SYRUS:It shall be paid, don’t fear.
SYRUS:Reddetur; ne time.
SANNIO:But he is to pay it all.
SANNIO:At ut omne reddat.
SYRUS:He shall pay it all; only hold your tongue and follow us this way.
SYRUS:Omne reddet: tace modo, ac sequere hac.
SANNIO:I’ll follow.CTESIPHO: (as SYRUS is going.)
SANNIO:Sequor.
Harkye, harkye, Syrus.SYRUS: (turning back.)Well now, what is it?
CTESIPHO:Heus, heus, Syre.SYRUS:Hem, quid est?
CTESIPHO: (aside.)Pray do discharge that most abominable fellow as soon as possible; for fear, in case he should become more angry, by some means or other this matter should reach my father, and then I should be ruined forever.
CTESIPHO:Obsecro hercle, hominem istum impurissimumQuamprimum absolvitote; ne, si magis irritatus siet,Aliqua ad patrem hoc permanet, atque ego tum perpetuo perierim.
SYRUS:That shall not happen, be of good heart; meanwhile enjoy yourself in-doors with her,and order the couches to be spread for us, and the other things to be got ready. As soon as this business is settled, I shall come home with the provisions.
SYRUS:Non fiet; bono animo es: tu cum illa te intus oblecta interim;Et lectulos iube sterni nobis, et parari caetera.Ego iam transacta re convertam me domum cum obsonio.
CTESIPHO:Pray do so. Since this has turned out so well, let us make a cheerful day of it.(CTESIPHO goes into the house of MICIO; and exeunt AESCHINUS and SYRUS, followed by SANNIO.) (Enter SOSTRATA and CANTHARA, from the house of the former.)
CTESIPHO:Ita quaeso: quando hoc bene successit, hilarem hunc sumamus diem.(SOSTRATA. CANTHARA.)
SOSTRATA:Prithee, my dear nurse, how is it like to end?
SOSTRATA:Obsecro, mea nutrix, quid nunc fiet?
CANTHARA:Like to end, do you ask? I’ troth, right well, I trust.
CANTHARA:Quid fiat rogas?Recte edepol spero.
SOSTRATA:Her pains are just beginning, my dear.
SOSTRATA:Modo dolores, mea tu, occipiunt primulum.
CANTHARA:You are in a flight, now, just as though you had never been present on such an occasion—never been in labor yourself.
CANTHARA:Iam nunc times, quasi nunquam affueris, nunquam tute pepereris.
SOSTRATA:Unfortunate woman that I am! I have not a person at home; we are quite alone; Geta too is absent. I have no one to go for the midwife, or to fetch Aeschinus.
SOSTRATA:Miseram me, neminem habeo; solae sumus: Geta autem hic non adest;Nec quem ad obstetricem mittam; nec qui arcessat Aeschinum.
CANTHARA:I’ faith, he’ll certainly be here just now, for he never lets a day pass without visiting us.
CANTHARA:Pol is quidem iam hic aderit; nam nunquam unum intermittit diemQuin semper veniat.
SOSTRATA:He is my sole comfort in my afflictions.
SOSTRATA:Solus mearum miseriarum est remedium.
CANTHARA:Things could not have happened, mistress, more for the advantage of your daughter than they have, seeing that violence was offered her; so far as he is concerned, it is most lucky,—such a person, of such disposition and feelings, a member of so respectable a family.
CANTHARA:E re nata melius fieri haud potuit quam factum est hera;Quando vitium oblatum est; quod ad illum attinet potissimumTalem, tali genere atque animo, natum ex tanta familia.
SOSTRATA:It is indeed as you say; I entreat the Gods that he may be preserved to us.(They stand apart, on seeing GETA.) (Enter GETA, on the other side of the stage.)GETA: (to himself.)
SOSTRATA:Ita pol est ut dicis: salvus nobis Deos quaeso ut siet.(GETA. SOSTRATA. CANTHARA.)
Now such is our condition, that if all were to combine all their counsels,and to seek a remedy for this mischief that has befallen myself, my mistress, and her daughter, they could find no relief. Oh wretched me! so many calamities beset us on a sudden, we can not possibly extricate ourselves. Violence, poverty, oppression, desertion, infamy! What an age is this! O shocking villainy! O accursed race! O impious man!—SOSTRATA:Unhappy me! How is it that I see Geta hurrying along thus terrified?GETA: (continuing.)
GETA:Nunc illud est quod si omnes omnia sua consilia conferant,Atque huic malo salutem quaerant, auxili nihil afferant,Quod mihique heraeque filiaeque herili est. Vae misero mihi!Tot res repente circumvallant, unde emergi non potest,Vis, egestas, iniustitia, solitudo, infamia.Hocine saeclum? O scelera, O genera sacrilega, O hominem impium!SOSTRATA:Me miseram! quidnam est quod sic video timidum et properantem Getam?
Whom neither promises, nor oaths, nor compassion could move or soften; nor yet the fact that the delivery was nigh at hand of the unfortunate woman on whom he had so shamefully committed violence.SOSTRATA: (apart to CANTHARA.)I don’t well understand what he is talking about.
GETA:Quem neque fides neque iusiurandum neque illum misericordiaRepressit neque reflexit, neque quod partus instabat prope,Cui miserae indigne per vim vitium obtulerat.SOSTRATA:Non intelligoSatis quae loquatur.
CANTHARA:Pray, let us go nearer to him, Sostrata.
CANTHARA:Propius obsecro accedamus, Sostrata.
GETA: (continuing.)Ahwretched me! I am scarcely master of my senses, I am so inflamed with anger. There is nothing that I would like better than for all that family to be thrown in my way, that I might give vent to all my wrath upon them while this wound is still fresh. I could be content with any punishment, so I might only wreak my vengeance on them. First, I would stop the breath of the old fellow himself who gave being to this monster;
GETA:Ah,Me miserum! vix sum compos animi; ita ardeo iracundia.Nihil est quod malim quam illam totam familiam mihi dari obviam,Ut ego iram hanc in eos evomam omnem dum aegritudo haec est recens:Satis mihi id habeam supplici, dum illos ulciscar modo.Seni animam primum extinguerem ipsi qui illud produxit scelus.
then as for his prompter, Syrus, out upon him! How I would tear him piecemeal! I would snatch him by the middle up aloft, and dash him head downward upon the earth, so that with his brains he would bestrew the road: I would pull out the eyes of the young fellow himself, and afterward hurl him headlong over some precipice. The others I would rush upon, drive, drag, crush, and trample them under foot.
Tum autem Syrum impulsorem, vah, quibus illum lacerarem modis!Sublimem medium arriperem, et capite pronum in terram statuerem,Ut cerebro dispergat viam.Adolescenti ipsi eriperem oculos; posthaec praecipitem darem;Caeteros ruerem, agerem, raperem, tunderem, et prosternerem.
