorum quisquam qui adversum ierant.Profecto hoc vere dicunt: si absis uspiam,Aut ubi si cesses, evenire ea satius estQuae in te uxor dicit et quae in animo cogitatIrata quam illa quae parentes propitii.Uxor si cesses aut te amare cogitat,Aut tete amari, aut potare, aut animo obsequi;Et tibi bene esse soli quum sibi sit male.Ego quia non rediit filius quae cogito, etQuibus nunc sollicitor rebus! ne aut ille alserit,Aut uspiam ceciderit, aut perfregeritAliquid. Vah, quemquamne hominem in animum instituere autParare quod sit carius quam ipse est sibi?Atqui ex me hic non natus est, sed ex fratre. Is adeoDissimili studio est iam inde ab adolescentia.Ego hanc clementem vitam urbanam atque otiumSecutus sum; et, quod fortunatum isti putant,Uxorem numquam habui. Ille contra haec omnia:Ruri agere vitam; semper parce ac duriterSe habere: uxorem duxit; nati filiiDuo: inde ego hunc maiorem adoptavi mihi;Eduxi a parvulo; habui, amavi pro meo;In eo me oblecto; solum id est carum mihi.Ille ut item contra me habeat facio sedulo:Do, praetermitto: non necesse habeo omniaPro meo iure agere. Postremo alii clanculumPatres quae faciunt, quae fert adolescentia,Ea ne me celet consuefeci filium;Nam qui mentiri aut fallere insuerit patrem, autAudebit, tanto magis audebit caeteros.Pudore et liberalitate liberosRetinere satius esse credo quam metu.Haec fratri mecum non convenient neque placent.Venit ad me saepe clamitans, “Quid agis, Micio?”“Cur perdis adolescentem nobis? cur amat?”“Cur potat? cur tu his rebus sumtum suggeris?”“Vestitu nimio indulges; nimium ineptus es.”Nimium ipse est durus praeter aequumque et bonum:Et errat longe mea quidem sententiaQui imperium credat gravius esse aut stabiliusVi quod fit quam illud quod amicitia adiungitur.Mea sic est ratio, et sic animum induco meum:Malo coactus qui suum officium facitDum id rescitum iri credit tantisper cavet:Si sperat fore clam rursum ad ingenium redit.Ille quem beneficio adiungas ex animo facit;Studet par referre: praesens absensque idem erit.Hoc patrium est, potius consuefacere filiumSua sponte recte facere quam alieno metu.Hoc pater ac dominus interest: hoc qui nequit,Fateatur nescire imperare liberis.Sed estne hic ipsus de quo agebam? et certe is est.Nescio quid tristem video: credo iam ut soletIurgabit. Salvum te advenire, Demea,Gaudemus.(DEMEA. MICIO.)DEMEA:Ehem, opportune: te ipsum quaerito.
MICIO:Why are you out of spirits?
MICIO:Quid tristis es?
DEMEA:Do you ask me, when we have such a son as Aeschinus, why I’m out of spirits?
DEMEA:Rogas me, ubi nobis AeschinusSiet, quid tristis ego sim?
MICIO: (aside.)Did I not say it would be so? (To DEMEA.) What has he been doing?
MICIO:Dixine hoc fore?Quid fecit?
DEMEA:What has he been doing? He, who is ashamedof nothing, and fears no one, nor thinks that any law can control him. But I pass by what has been previously done: what a thing he has just perpetrated!
DEMEA:Quid ille fecerit? quem neque pudetQuicquam; nec metuit quemquam; neque legem putatTenere se ullam: nam illa quae antehac facta suntOmitto: modo quid designavit!
MICIO:Why, what is it?
MICIO:Quidnam id est?
DEMEA:He has broken open a door, and forced his way into another person’s house, beaten to death the master himself, and all the household, and carried off a wenchwhom he had a fancy for. All people are exclaiming that it was a most disgraceful proceeding. How many, Micio, told me of this as I was coming here? It is in everybody’s mouth. In fine, if an example must be cited, does he not see his brothergiving his attention to business, and living frugally and soberly in the country? No action of his is like this. When I say this to him, Micio, I say it to you. You allow him to be corrupted.