But why do I delay at once to acquaint my mistress with this calamity?(Moves as if going.)SOSTRATA: (to CANTHARA.)Let us call him Lack. Geta—
Sed cesso heram hoc malo impertiri propere?SOSTRATA:Revocemus. Geta.
GETA:Well—leave me alone, whoever you are.SOSTRATA:’Tis I,—Sostrata.
GETA:Hem, quisquis es, sine me.SOSTRATA:Ego sum Sostrata.
GETA: (turning round.)Why, where are you? You are the very person I am looking for. I was in quest of you; it’s very fortunate you have met me.
GETA:Ubi ea est? te ipsam quaerito,Te expecto: oppido opportune te obtulisti mihi obviam,Hera.
SOSTRATA:What’s the matter? Why are you trembling?
SOSTRATA:Quid est? quid trepidas?
GETA:Alas! alas!
GETA:Hei mihi!
SOSTRATA:My dear Geta, why in such haste? Do take breath.
SOSTRATA:Quid festinas, mi Geta?Animam recipe.
GETA:Quite—(pauses.)
GETA:Prorsus—
SOSTRATA:Why, what means this “quite”?
SOSTRATA:Quid istuc prorsus ergo est.
GETA:Undone—It’s all over with us.
GETA:Periimus:Actum est.
SOSTRATA:Say, then, I entreat you, what is the matter.
SOSTRATA:Eloquere ergo, obsecro te, quid sit.
SOSTRATA:What “now,” Geta?
SOSTRATA:Quid iam, Geta?
GETA:Aeschinus—
GETA:Aeschinus—
SOSTRATA:What about him?
SOSTRATA:Quid is ergo?
GETA:Has abandoned our family.
GETA:alienus est ab nostra familia.
SOSTRATA:Then I am undone! Why so?
SOSTRATA:Hem,Perii: quare?
GETA:He has attached himself to another woman.
GETA:Amare occepit aliam.
SOSTRATA:Woe unto wretched me!
SOSTRATA:Vae miserae mihi!
GETA:And he makes no secret of it; he himself has carried her off openly from a procurer.
GETA:Neque id occulte fert: ab lenone ipsus eripuit palam.
SOSTRATA:Are you quite sure of this?
SOSTRATA:Satin hoc certum est?
GETA:Quite sure; I saw it myself, Sostrata, with these same eyes.
GETA:Certum: hisce oculis egomet vidi, Sostrata.
SOSTRATA:Ahwretched me! What is one now to believe, or whom believe? Our own Aeschinus, the very life of us all, in whom all our hopes and comforts were centred! Who used to swear he could never live a single day without her! Who used to say, that he would place the infant on his father’s knees, and thus entreat that he might be allowed to make her his wife!
SOSTRATA:Ah,Me miseram! quid credas iam? aut cui credas? Nostrumne Aeschinum;Nostram vitam omnium, in quo nostrae spes omnesque opes sitaeErant; qui sine hac iurabat se unum nunquam victurum diem;Qui se in sui gremio positurum puerum dicebat patris;Ita obsecraturum ut liceret sibi hanc uxorem ducere?
GETA:Dear mistress, forbear weeping, and rather consider what must be done for the future in this matter. Shall we submit to it, or shall we tell it to any person?
GETA:Hera, lacrimas mitte, ac potius quod ad hanc rem opus est porro consule;Patiamurne, an narremus cuipiam?
CANTHARA:Pooh, pooh! Are you in your senses, my good man? Does this seem to you a business to be made known to any one?
CANTHARA:Au, mi homo, sanusne es?An hoc proferendum tibi videtur usquam esse?
GETA:I, indeed, have no wish for it. In the first place, then, that his feelings are estranged from us, the thing itself declares. Now, if we make this known, he’ll deny it, I’m quite sure;
GETA:Mihi quidem non placet.Iam primum illum alieno animo a nobis esse res ipsa indicat.Nunc si hoc palam proferimus ille infitias ibit, sat scio.
your reputation and your daughter’s character will then be in danger. On the other hand, if he were fully to confess it, as he is in love with another woman, it would not be to her advantage to be given to him. Therefore, under either circumstance, there is need of silence.SOSTRATA:Oh! by no means in the world! I’ll not do it.
Tua fama et gnatae vita in dubium veniet. Tum si maximeFateatur, quum amet aliam, non est utile hanc illi dari:Quapropter quoquo pacto tacito est opus.SOSTRATA:Ah, minime gentium:Non faciam.
GETA:What is it you say?
GETA:Quid ages?
SOSTRATA:I’ll make it known.
SOSTRATA:Proferam.
GETA:Ha, my dear Sostrata, take care what you do!
GETA:Hem, mea Sostrata, vide quam rem agas.
SOSTRATA:The matter can not possibly be in a worse position than it is at present.
SOSTRATA:Peiore res loco non potest esse quam in quo nunc sita est.
In the first place, she has no portion; then, besides, that which was as good as a portion, her honor, is lost: she can not be given in marriage as a virgin. This resource is left; if he should deny it, I have a ring which he lost as evidence of the truth. In fine, Geta, as I am fully conscious that no blame attaches to me, and that neither interest nor any consideration unworthy of her or of myself has had a share in this matter,I will make trial—GETA:What am I to say to this? I agree, as you speak for the best.
Primum indotata est: tum praeterea quae secunda ei dos eratPeriit: pro virgine dari nuptum non potest. Hoc reliquum est:Si infitias ibit, testis mecum est annulus quem amiserat.Postremo, quando ego conscia mihi sum a me culpam esse hanc procul,Neque pretium neque rem ullam intercessisse illa aut me indignam, Geta,Experiar.GETA:Quid ista? accedo, ut melius dicas.
SOSTRATA:You be off as fast as possible, and relate all the matter just as it has happened to her kinsman Hegio; for he was the best friend of our lamented Simulus, and has shown especial regard for us.GETA: (aside.)
SOSTRATA:Tu, quantum potes,Abi, atque Hegioni cognato huius rem omnem narrato ordine;Nam is nostro Simulo fuit summus, et nos coluit maxime.
Aye, faith, because nobody else takes any notice of us.SOSTRATA:Do you, my dear Canthara, run with all haste, and fetch the midwife, so that, when she is wanted, we may not have to wait for her.(SOSTRATA goes into the house, and exit GETA and CANTHARA.) (Enter DEMEA.)DEMEA: (to himself.)
GETA:Nam hercle alius nemo respicit nos.SOSTRATA:Propera tu, mea Canthara,Curre: obstetricem arcesse, ut cum opus sit ne in mora nobis siet.(DEMEA. SYRUS.)
Utterly undone! I hear that Ctesipho was with Aeschinus at the carrying off of this girl. This sorrow still remains for unhappy me, should Aeschinus be able to seduce him, even him, who promises so fair, to a course of debauchery. Where am I to inquire for him? I doubt he has been carried off to some bad house;that profligate has persuaded him, I’m quite sure. But look—I see Syrus coming this way, I shall now know from him where he is. But, i ’faith, he is one of the gang; if he perceives that I am looking for him, the rascal will never tell me. I’ll not let him know what I want.(Enter SYRUS, at the other side of the stage.)SYRUS: (to himself.)We just now told the old gentleman the whole affair just as it happened;
DEMEA:Disperii! Ctesiphonem audivi filiumUna affuisse in raptione cum Aeschino.Id misero restat mihi mali, si illum potestQui alicui rei est etiam eum ad nequitiam abducere.Ubi ego illum quaeram? credo abductum in ganeumAliquo: persuasit ille impurus, sat scio.Sed eccum Syrum ire video: hinc scibo iam ubi siet;Atque hercle hic de grege illo est: si me senseritEum quaeritare, nunquam dicet carnifex.Non ostendam me id velle.SYRUS:Omnem rem modo seniQuo pacto se haberet enarramus ordine:
I never did see any one more delighted.DEMEA: (apart.)O Jupiter! the folly of the man!
Nihil vidi quicquam laetius.DEMEA:Pro Iupiter,Hominis stultitiam!
SYRUS: (continuing.)He commended his son. To me, who put them upon this project, he gave thanks—DEMEA: (apart.)
SYRUS:Collaudavit filium:Mihi qui id dedissem consilium egit gratias.
I shall burst asunder.SYRUS: (continuing.)He told down the money instantly,and gave me half a mina besides to spend. That was laid out quite to my liking.
DEMEA:Disrumpor.SYRUS:Argentum annumeravit ilico:Dedit praeterea in sumtum dimidium minae:Id distributum sane est ex sententia.
DEMEA: (apart.)Very fine—if you would wish a thing to be nicely managed, intrust it to this fellow.SYRUS: (overhearing him.)
DEMEA:Hem!Huic mandes, si quid recte curatum velis.
Ha, Demea! I didn’t see you; how goes it?
SYRUS:Hem, Demea, haud aspexeram te. Quid agitur?
DEMEA:How should it go? I can not enough wonder at your mode of living here.
DEMEA:Quid agatur? Vestram nequeo mirari satisRationem.
SYRUS:Why, really silly enough, and, to speak without disguise, altogether absurd. (Calls at the door of MICIO’S house.) Dromo, clean the rest of the fish; let the largest conger-eel play a little in the water; when I come back it shall, be boned; not before.
SYRUS:Est hercle inepta, ne dicam dolo,Atque absurda. Pisces ceteros purga, Dromo:Congrum istum maximum in aqua sinito luderePaulisper: ubi ego venero, exossabitur;Prius nolo.
DEMEA:Is profligacy like this—
DEMEA:Haecine flagitia!
SYRUS:As for myself, it isn’t to my taste,and I often exclaim against it. (Calls; at the door.) Stephanio, take care that the salt fish is well soaked.
SYRUS:Mihi quidem non placent;Et clamo saepe. Salsamenta haec, Stephanio,Fac macerentur pulchre.
DEMEA:Ye Gods, by our trust in you! Is he doing this for any purpose of his own, or does he think it creditable to ruin his son? Wretch that I am! methinks I already see the day when Aeschinus will be running away for want,to serve somewhere or other as a soldier.
DEMEA:Di vestram fidem,Utrum studione id sibi habet, an laudi putatFore si perdiderit gnatum? Vae misero mihi!Videre videor iam diem illum quum hinc egensProfugiet aliquo militatum.
SYRUS:O Demea! That is wisdom indeed, not only to look at the present moment, but also to look forward to what’s to come.
SYRUS:O Demea,Istuc est sapere, non quod ante pedes modo estVidere, sed etiam illa quae futura suntProspicere.
DEMEA:Well—is this Music-girl still with you?
DEMEA:Quid? istaec iam penes vos psaltria est?
SYRUS:Why, yes, she’s in-doors.
SYRUS:Ellam intus.
DEMEA:How now—is he going to keep her at home?
DEMEA:Eho an domi est habiturus?
SYRUS:I believe so; such is hismadness!
SYRUS:Credo, ut estDementia.
DEMEA:Is it possible?
DEMEA:Haecine fieri!
SYRUS:An imprudent lenity in his father, and a vicious inlulgence.
SYRUS:Inepta lenitasPatris et facilitas prava.
DEMEA:Really, I am ashamed and grieved at my brother.
DEMEA:Fratris me quidemPudet pigetque.
SYRUS:Demea! Between you there is a great—I do not say it because you are here present—a too great difference. You are, every bit of you, nothing but wisdom;
SYRUS:Nimium inter vos, Demea, acNon quia ades praesens dico hoc, pernimium interest.Tu quantus quantus es nihil nisi sapientia es:
he a mere dreamer. Would you indeed have suffered that son of yours to act thus?DEMEA:I, suffer him? Would I not have smelt it out six months before he attempted it?
Ille somnium. Sineres vero tu illum tuumFacere haec?DEMEA:Sinerem illum? an non sex totis mensibusPrius olfecissem quam ille quicquam coeperit?
SYRUS:Need I be told by you of your foresight?
SYRUS:Vigilantiam tuam tu mihi narras?
DEMEA:I pray he may only continue the same he is at present!
DEMEA:Sic sietModo ut nunc est quaeso.
SYRUS:Just as each person wishes his son to be, so he turns out.
SYRUS:Ut quisque suum vult esse, ita est.
DEMEA:What news of him? Have you seen him to-day?
DEMEA:Quid eum? vidistine hodie?
SYRUS:What, your son? (Aside.) I’ll pack him off into the country. (To DEMEA.) I fancy he’s busy at the farm long before this.
SYRUS:Tuumne filium?Abigam hunc rus. Iamdudum aliquid ruri agere arbitror.
DEMEA:Are you quite sure he is there?
DEMEA:Satin scis ibi esse?
SYRUS:What!—when I saw him part of the way myself—
SYRUS:Oh, qui egomet produxi.
DEMEA:Very good. I was afraid he might be loitering here.
DEMEA:Optime est.Metui ne haereret hic.
SYRUS:And extremely angry too.
SYRUS:Atque iratum admodum.
DEMEA:Why so?
DEMEA:Quid autem?
SYRUS:He attacked his brother in the Forum with strong languageabout this Music-girl.
SYRUS:Adortus iurgio fratrem apud forumDe psaltria istac.
DEMEA:Do you really say so?
DEMEA:Ain vero?
SYRUS:Oh dear, he didn’t at all mince the matter; for just as the money was being counted out, the gentleman came upon us by chance, and began exclaiming, “Oh Aeschinus, that you should perpetrate these enormities! that you should be guilty of actions so disgraceful to our family!”