DEMEA:Fores effregit atque in aedes irruitAlienas: ipsum dominum atque omnem familiamMulcavit usque ad mortem: eripuit mulieremQuam amabat. Clamant omnes indignissimeFactum esse. Hoc advenienti quot mihi, Micio,Dixere! in ore est omni populo. Denique,Si conferendum exemplum est, non fratrem videtRei dare operam, ruri esse parcum ac sobrium?Nullum huius simile factum. Haec quum illi, Micio,Dico tibi dico: tu illum corrumpi sinis.
MICIO:Never is there any thing more unreasonable than a man who wants experience, who thinks nothing right except what he himself has done.
MICIO:Homine imperito nunquam quicquam iniustius,Qui nisi quod ipse fecit nihil rectum putat.
DEMEA:What is the meaning of that?
DEMEA:Quorsum istuc?
MICIO:Because, Demea, you misjudge these matters. It is no heinous crime, believe me, for a young man to intrigue or to drink; it is not; nor yet for him to break open a door. If neither I nor you did so, it was poverty that did not allow us to do so. Do you nowclaim that as a merit to yourself which you then did from necessity? That is unfair; for if we had had the means to do so, we should have done the same. And, if you were a man, you would now suffer that other son of yours to act thus now, while his age will excuse it, rather than, when he has got you, after long wishing it, out of the way,he should still do so, at a future day, and at an age more unsuited.
MICIO:Quia tu Demea haec male iudicas.Non est flagitium, mihi crede, adolescentulumScortari neque potare; non est; neque foresEffringere. Haec si neque ego neque tu fecimus,Non siit egestas facere nos. Tu nunc tibiId laudi ducis quod tum fecisti inopia?Iniurium est; nam si esset unde id fieret,Faceremus: et tu illum tuum, si esses homo,Sineres nunc facere, dum per aetatem licet,Potius quam, ubi te exspectatum eiecisset foras,Alieniore aetate post faceret tamen.
DEMEA:O Jupiter! You, sir, are driving me to distraction. Is it not a heinous thing for a young man to do these things?
DEMEA:Pro Iupiter! tu homo adigis me ad insaniam.Non est flagitium, facere haec adolescentulum?
MICIO:Oh! do listen to me, and do not everlastingly din me upon this subject. You gave me your son to adopt;
MICIO:Ah,Ausculta: ne me obtundas de hac re saepius.Tuum filium dedisti adoptandum mihi:
he became mine; if he offends in any thing, Demea, he offends against me: in that case I shall bear the greater part of the inconvenience. Does he feast, does he drink, does he smell of perfumes, —it is at my cost. Does he intrigue, money shall be found by me, so long as it suits me; when it shall be no longer convenient, probably he’ll be shut out of doors.
Is meus est factus: si quid peccat Demea,Mihi peccat: ego illi maximam partem feram.Obsonat, potat, olet unguenta; de meo.Amat; a me argentum dabitur dum erit commodum:Ubi non erit fortasse excludetur foras.
Has he broken open a door—it shall be replaced; has he torn any one’s clothes—they shall be mended. Thanks to the Gods, I both have means for doing this, and these things are not as yet an annoyance. In fine, either desist, or else find some arbitrator between us: I will show that in this matter you are the most to blame.DEMEA:Ah me!
Fores effregit; restituentur: disciditVestem; resarcietur. Est, Dis gratia,Et unde haec flant, et adhuc non molesta sunt.Postremo aut desine, aut cedo quemvis arbitrum:Te plura in hac re peccare ostendam.DEMEA:Hei mihi!
Learn to be a father from those who are really so.
Pater esse disce ab illis qui vere sciunt.
MICIO:You are his father by nature, I by my anxiety.
MICIO:Natura tu illi pater es, consiliis ego.
DEMEA:You, feel any anxiety?
DEMEA:Tun consulis quicquam?
MICIO:Oh dear,—if you persist, I’ll leave you.
MICIO:Ah, si pergis abiero.
DEMEA:Is it thus you act?
DEMEA:Sicine agis?
MICIO:Am I so often to hear about the same thing?
MICIO:An ego toties de eadem re audiam?