SYRUS:Vah, nihil reticuit.Nam ut numerabatur forte argentum intervenitHomo de improviso: coepit clamare, “O Aeschine!”“Haecine flagitia facere te! haec te admittere”“Indigna genere nostro!”
DEMEA:Oh, I shall weep for joy.
DEMEA:Oh! lacrimo gaudio.
SYRUS:“By this you are not squandering your money only, but your reputation.”
SYRUS:“Non tu hoc argentum perdis sed vitam tuam.”
DEMEA:May he be preserved to me! I trust he will be like his forefathers.(Weeping.)
DEMEA:Salvus sit, spero: est similis maiorum suum.
SYRUS: (aside.)Heyday!
SYRUS:Hui.
DEMEA:Syrus, he is full of these maxims.
DEMEA:Syre, praeceptorum plenus istorum ille.
SYRUS: (aside.)Strange, indeed! He had the means at home of learning them.
SYRUS:Phy.Domi habuit unde disceret.
DEMEA:I do every thing I can; I spare no pains; I train him up to it: in fine,I bid him look into the lives of men, as though into a mirror, and from others to take an example for himself. Do this, I say—
DEMEA:Fit sedulo.Nihil praetermitto: consuefacio: deniqueInspicere tanquam in speculum in vitas omniumIubeo, atque ex aliis sumere exemplum sibi.“Hoc facito.”
SYRUS:Quite right.
SYRUS:Recte sane.
DEMEA:Avoid that—
DEMEA:“Hoc fugito.”
SYRUS:Very shrewd.
SYRUS:Callide.
DEMEA:This is praiseworthy—
DEMEA:“Hoc laudi est.”
SYRUS:That’s the thing.
SYRUS:Istaec res est.
DEMEA:That is considered blamable—
DEMEA:“Hoc vitio datur.”
SYRUS:Extremely good.
SYRUS:Probissime.
DEMEA:And then, moreover—
DEMEA:Porro autem—
SYRUS:Upon my honor, I have not the leisureto listen to you just at present: I have got some fish just to my taste, and must take care they are not spoiled; for that would be as much a crime in me, as for you, Demea, not to observe those maxims which you have just been mentioning; and so far as I can, I lay down precepts for my fellow-servants on the very same plan;
SYRUS:Non hercle otium estNunc mihi auscultandi. Pisces ex sententiaNactus sum: hi mihi ne corrumpantur cautio est:Nam id nobis tam flagitium est quam illa, Demea,Non facere vobis quae modo dixti: et, quod queo,Conservis ad eundem istunc praecipio modum:
“this is too salt, that is quite burned up, this is not washed enough, that is very well done; remember and do so another time.” I carefully instruct them so far as I can to the best of my capacity. In short, Demea, I bid them look into their sauce-pans as though into a mirror, and suggest to them what they ought to do.
“Hoc salsum est; hoc adustum est; hoc lautum est parum,”“Illud recte: iterum sic memento:” seduloMoneo quae possum pro mea sapientia.Postremo tanquam in speculum in patinas, Demea,Inspicere iubeo, et moneo quid facto usus siet.
I am sensible these things are trifling which we do; but what is one to do? According as the man is, so must you humor him. Do you wish any thing else?DEMEA:That more wisdom may be granted you.
Inepta haec esse nos quae facimus sentio:Verum quid facias? ut homo est, ita morem geras.Numquid vis?DEMEA:Mentem vobis meliorem dari.
SYRUS:You will be going off into the country, I suppose?
SYRUS:Tu rus hinc abis?
DEMEA:Directly.
DEMEA:Recta.
SYRUS:For what should you do here, where, if you do give any good precepts, no one will regard them?(Goes into MICIO’S house.)DEMEA: (to himself.)
SYRUS:Nam quid tu hic agas,Ubi si quid bene praecipias nemo obtemperet?
I certainly will be off, as he on whose account I came hither has gone into the country. I have a care for him: that alone is my own concern, since my brother will have it so; let him look to the other himself. But who is it I see yonder at a distance? Isn’t it Hegio of our tribes? If I see right, i’ faith, it is he. Ah,a man I have been friendly with from a child! Good Gods! we certainly have a great dearth of citizens of that stamp nowadays, with the old-fashioned virtue and honesty. Not in a hurry will any misfortune accrue to the public from him.
DEMEA:Ego vero hinc abeo, quando is quamobrem huc veneramRus abiit: illum curo unum: ille ad me attinet.Quando ita vult frater, de istoc ipse viderit.Sed quis illic est procul quem video? estne hic Hegio,Tribulis noster? si satis cerno, is hercle est: vah,Homo amicus nobis iam inde a puero. Di boni!Nae illiusmodi iam nobis magna civiumPenuria est: homo antiqua virtute ac fide.Haud cito mali quid ortum ex hoc sit publice.
How glad I am to find some remnants of this race even still remaining; now I feel some pleasure in living. I’ll wait here for him, to ask him how he is, and have some conversation with him.(Enter HEGIO and GETA, conversing, at a distance.)
Quam gaudeo ubi etiam huius generis reliquiasRestare video! Ah, vivere etiam nunc libet.Opperiar hominem hic, ut salutem et conloquar.(HEGIO. GETA. DEMEA. PAMPHILA.)
HEGIO:Oh immortal Gods! a disgraceful action, Geta! What is it you tell me?
HEGIO:Pro Di immortales, facinus indignum, Geta.Quid narras?
GETA:Such is the fact.
GETA:Sic est factum.
HEGIO:That so ignoble a deed should come from that family! Oh Aeschinus,assuredly you haven’t taken after your father in that!
HEGIO:Ex illan familiaTam illiberale facinus esse ortum? O Aeschine,Pol haud paternum istuc dedisti.
DEMEA: (apart.)Why surely, he has heard this about the Music-girl; that gives him concern, though a stranger; this father of his thinks nothing of it. Ah me! I wish he were somewhere close at hand to overhear this.
DEMEA:VidelicetDe psaltria hac audivit: id illi nunc doletAlieno: pater is nihili pendit. Hei mihi!Utinam hic prope adesset alicubi, atque audiret haec.
HEGIO:Unless they do as they ought to do, they shall not come off so easily.
HEGIO:Nisi facient quae illos aequum est, haud sic auferent.
GETA:All our hopes, Hegio, are centred in you; you we have for our only friend; you are our protector, our father. The old man, Simulus, when dying, recommended us to you; if you forsake us, we are undone.
GETA:In te spes omnis, Hegio, nobis sita est.Te solum habemus: tu es patronus, tu parens:Ille tibi moriens nos commendavit senex.Si deseris tu, periimus.
HEGIO:Beware how you mention that; I neither will do it, nor do I think that, with due regard to the ties of relationship, I could.DEMEA: (apart.)
HEGIO:Cave dixeris.Neque faciam, neque me satis pie posse arbitror.
I’ll accost him. (Approaches HEGIO.) Hegio, I bid you welcome right heartily;HEGIO: (starting.)Oh! you are the very man I was looking for. Greetings to you, Demea.
DEMEA:Adibo. Salvere Hegionem plurimumIubeo.HEGIO:Te quaerebam ipsum. Salve Demea.
DEMEA:Why, what’s the matter?
DEMEA:Quid autem?
HEGIO:Your eldest son Aeschinus, whom you gave to your brother to adopt, has been acting the part of neither an honest man nor a gentleman.
HEGIO:Maior filius tuus Aeschinus,Quem fratri adoptandum dedisti, neque boniNeque liberalis functus officium est viri.
DEMEA:What has he been doing?
DEMEA:Quid istuc est?
HEGIO:You knew my friend and year’s-mate, Simulus?
HEGIO:Nostrum amicum noras SimulumAtque aequalem?
DEMEA:Why not?
DEMEA:Quidni?
HEGIO:He has debauched his daughter, a virgin.
HEGIO:Filiam eius virginemVitiavit.
HEGIO:Stay, Demea. You have not yet heard the worst.
HEGIO:Mane; nondum audisti, Demea,Quod est gravissimum.
DEMEA:Is there any thing still worse?
DEMEA:An quid est etiam amplius?
HEGIO:Worse, by far: for this indeed might in some measure have been borne with.
HEGIO:Vero amplius; nam hoc quidem ferendum aliquo modo est:
The hour of night prompted him; passion, wine, young blood;’tis human nature. When he was sensible of what he had done, he came voluntarily to the girl’s mother, weeping, praying, entreating, pledging his honor, vowing that he would take her home. The affair was pardoned, hushed up, his word taken. The girl from thatintercourse became pregnant: this is the tenth month. He, worthy fellow, has provided himself, if it please the Gods, with a Music-girl to live with; the other he has cast off.
Persuasit nox, amor, vinum, adolescentia:Humanum est. Ubi scit factum, ad matrem virginisVenit ipsus ultro lacrimans, orans, obsecrans,Fidem dans, iurans se illam ducturum domum.Ignotum est; tacitum est; creditum est. Virgo ex eoCompressu gravida facta est: mensis hic decimus est.Ille bonus vir nobis psaltriam, si Dis placet,Paravit quicum vivat, illam deserit.
DEMEA:Do you say this for certain?
DEMEA:Pro certon tu istaec dicis?
HEGIO:The mother of the young woman is among us, the young woman too; the fact speaks for itself; this Geta,besides, according to the common run of servants, not a bad one or of idle habits; he supports them; alone, maintains the whole family; take him, bind him, examine him upon the matter.
HEGIO:Mater virginisIn medio est; ipsa virgo; res ipsa: hic GetaPraeterea, ut captus est servorum non malusNeque iners, alit illas: solus omnem familiamSustentat: hunc abduce, vinci; quaere rem.
GETA:Aye, faith, put me to the torture, Demea, if such is not the fact: besides, he will not deny it. Confront me with him.DEMEA: (aside.)
GETA:Immo hercle extorque, nisi ita factum est, Demea.Postremo non negabit: coram ipsum cedo.
I am ashamed; and what to do, or how to answer him, I don’t know.PAMPHILA: (crying out within the house of SOSTRATA.)Ah me! I am racked with pains! Juno Lucina, bring aid, save me, I beseech thee.HEGIO:Hold; is she in labor, pray?
DEMEA:Pudet: nec quid agam neque quid huic respondeamScio.PAMPHILA:Miseram me, differor doloribus.Iuno Lucina, fer opem: serva me, obsecro.HEGIO:Hem.Numnam illa quaeso parturit?
GETA:No doubt of it, Hegio.
GETA:Certe Hegio.
HEGIO:Ah! she is now imploring your protection, Demea;
HEGIO:Hem.Illaec fidem nunc vestram implorat, Demea:
let her obtain from you spontaneously what the power of the law compels you to give. I do entreat the Gods that what befits you may at once be clone. But if your sentiments are otherwise, Demea, I will defend both them and him who is dead to the utmost of my power.
Quod vos vis cogit, id voluntate impetret.Haec primum ut fiant Deos quaeso ut vobis decet:Sin aliter animus vester est, ego, Demea,Summa vi defendam hanc atque illum mortuum.
He was my kinsman: we were brought up together from children, we were companions in the wars and at home, together we experienced the hardships of poverty. I will therefore exert myself, strive, use all methods, in fine lay down my life, rather than forsake these women. What answer do you give me?DEMEA:I’ll go find my brother, Hegio:the advice he gives me upon this matter I’ll follow.
Mihi cognatus erat: una a pueris parvulisSumus educti; una semper militiae et domiFuimus; paupertatem una pertulimus gravem.Quapropter nitar, faciam, experiar, deniqueAnimam relinquam potius quam illas deseram.Quid mihi respondes?DEMEA:Fratrem conveniam, Hegio:Is quod mihi de hac re dederit consilium id sequar.
HEGIO:But, Demea, take you care and reflect upon this: the more easy you are in your circumstances, the more powerful, wealthy, affluent, and noble you are, so much the more ought you with equanimity to observe the dictates of justice, if you would have yourselves esteemed as men of probity.
HEGIO:Sed Demea hoc tu facito, cum animo cogitesQuam vos facillime agitis, quam estis maximePotentes, dites, fortunati, nobiles,Tam maxime vos aequo animo aequa noscereOportet, si vos vultis perhiberi probos.
DEMEA:Go back now; every thing shall be done that is proper to be done.
DEMEA:Redito: fient quae fieri aequum est omnia.
HEGIO:It becomes you to act thus. Geta, show me in to Sostrata.(Follows GETA into SOSTRATA’S house.)DEMEA: (to himself.)
HEGIO:Decet te facere. Geta duc me intro ad Sostratam.
Not without warning on my part have these things happened: I only wish it may end here; but this immoderate indulgence will undoubtedly lead to some great misfortune.
DEMEA:Non me indicente haec fiunt. Utinam hic sit modoDefunctum: verum nimia illaec licentiaProfecto evadet in aliquod magnum malum.
I’ll go find my brother, and vent these feelings upon him.(Exit.) (Enter HEGIO, from SOSTRATA’S house, and speaking to her within.)
Ibo ac requiram fratrem, ut in eum haec evomam.(HEGIO.)
HEGIO:Be of good heart, Sostrata, and take care and console her as far as you can. I’ll go find Micio, if he is at the Forum, and acquaint him with the whole circumstances in their order; if so it is that he will do his duty by you,let him do so; but if his sentiments are otherwise about this matter, let him give me his answer, that I may know at once what I am to do.(Exit.) (Enter CTESIPHO and SYRUS from the house of MICIO.)