DEMEA:I have some concern for my son.
DEMEA:Curae est mihi.
MICIO:I have some concern for him too; but, Demea,let us each be concerned for his own share—you for the one, and I for the other. For, to concern yourself about both is almost the same thing as to demand him back again, whom you intrusted to me.
MICIO:Et mihi curae est: verum DemeaCuremus aequam uterque partem: tu alterum,Ego item alterum; nam ambos curare propemodumReposcere illum est quem dedisti.
DEMEA:Alas, Micio!
DEMEA:Ah, Micio.
MICIO:So it seems to me.
MICIO:Mihi sic videtur.
DEMEA:What am I to say to this? If it pleases you, henceforth—let him spend, squander, and destroy; it’s nothing to me.
DEMEA:Quid istic? tibi si istic placet,Profundat, perdat, pereat: nihil ad me attinet.
If I say one word after this—MICIO:Again angry, Demea?
Iam si verbum unum posthac—MICIO:Rursum, Demea,Irascere?
DEMEA:Won’t you believe me? Do I demand him back whom I have intrusted? I am concerned for him; I am not a stranger in blood; if I do interpose—well, well, I have done. You desire me to concern myself for one of them,—do concern myself; and I give thanks to the Gods, he is just as I would have him; that fellow of yours will find it outat a future day: I don’t wish to say any thing more harsh against him.(Exit.)
DEMEA:An non credis? repeto quem dedi?Aegre est: alienus non sum: si obsto, hem, desino.Unum vis curem; curo; et est Dis gratiaQuum ita ut volo est. Iste tuus ipse sentietPosterius—nolo in illum gravius dicere.
MICIO:These things are not nothing at all, nor yet all just as he says; still they do give me some uneasiness; but I was unwilling to show him that I took them amiss, for he is such a man; when I would pacify him, I steadily oppose and resist him;
MICIO:Nec nihil neque omnia haec sunt quae dicit; tamenNonnihil molesta sunt haec mihi: sed ostendereMe aegre pati illi nolui: nam ita est homo;Quum placo adversor sedulo et deterreo.
and in spite of it he hardly puts up with it like other men; but if I were to inflame, or even to humor his anger, I should certainly be as mad as himself. And yet Aesclhinus has done me some injustice in this affair. What courtesan has he not intrigued with? Or to which of them has he not made some present?At last, he recently told me that he wished to take a wife, I suppose he was just then tired of them all. I was in hopes that the warmth of youth had now subsided; I was delighted. But look now, he is at it again; however, I am determined to know it, whatever it is, and to go meet the fellow, if he is at the Forum.(Exit.) (Enter AESCHINUS and PARMENO with the MUSIC-GIRL, followed by SANNIO and a crowd of people.)
Tamen vix humane patitur: verum si augeam,Aut etiam adiutor sim eius iracundiae,Insaniam profecto cum illo; etsi AeschinusNonnullam in hac re nobis facit iniuriam.Quam hic non amavit meretricem? aut cui non deditAliquid? postremo, nuper (credo iam omniumTaedebat) dixit velle uxorem ducere.Sperabam iam defervisse adolescentiam:Gaudebam. Ecce autem de integro. Nisi quicquid estVolo scire, atque hominem convenire si apud forum est.(SANNIO. AESCHINUS. PARMENO.)
SANNIO:I beseech you, fellow-citizens, do give aid to a miserable and innocent man; do assist the distressed.
SANNIO:Obsecro, populares, ferte misero atque innocenti auxilium:Subvenite inopi.
AESCHINUS: (to the GIRL.)Be quiet, and now then stand here just where you are. Why do you look back? There’s no danger; he shall never touch you while I am here.
AESCHINUS:Otiose nunc iam ilico hic consiste.Quid respectas? nihil pericli est: nunquam dum ego adero hic te tanget.
SANNIO:I’ll have her, in spite of all.
SANNIO:Ego istam invitis omnibus—
AESCHINUS:Though he is a villain, he’ll not risk, to-day, getting a second beating.
AESCHINUS:Quamquam est scelestus non committet hodie unquam iterum ut vapulet.