HEGIO.:Bono animo fac sis, Sostrata; et istam, quod potes,Fac consolere. Ego Micionem, si apud forum est,Conveniam; atque ut res gesta est narrabo ordine.Si est facturus ut sit officium suum,Faciat: sin aliter de hac re est eius sententia,Respondeat mihi; ut quid agam quamprimum sciam.(CTESIPHO. SYRUS.)
CTESIPHO:My father gone into the country, say you?
CTESIPHO:Ain patrem hinc abisse rus?
SYRUS: (with a careless air.)Some time since.
SYRUS:Iamdudum.
CTESIPHO:Do tell me, I beseech you.
CTESIPHO:Dic sodes.
SYRUS:He is at the farm at this very moment, I warrant—hard at some work or other.
SYRUS:Apud villam est.Nunc cum maxime operis aliquid facere credo.
CTESIPHO:I really wish, provided it be done with no prejudice to his health, I wish that he may so effectually tire himself,that, for the next three days together, he may be unable to arise from his bed.
CTESIPHO:Utinam quidem,Quod cum salute eius fiat, ita se defatigarit velim,Ut triduo hoc perpetuo prorsum e lecto nequeat surgere.
SYRUS:So be it, and any thing still better than that, if possible.
SYRUS:Ita fiat, et istoc si quid potis est rectius.
CTESIPHO:Just so; for I do most confoundedly wish to pass this whole day in merry-making as I have begun it; and for no reason do I detest that farm so heartily as for its being so near town. If it were at a greater distance,night would overtake him there before he could return hither again. Now, when he doesn’t find me there, he’ll come running back here, I’m quite sure; he’ll be asking me where I have been, that I have not seen him all this day: what am I to say?
CTESIPHO:Ita: nam hunc diemMisere nimis cupio, ut coepi, perpetuum in laetitia degere:Et illud rus nulla alia causa tam male odi, nisi quia prope est:Quod si abesset longius,Prius nox oppressisset illic quam huc reverti posset iterum.Nunc ubi me illic non videbit iam huc recurret, sat scio.Rogitabit me ubi fuerim; quem ego hodie toto non vidi die.Quid dicam?
SYRUS:Does nothing suggest itself to your mind?
SYRUS:Nihilne in mentem?
CTESIPHO:Nothing whatever.
CTESIPHO:Nunquam quicquam.
SYRUS:So much the worse —have you no client, friend, or guest?
SYRUS:Tanto nequior.Cliens, amicus, hospes, nemo est vobis?
CTESIPHO:I have; what then?
CTESIPHO:Sunt: quid postea?
SYRUS:You have been engaged with them.
SYRUS:Hisce opera ut data sit.
CTESIPHO:When I have not been engaged? That can never do.
CTESIPHO:Quae non data sit? non potest fieri.
SYRUS:It may.
SYRUS:Potest.
CTESIPHO:During the daytime; but if I pass the night here, what excuse can I make, Syrus?
CTESIPHO:Interdiu: sed si hic pernocto, causae quid dicam, Syre?
SYRUS:Dear me, how much I do wish it was the custom for one to be engaged with friends at night as well! But you be easy; I know his humor perfectly well. When he raves the most violently, I can make him as gentle as a lamb.
SYRUS:Vah, quam vellem etiam noctu amicis operam mos esset dari.Quin tu otiosus es: ego illius sensum pulchre calleo.Quum fervit maxime tam placidum quam ovem reddo.
CTESIPHO:In what way?
CTESIPHO:Quo modo?
SYRUS:He loves to hear you praised: I make a god of you to him, and recount your virtues.
SYRUS:Laudarier te audit libenter: facio te apud illum Deum:Virtutes narro.
CTESIPHO:What, mine?
CTESIPHO:Meas?
SYRUS:Yours; immediately the tears fall from him as from a child, for very joy. (Starting.) Hah take care—
SYRUS:Tuas: homini ilico lacrimae caduntQuasi puero gaudio. Hem tibi autem.
CTESIPHO:Why, what’s the matter?
CTESIPHO:Quidnam est?
SYRUS:The wolf in the fable —
SYRUS:Lupus in fabula.
CTESIPHO:What! my father?
CTESIPHO:Pater est?
SYRUS:His own self.
SYRUS:Ipsus est.
CTESIPHO:What shall we do, Syrus?
CTESIPHO:Syre, quid agimus?
SYRUS:You only be off in-doors, I’ll see to that.
SYRUS:Fuge modo intro: ego videro.
CTESIPHO:If he makes any inquiries, you have seen me no-where; do you hear?
CTESIPHO:Si quid rogabit, nusquam tu me: audistin?
SYRUS:Can you not be quiet?(They retreat to the door of MICIO’S house, and CTESIPHO stands in the doorway.) (Enter DEMEA, on the other side of the stage.)DEMEA: (to himself.)
SYRUS:Potin ut desinas?(DEMEA.CTESIPHO. SYRUS.)
I certainly am an unfortunate man. In the first place, I can find my brother nowhere; and then, in the next place, while looking for him, I met a day-laborer from the farm; he says that my son is not in the country, and what to do I know not—CTESIPHO: (apart.)
DEMEA:Nae ego homo sum infelix: primum fratrem nusquam invenio gentium:Praeterea autem dum illum quaero a villa mercenariumVidi: is filium negat esse ruri: nec quid agam scio.
Syrus!SYRUS: (apart.)What’s the matter?
CTESIPHO:Syre.SYRUS:Quid est?
CTESIPHO: (apart.)Is he looking for me?
CTESIPHO:Men quaerit?
SYRUS: (apart.)Yes.
SYRUS:Verum.
CTESIPHO: (apart.)Undone!
CTESIPHO:Perii!
SYRUS: (apart.)Nay, do be of good heart.DEMEA: (to himself.)
SYRUS:Quin tu animo bono es.
Plague on it! what ill luck is this? I can not really account for it,unless I suppose myself only born for the purpose of enduring misery. I am the first to feel our misfortunes; the first to know of them all; then the first to carry the news; I am the only one, if any thing does go wrong, to take it to heart.SYRUS: (apart.)
DEMEA:Quid hoc, malum, infelicitatis? nequeo satis decernere;Nisi me credo huic esse natum rei, ferendis miseriis.Primus sentio mala nostra; primus rescisco omnia;Primus porro obnuntio: aegre solus si quid fit fero.
I’m amused at him; he says that he is the first to know of every thing, while he is the only one ignorant of every thing.DEMEA: (to himself.)
SYRUS:Rideo hunc: primum ait se scire; is solus nescit omnia.
I’ve now come back; and I’ll go see whether perchance my brother has yet returned.CTESIPHO: (apart.)Syrus,pray do take care that he doesn’t suddenly rush in upon us here.
DEMEA:Nunc redeo: si forte frater redierit viso.CTESIPHO:Syre,Obsecro vide ne ille huc prorsus se irruat.
SYRUS: (apart.)Now will you hold your tongue? I’ll take care.
SYRUS:Etiam taces?Ego cavebo.
CTESIPHO: (apart.)Never this day will I depend on your management for that, upon my faith;
CTESIPHO:Nunquam hercle hodie ego istuc committam tibi;
for I’ll shut myself up with her in some cupboard —that’s the safest.(Goes into the house.)SYRUS: (apart.)
Nam me iam in cellam aliquam cum illa concludam: id tutissimum est.
Do so, still I’ll get rid of him.DEMEA: (seeing SYRUS.)But see! there’s that rascal, Syrus.SYRUS: (aloud, pretending not to see DEMEA.)
SYRUS:Age, tamen ego hunc amovebo.DEMEA:Sed eccum sceleratum Syrum.
Really, upon my faith, no person can stay here, if this is to be the case!
SYRUS:Non hercle hic quidem durare quisquam, si sic fit, potest.
For my part, I should like to know how many masters I have—what a cursed condition this isDEMEA:What’s he whining about? What does he mean? How say you, good sir, is my brother at home?
Scire equidem volo quot mihi sint domini: quae haec est miseria?DEMEA:Quid ille gannit? quid vult? quid ais bone vir? est frater domi?
SYRUS:What the plague do you talk to me about, “good sir”? I’m quite distracted!
SYRUS:Quid, malum, “Bone vir,” mihi narras? Equidem perii.
DEMEA:What’s the matter with you?
DEMEA:Quid tibi est?
SYRUS:Do you ask the question? Ctesipho has been beating me, poor wretch, and that Music-girl, almost to death.
SYRUS:Rogitas? Ctesipho me pugnis miserum et istam psaltriamUsque occidit.
DEMEA:Ha! what is it you tell me?
DEMEA:Hem, quid narras?
SYRUS:Aye, seehow he has cut my lip.(Pretends to point to it.)
SYRUS:Hem! vide, ut discidit labrum.
DEMEA:For what reason?
DEMEA:Quamobrem?
SYRUS:He says that she was bought by my advice.
SYRUS:Me impulsore hanc emtam esse ait.
DEMEA:Did not you tell me, a short time since, that you had seen him on his way into the country?
DEMEA:Non tu eum rus hinc modoProduxe aibas?
SYRUS:I did; but he afterward came back, raving like a madman; he spared nobody—ought he not to have been ashamed to beat an old man? Him whom, only the other day, I used to carry about in my arms when thus high?(Showing.)
SYRUS:Factum: verum venit post insaniens:Nihil pepercit. Non puduisse verberare hominem senem,Quem ego modo puerum tantillum in manibus gestavi meis?
DEMEA:I commend him; O Ctesipho, you take after your father. Well, I do pronounce you a man.
DEMEA:Laudo, Ctesipho; patrissas: abi, virum te iudico.
SYRUS:Commend him? Assuredly he will keep his hands to himself in future, if he’s wise.
SYRUS:Laudas? Nae ille continebit posthac si sapiet manus.
DEMEA:’Twas done with spirit.SYRUS:Very much so, to be beating a poor woman, and me, a slave, who didn’t dare strike him in return; heyday! very spirited indeed!
DEMEA:Fortiter.SYRUS:Perquam! quia miseram mulierem, et me servulumQui referire non audebam, vicit: hui, perfortiter!
DEMEA:He could not have done better; he thought the same as I did, that you were the principal in this affair. But is my brother within?
DEMEA:Non potuit melius: idem quod ego sensit te esse huic rei caput.Sed estne frater intus?
SYRUS:He is not.
SYRUS:Non est.
DEMEA:I’m thinking where to look for him.
DEMEA:Ubi illum quaeram cogito.
SYRUS:I know where he is—but I shall not tell you at present.
SYRUS:Scio ubi sit; verum hodie nunquam monstrabo.
DEMEA:Ha! what’s that you say?
DEMEA:Hem, quid ais?
SYRUS:I do say so.
SYRUS:Ita.
DEMEA:Then I’ll break your head for you this instant.
DEMEA:Diminuetur tibi quidem iam cerebrum.
SYRUS:I can’t tell the person’s name he’s gone to, but I know the place where he lives.
SYRUS:At nomen nescioIllius hominis; sed locum novi ubi sit.
DEMEA:Tell me the place then.
DEMEA:Dic ergo locum.
SYRUS:Do you know the portico down this way, just by the shambles?(Pointing in the direction.)
SYRUS:Nostin porticum apud macellum hanc deorsum?
DEMEA:How should I but know it?
DEMEA:Quidni noverim?
SYRUS:Go straight along, right up that street; when you come there,there is a descent right opposite that goes down-ward, go straight down that; afterward, on this side (extending one hand), there is a chapel: close by it is a narrow lane,where there’s also a great wild fig-tree.
SYRUS:Praeterito hac recta platea sursum: ubi eo veneris,Clivus deorsum versus est: hac te praecipitato: posteaEst ad hanc manum sacellum; ibi angiportum propter est.
DEMEA:I know it.
DEMEA:Quonam?
SYRUS:Go through that—
SYRUS:Illic ubi etiam caprificus magna est: nostin?
DEMEA:But that lane is not a thoroughfare.
DEMEA:Novi.
SYRUS:I’ faith, that’s true; dear, dear, would you take me to be in my senses? I made a mistake. Return to the portico;
SYRUS:Hac pergito.DEMEA:Id quidem angiportum non est pervium.SYRUS:Verum hercle. Vah,Censen hominem me esse? erravi. In porticum rursum redi:
indeed that will be a much nearer way, and there is less going round about you know the house of Cratinus, the rich man?DEMEA:I know it.
Sane hac multo propius ibis, et minor est erratio.Scin Cratini huius ditis aedes?DEMEA:Scio.
SYRUS:When you have passed that, keep straight along that street on the left hand; when you come to the Temple of Diana, turn to the right; before you come to the city gate, just by that pond, there is a baker’s shop, and opposite to it a joiner’s; there he is.
SYRUS:Ubi eas praeterierisAd sinistram hac recta platea: ubi ad Dianae venerisIto ad dextram: priusquam ad portam venias apud ipsum lacumEst pistrilla et exadversum fabrica: ibi est.
DEMEA:What is he doing there?
DEMEA:Quid ibi facit?
SYRUS:He has given some couches to be made, with oaken legs, for use in the open air.
SYRUS:Lectulos in sole ilignis pedibus faciendos dedit.
DEMEA:For you to carouse upon! Very fine! But why do I delay going to him?(Exit.)
DEMEA:Ubi potetis vos? Bene sane. Sed cesso ad eum pergere?