SANNIO:Hear me, Aeschinus, that you may not say that you were in ignorance of my calling; I am a Procurer.
SANNIO:Aeschine audi: ne te ignarum fuisse dicas meorum morum;Leno ego sum.
AESCHINUS:I know it.
AESCHINUS:Scio.
SANNIO:And of as high a character as any one ever was. When you shall be excusing yourself by-and-by, how that you wish this injury had not been done me, I shall not value it this (snapping his fingers). Depend upon it, I’ll prosecute my rights; and you shall never pay with words for the evil that you have done me in deed.
SANNIO:At ita ut usquam fuit fide quisquam optima.Tu quod te posterius purges hanc iniuriam mihi nolleFactam esse huius non faciam: crede hoc; ego meum ius persequar;Neque tu verbis solves unquam quod mihi re male feceris.
I know those ways of yours: “I wish it hadn’t happened; I’ll take my oath that you did not deserve this injustice;” while I myself have been treated in a disgraceful manner.AESCHINUS: (to PARMENO.)
Novi ego vestra haec: “Nollem factum;” iusiurandum dabitur te esseIndignum iniuria hac; indignis quum egomet sim acceptus modis.
Go first with all dispatch and open the door.(PARMENO opens the door.)SANNIO:But you will avail nothing by this.AESCHINUS: (To the GIRL.)
AESCHINUS:Abi prae strenue ac fores aperi.SANNIO:Ceterum hoc nihil facis.
Now then, step in.SANNIO: (coming between.)But I’ll not let her.
AESCHINUS:I intro iam nunc.SANNIO:At enim non sinam.
AESCHINUS:Step this way, Parmeno; you are gone too far that way; here (pointing), stand close by him; there, that’s what I want.
AESCHINUS:Accede illuc Parmeno;Nimium istoc abisti: hic propter hunc adsiste. Hem, sic volo.
Now then, take care you don’t move your eyes in any direction from mine, that there may be no delay if I give you the sign, to your fist being instantly planted in his jaws.
Cave nunc iam oculos a meis oculis quoquam demoveas tuos:Ne mora sit si innuerim quin pugnus continuo in mala haereat.
SANNIO:I’d have him then try that.
SANNIO:Istuc volo ergo ipsum experiri.
AESCHINUS: (to PARMENO.)Now then, observe me.PARMENO: (to SANNIO.)Let go the woman.(Strikes him.)
AESCHINUS:Hem, serva: omitte mulierem.
SANNIO:Oh! scandalous deed!
SANNIO:O facinus indignum!
AESCHINUS:He shall repeat it, if you don’t take care.(PARMENO strikes him again.)
AESCHINUS:Geminabit nisi caves.
SANNIO:Oh shocking!AESCHINUS: (to PARMENO.)
SANNIO:Hei misero mihi!
I didn’t give the sign; but still make your mistakes on that side in preference.
AESCHINUS:Non innueram: verum in istam partem potius peccato tamen.
Now then, go.(PARMENO goes with the MUSIC-GIRL into MICIO’S house.)SANNIO:What is the meaning of this? Have you the sway here, Aeschinus?
I nunc iam.SANNIO:Quid hoc rei est! regnumne Aeschine hic tu possides?
AESCHINUS:If I had it, you should be exalted for your deserts.
AESCHINUS:Si possiderem ornatus esses ex tuis virtutibus.
SANNIO:What business have you with me?
SANNIO:Quid tibi rei mecum est?
AESCHINUS:None.
AESCHINUS:Nihil.
SANNIO:How then, do you know who I am?
SANNIO:Quid? nostin qui sim?
AESCHINUS:I don’t want to.
AESCHINUS:Non desidero.
SANNIO:Have I touched any thing of yours?
SANNIO:Tetigin tui quicquam?
AESCHINUS:If you had touched it, you’d have got a drubbing.
AESCHINUS:Si attigisses ferres infortunium.
SANNIO:What greater right then have you to take my property, for which I paid my money?
SANNIO:Qui tibi magis licet meam habere pro qua ego argentum dedi?
Answer me that.AESCHINUS:It were better for you not to be making a disturbance here before the house; for if you persist in being impertinent, you shall be dragged in at once, and there you shall be lashed to death with whips.
Responde.AESCHINUS:Ante aedes non fecisse erit melius hic convicium;Nam si molestus pergis esse iam intro abripiere atque ibiUsque ad necem operiere loris.
SANNIO:A free man, with whips?
SANNIO:Loris liber?
AESCHINUS:So it shall be.
AESCHINUS:Sic erit.
SANNIO:Oh, you shameless fellow! Is this the place where they say there is equal liberty for all?
SANNIO:O hominem impurum! hicine libertatem aiunt aequam esse omnibus?
AESCHINUS:If you have now raved enough, Procurer, now then listen, if you please.
AESCHINUS:Si satis iam debacchatus es leno audi si vis nunc iam.
SANNIO:Why, is it I that have been raving, or you against me?
SANNIO:Egon debacchatus sum autem, an tu in me?
AESCHINUS:Leave alone all that, and come to the point.
AESCHINUS:Mitte ista, atque ad rem redi.
SANNIO:What point? Where am I to come to?
SANNIO:Quam rem? quo redeam?
AESCHINUS:Are you willing now that I should say something that concerns you?
AESCHINUS:Iamne me vis dicere id quod ad te attinet?
SANNIO:With all my heart, only so it be something that’s fair.
SANNIO:Cupio; aequi modo aliquid.
AESCHINUS:Very fine! a Procurer wishing me not to say what’s unfair.
AESCHINUS:Vah! leno iniqua me non vult loqui.
SANNIO:I am a Procurer, I confess it—the common bane of youth—a perjurer, a public nuisance; still, no injury has befallen you from me.
SANNIO:Leno sum, fateor, pernicies communis adolescentium;Periurus, pestis; tamen tibi a me nulla orta est iniuria.
AESCHINUS:Why, faith, that remains to come—
AESCHINUS:Nam hercle etiam hoc restat.
SANNIO:Pray, Aeschinus, do come back to the point at which you set out.
SANNIO:Illuc quaeso redi quo coepisti, Aeschine.
AESCHINUS:You bought her for twenty nine; and may your bargain never thrive! That sum shall be given for her.
AESCHINUS:Minis viginti tu illam emisti; quae res tibi vertat male.Argenti tantum dabitur.
SANNIO:What if I don’t choose to sell her to you? Will you compel me?
SANNIO:Quid si ego tibi illam nolo vendere,Coges me?
AESCHINUS:By no means.
AESCHINUS:Minime.
SANNIO:I was afraid you would.
SANNIO:Namque id metui.
AESCHINUS:Neither do I think that a woman can be sold who is free; for I claim her by action of freedom.
AESCHINUS:Neque vendendam censeo,Quae libera est; nam ego liberali illam assero causa manu.
Now consider which you choose; take the money, or prepare yourself for the action. Think of it, Procurer, till I return.(He goes into the house of MICIO.)SANNIO: (to himself.)O supreme Jupiter! I do by no means wonder that men run mad through ill usage. He has dragged me out of my house, beaten me, taken my property away against my will, and has given me, unfortunate wretch, more than five hundred blows.
Nunc vide utrum vis; argentum accipere, an causam meditari tari tuam?Delibera hoc dum ego redeo leno.SANNIO:Pro supreme Iupiter!Minime miror qui insanire occipiunt ex iniuria.Domo me eripuit; verberavit; me invito abduxit meam:Homini misero plus quingentos colaphos infregit mihi.
In return for all this ill usage he demands the girl to be made over to him for just the same price at which she was bought. But however, since he has so well deserved of me, be it so: he demands what is his due. Very well, I consent then, provided he only gives the money. But I suspect this; when I have said that I will sell her for so much, he’ll be getting witnesses forthwith that I have sold her. As to getting the money, it’s all a dream. Call again by and by; come back to-morrow.
Ob malefacta haec tantidem emtam postulat sibi tradier.Verum enim, quando bene promeruit, fiat: suum ius postulat.Age iam cupio, si modo argentum reddat. Sed ego hoc hariolor;Ubi me dixero dare tanti, testes faciet ilicoVendidisse me: de argento somnium: mox; “Cras redi.”