SYRUS:Go, by all means. I’ll work you to day, you skeleton, as you deserve. Aeschinus loiters intolerably; the breakfast’s spoiling; and as for Ctesipho, he’s head and ears in love. I shall now think of myself,for I’ll be off at once, and pick out the very nicest bit, and, leisurely sipping my cups, I’ll lengthen out the day.(Goes into the house.) (Enter MICIO and HEGIO.)
SYRUS:I sane. Ego te exercebo hodie ut dignus es, silicernium.Aeschinus odiose cessat: prandium corrumpitur.Ctesipho autem in amore est totus. Ego iam prospiciam mihi:Nam iam adibo, atque unumquicquid quod quidem erit bellissimumCarpam; et cyathos sorbilans paulatim hunc producam diem.(MICIO. HEGIO.)
MICIO:I can see no reason here, Hegio, that I should be so greatly commended. I do my duty; the wrong that has originated with us I redress.
MICIO:Ego in hac re nihil reperio quamobrem lauder tantopere, Hegio:Meum officium facio; quod peccatum a nobis ortum est corrigo:
Unless, perhaps, you thought me one of that class of men who think that an injury is purposely done them if you expostulate about any thing they have done; and yet are themselves the first to accuse. Because I have not acted thus, do you return me thanks?
Nisi si me in illo credidisti esse hominum numero qui ita putant,Sibi fieri iniuriam ultro si quam fecere ipsi expostules,Et ultro accusant: id quia non est a me factum agis gratias?
HEGIO:Oh, far from it; I never led myself to believe you to be otherwise than you are; but I beg, Micio, that you will go with me to the mother of the young woman, and repeat to her the same; what you have told me, do you yourself tell the woman,that this suspicion of Aeschinus’s fidelity was incurred on his brother’s account, and that this Music-girl was for him.
HEGIO:Ah, minime: nunquam te aliter atque es in animum induxi meum.Sed quaeso ut una mecum ad matrem virginis eas, Micio,Atque istaec eadem quae mihi dixti tute dicas mulieri;Suspicionem hanc propter fratrem eius esse et illam psaltriam.
MICIO:If you think I ought, or if there is a necessity for doing so, let us go.
MICIO:Si ita aequum censes, aut si ita opus est facto, camus.
HEGIO:You act with kindness; for you’ll then both have relieved her mind who is now languishing in sorrow and affliction, and have discharged your duty. But if you think otherwise, I will tell her myself what you have been saying to me.
HEGIO:Bene facis;Nam et illi animum iam relevabis, quae dolore ac miseriaTabescit; et tuo officio fueris functus: sed si aliter putas,Egomet narrabo quae mihi dixti.
MICIO:Nay, I’ll go as well.
MICIO:Immo ego ibo.
HEGIO:You act with kindness;
HEGIO:Bene facis.
all who are in distressed circumstances are suspicious, to I know not what degree; they take every thing too readily as an affront; they fancy themselves trifled with on account of their helpless condition; therefore it will be more satisfactory for you to justify him to them yourself.(They go into the house of SOSTRATA.) (Enter AESCHINUS.)
Omnes quibus res sunt minus secundae magis sunt nescio quomodoSuspiciosi; ad contumeliam omnia accipiunt magis;Propter suam impotentiam se semper credunt negligi;Quapropter te ipsum purgare ipsis coram placabilius est.MICIO:Et recte et verum dicis.HEGIO:Sequere me ergo hac intro.MICIO:Maxime.(AESCHINUS.)
AESCHINUS.:I am quite distracted in mind! for this misfortune so unexpectedly to befall me, that I neither know what to do with myself, or how to act! My limbs are enfeebled through fear, my faculties bewildered with apprehension; no counsel is able to find a place within my breast.Alas! how to extricate myself from this perplexity I know not; so strong a suspicion has taken possession of them about me; not without some reason too: Sostrata believes that I have purchased this Music-girl for myself: the old woman informed me of that. For by accident, when she was sent for the midwife, I saw her,and at once went up to her. “How is Pamphila?” I inquired; “is her delivery at hand? Is it for that she is sending for the midwife?” “Away, away, Aeschinus,” cries she; “you have deceived us long enough; already have your promises disappointed us sufficiently.” “Ha!” said I; “pray what is the meaning of this?” “Farewell,” she cries; “keep to her who is your choice.” I instantly guessed what it was they suspected, but still I checked myself,that I might not be telling that gossip any thing about my brother, whereby it might be divulged. Now what am I to do? Shall I say she is for my brother, a thing that ought by no means to be repeated any where? However, let that pass. It is possible it might go no further. I am afraid they would not believe it, so many probabilities concur against it;’twas I myself carried her off;’twas I, my own self, that paid the money for her;’twas my own house she was carried to.
AESCHINUS.:Discrucior animi:Hocine de improviso mali mihi obiiciTantum, ut neque quid de me faciam neque quid agam certum siet!Membra metu debilia sunt; animus timoreObstipuit: pectore consistere nil consiliQuit. Vah! quomodo me ex hac expediam turba? Tanta nuncSuspicio de me incidit;Neque ea immerito: Sostrata credit mihi me psaltriam hanc emisse.Id anus mihi indicium fecit.Nam ut hinc forte ea ad obstetricem erat missa, ubi eam vidi ilicoAccedo, rogito Pamphila quid agat, iam partus adsiet;Eone obstetricem arcessat. Illa exclamat, “Abi, abi iam, Aeschine.”“Satis diu dedisti verba; sat adhuc tua nos frustrata est fides.”“Hem, quid istuc obsecro,” inquam, “est?” “Valeas; habeas illam quae placet.”Sensi ilico id illas suspicari: sed me reprehendi tamenNe quid de fratre garrulae illi dicerem, ac fieret palam.Nunc quid faciam? Dicam fratris esse? Id quidem minime est opusUsquam efferri. Ac mitto: fieri potis est ut ne qua exeat.Ipsum id metuo ut credant; tot concurrunt verisimilia.Egomet rapui; ipse egomet solvi argentum; ad me abducta est domum.
This I confess has been entirely my own fault. Ought I not to have disclosed this affair, just as it happened, to my father? I might have obtained his consent to marry her. I have been too negligent hitherto; henceforth, then, arouse yourself, Aeschinus. This then is the first thing; to go to them and clear myself. I’ll approach the door. (Advances to the door of SOSTRATA’S house.) Confusion! I always tremble most dreadfully when I go to knock at that door.
Haec adeo mea culpa fateor fieri. Non me hanc rem patriUt ut erat gesta indicasse? Exorassem ut eam ducerem.Cessatum usque adhuc est: nunc porro, Aeschine, expergiscere!Nunc hoc primum est: ad illas ibo ut purgem me; accedam ad fores.Perii! horresco semper ubi pultare hasce occipio miser.