I could bear with that too, hard as it is, if he would only pay it. But I consider this to be the fact; when you take up this trade, you must brook and bear in silence the affronts of these young fellows. However, no one will pay me; it’s in vain for me to be reckoning upon that.(Enter SYRUS, from the house of MICIO.)SYRUS: (speaking to AECHINUS within.)
Id quoque possum ferre si modo reddat; quanquam iniurium est.Verum cogito id quod res est: quando eum quaestum occeperis,Accipienda et mussitanda iniuria adolescentium est.Sed nemo dabit: frustra has egomet mecum rationes puto.(SYRUS. SANNIO.)
Say no more; I myself will arrange with him; I’ll make him glad to take the money at once, andsay besides that he has been fairly dealt with. (Addressing SANNIO.) Sannio, how is this, that I hear you have been having some dispute or other with my master?SANNIO:I never saw a dispute on more unequal terms than the one that has happened to-day between us; I, with being thumped, he, with beating me, were both of us quite tired.
SYRUS:Tace, egomet conveniam iam ipsum: cupide accipiat faxo; atque etiamBene dicat secum esse actum. Quid istuc, Sannio, est quod te audioNescio quid concertasse cum hero?SANNIO:Nunquam vidi iniquiusCertationem comparatam quam haec hodie inter nos fuit:Ego vapulando, ille verberando, usque ambo defessi sumus.
SYRUS:Your own fault.
SYRUS:Tua culpa.
SANNIO:What could I do?
SANNIO:Quid agerem?
SYRUS:You ought to have yielded to the young man.
SYRUS:Adolescenti morem gestum oportuit.
SANNIO:How could I more so, when to-day I have even afforded my face to his blows?
SANNIO:Qui potui melius qui hodie usque os praebui?
SYRUS:Well—are you aware of what I tell you? To slight money on some occasions is sometimes the surest gain.What!—were you afraid, you greatest simpleton alive, if you had parted with ever so little of your right, and had humored the young man, that he would not repay you with interest?
SYRUS:Age, scis quid loquar?Pecuniam in loco negligere maximum interdum est lucrum.
SANNIO:I do not pay ready money for hope.
SANNIO:Hui!SYRUS:Metuisti; si nunc de tuo iure concessisses paululum, atqueAdolescenti esses morigeratus, hominum homo stultissime,Ne non tibi istuc foeneraret?SANNIO:Ego spem pretio non emo.
SYRUS:Then you’ll never make a fortune. Get out with you, Sannio; you don’t know how to take in mankind.
SYRUS:Nunquam rem facies: abi: nescis inescare homines, Sannio.
SANNIO:I believe that to be the better plan—but I was never so cunning as not, whenever I was able to get it, to prefer getting ready money.
SANNIO:Credo istuc melius esse: verum ego nunquam adeo astutus fuiQuin quicquid possem mallem auferre potius in praesentia.
SYRUS:Come, come, I know your spirit; as if twenty minae were any thing at all to you in comparison to obliging him; besides, they say that you are setting out for Cyprus—
SYRUS:Age; novi tuum animum; quasi iam usquam tibi sint viginti minae,Dum huic obsequare. Praeterea autem te aiunt proficisci Cyprum.
SANNIO:(aside.) Hah!
SANNIO:Hem!
SYRUS:That you have been buying up many things to take thither; and that the vessel is hired. This I know, your mind is in suspense; however, when you return thence, I hope you’ll settle the matter.
SYRUS:Coëmisse hinc quae illuc veheres multa; navem conductam; hoc, scio,Animus tibi pendet. Ubi illinc, spero, redieris tamen hoc ages.
SANNIO:Not a foot do stir: Heavens! I’m undone! (Aside.) It was upon this hope they devised their project.
SANNIO:Nusquam pedem. Perii hercle; hac illi spe hoc inceperunt.
SYRUS: (aside.)He is alarmed. I’ve brought the fellow into a fix.
SYRUS:Timet:Inieci scrupulum homini.
SANNIO: (aside.)Oh, what villainy!—Just look at that; how he has nicked me in the very joint. Several women have been purchased, and other things as well, for me to take to Cyprus.
SANNIO:O scelera! illud videUt in ipso articulo oppressit. Emtae mulieresComplures; et item hine alia quae porto Cyprum.
If I don’t get there to the fair, my loss will, be very great. Then if I postpone this business, and settle it when I come back from there, it will be of no use; the matter will be quite forgotten. “Come at last?” they’ll say. “Why did you delay it? Where have you been?” So that I had better lose it altogetherthan either stay here so long, or be suing for it then.
Nisi eo ad mercatum venio, damnum maximum est.Nunc si hoc omitto actum agam; ubi illinc redieroNihil est; refrixerit res. “Nunc demum venis?”“Cur passus? ubi eras?” Ut sit satius perdereQuam aut hic nunc manere tam diu, aut tum persequi.
SYRUS:Have you by this reckoned up what you calculate will be your profits?
SYRUS:Iamne enumerasti id quod ad te rediturum putes?
SANNIO:Is this honorable of him? Ought Aeschinus to attempt this? Ought he to endeavor to take her away from me by downright violence?SYRUS: (aside.)
SANNIO:Hocine illo dignum est? hocine incipere Aeschinum?Per oppressionem ut hanc mihi eripere postulet?
He gives ground. (To SANNIO.) I have this one proposal to make; see if you fully approve of it.
SYRUS:Labascit. Unum hoc habeo: vide si satis placet:
Rather than you should run the risk, Sannio, of getting or losing the whole, halve it. He will manage to scrape together ten minae from some quarter or other.SANNIO:Ah me! unfortunate wretch, I am now in danger of even losing part of the principal. Has he no shame? He has loosened all my teeth;
Potius quam venias in periculum, Sannio,Servesne an perdas totum, dividuum face:Minas decem conradet alicunde.SANNIO:Hei mihi,Etiam de sorte nunc venio in dubium miser?Pudet nihil: omnes dentes labefecit mihi:
my head, too, is full of bumps with his cuffs; and would he defraud me as well? I shall go nowhere.SYRUS:Just as you please. Have you any thing more to say before I go?
Praeterea colaphis tuber est totum caput.Etiam insuper defrudat? nusquam abeo.SYRUS:Ut lubet.Numquid vis quin abeam?
SANNIO:Why yes, Syrus, i’ faith, I have this to request. Whatever the matters that are past, rather than go to law, let what is my own be returned me; at least, Syrus, the sum she cost me.
SANNIO:Immo hercle hoc quaeso, Syre;Ut ut haec sunt acta, potius quam lites sequar,Meum mihi reddatur; saltem quanti emta est, Syre.
I know that you have not hitherto made trial of my friendship; you will have no occasion to say that I am unmindful or ungrateful.SYRUS:I’ll do the best I can. But I see Ctesipho; he’s in high spirits about his mistress.
Scio te non usum antehac amicitia mea:Memorem me dices esse et gratum.SYRUS:SeduloFaciam: sed Ctesiphonem video: laetus estDe amica.
SANNIO:What about what I was asking you?
SANNIO:Quid quod te oro?
SYRUS:Stay a little.(Enter CTESIPHO, at the other side of the stage.)
SYRUS:Paulisper mane.(CTESIPHO. SYRUS.)
CTESIPHO:From any man, when you stand in need of it, you are glad to receive a service;
CTESIPHO:Abs quivis homine, cum est opus, beneficium accipere gaudeas:
but of a truth it is doubly acceptable, if he does you a kindness who ought to do so. O brother, brother, how can I sufficiently commend you? This I am quite sure of; I can never speak of you in such high terms but that your deserts will surpass it. For I am of opinion that I possess this one thing in especial beyond all others, a brother than whom no individual is more highly endowed with the highest qualities.
Verum enimvero id demum iuvat, si, quem aequum est facere, is bene facit.O frater frater, quid ego nunc te laudem? Satis certo scio;Nunquam ita magnifice quicquam dicam id virtus quin superet tua.Itaque unam hanc rem me habere praeter alios praecipuam arbitror,Fratrem homini nemini esse primarum artium magis principem.
SYRUS:O Ctesipho!
SYRUS:O Ctesipho.
CTESIPHO:O Syrus, where is Aeschinus?
CTESIPHO:O Syre, Aeschinus ubi est?
SYRUS:Why, look—he’s at home, waiting for you.
SYRUS:Ellum, te exspectat domi.
CTESIPHO: (speaking joyously.)Ha!
CTESIPHO:Hem.
SYRUS:What’s the matter?
SYRUS:Quid est?
CTESIPHO:What’s the matter?’Tis through him, Syrus, that I am now alive—generous creature! Has he not deemed every thing of secondary importance to himself in comparison with my happiness? The reproach, the discredit, my own amour and imprudence, he has taken upon himself. There can be nothing beyond this; but what means that noise at the door?
CTESIPHO:Quid sit? illius opera, Syre, nunc vivo: festivum caput,Qui omnia sibi post putavit esse prae meo commodo;Maledicta, famam, meum amorem, et peccatum in se transtulit:Nihil pote supra. Quidnam foris crepuit?
SYRUS:Stay, stay;’tis Aeschinus himself coming out.(Enter AESCHINUS, from the house of MICIO.)
SYRUS:Mane, mane: ipse exit foras.(AESCHINUS.SANNIO.CTESIPHO. SYRUS.)
AESCHINUS:Where is that villain?
AESCHINUS:Ubi ille est sacrilegus?
SANNIO: (aside.)He’s looking for me. Is he bringing any thing with him? Confusion! I don’t see any thing.
SANNIO:Men quaerit? numquidnam effert? Occidi:Nihil video.
AESCHINUS: (to CTESIPHO.)Ha! well met; you are the very man I was looking for. How goes it, Ctesipho? All is safe: away then with your melancholy.
AESCHINUS:Ehem, opportune; te ipsum quaero. Quid fit, Ctesipho?In tuto est omnis res: omitte vero tristitiam tuam.
CTESIPHO:By my troth, I certainly will away with it, when I have such a brother as you. O my dear Aeschinus! O my brother! Alas! I am unwilling to praise you any more to your face,lest you should think I do so rather for flattery than through gratitude.
CTESIPHO:Ego illam hercle vero omitto qui quidem te habeam fratrem. O mi Aeschine,O mi germane; ah, vereor coram in os te laudare amplius,Ne id assentandi magis quam quo habeam gratum facere existimes.
AESCHINUS:Go to, you simpleton! as though we didn’t by this time understand each other, Ctesipho. This grieves me, that we knew of it almost too late, and that the matter had come to such a pass, that if all mankind had wished they could not possibly have assisted you.
AESCHINUS:Age inepte; quasi nunc non norimus nos inter nos, Ctesipho.Hoc mihi dolet, nos paene sero scisse, et paene in eum locumRedisse ut si omnes cuperent nihil tibi possent auxiliarier.
CTESIPHO:I felt ashamed.
CTESIPHO:Pudebat.
AESCHINUS:Pooh! that is folly, not shame; about such a triflingmatter to be almost flying the country!’Tis shocking to be mentioned; I pray the Gods may forbid it!
AESCHINUS:Ah, stultitia est istaec, non pudor. Tam ob parvulamRem paene ex patria!—Turpe dictu. Deos quaeso ut istaec prohibeant.
CTESIPHO:I did wrong.
CTESIPHO:Peccavi.
AESCHINUS: (in a lower voice.)What says Sannio to us at last?
AESCHINUS:Quid ait tandem nobis Sannio?
SYRUS:He is pacified at last.
SYRUS:Iam mitis est.
AESCHINUS:I’ll go to the Forum to pay him off; you, Ctesipho, step in-doors to her.SANNIO: (aside to SYRUS.)
AESCHINUS:Ego ad forum ibo ut hunc absolvam: tu intro ad illam, Ctesipho.
Syrus, do urge the matter.SYRUS: (to AESCHINUS.)Let us be off, for he is in haste foe’ Cyprus.
SANNIO:Syre, insta.SYRUS:Eamus; namque hic properat in Cyprum.
SANNIO:Not particularly so; although still, I’m stopping here doing nothing at all.
SANNIO:Ne tam quidem;Quamvis etiam maneo otiosus hic.