CHARINUS:We all, when we are well, with ease give good advice to the sick. If you were in my situation, you would think otherwise.
CHARINUS:Facile omnes cum valemus recta consilia aegrotis damus.Tu si hic sis aliter sentias.
BYRRHIA:Well, well, just as you like.
BYRRHIA:Age age, ut libet.
CHARINUS: (looking down the side scene.)But I see Pamphilus; I’m determined I’ll try every thing before I despair.
CHARINUS:Sed PamphilumVideo: omnia experiri certum est prius quam pereo.
BYRRHIA: (aside.)What does he mean?
BYRRHIA:Quid hic agit?
CHARINUS:I will entreat his own self; I will supplicate him; I will disclose to him my love. I think that I shall prevail upon him to put off the marriage for some days at least; in the mean time, something will turn up, I trust.
CHARINUS:Ipsum hunc orabo: huic supplicabo: amorem huic narrabo meum:Credo impetrabo ut aliquot saltem nuptiis prodat dies:Interea fiet aliquid, spero.
BYRRHIA:That something is nothing.
BYRRHIA:Id aliquid nihil est.
CHARINUS:Byrrhia,how seems it to you? Shall I accost him?
CHARINUS:Byrrhia,Quid tibi videtur? adeon’ ad eum?
BYRRHIA:Why not? Should you not prevail, that at least he may look upon you as a gallant ready provided for him, if he marries her.
BYRRHIA:Quidni? Si nihil impetres,Ut te arbitretur sibi paratum moechum si illam duxerit?
CHARINUS:Away with you to perdition with that vile suggestion, you rascal!(Enter PAMPHILUS.)
CHARINUS:Abin’ hinc in malam rem cum suspicione istac, scelus?
PAMPHILUS:I espy Charinus. (Accosting him.) Good-morrow!
PAMPHILUS:Charinum video: salve.
CHARINUS:O, good-morrow. Pamphilus, I’m come to you, seeking hope, safety, counsel, and assistance.
CHARINUS:O salve Pamphile.Ad te advenio spem, salutem, auxilium, consilium expetens.
PAMPHILUS:I’faith, I have neither time for counsel, nor resources for assistance. But what’s the matter now?
PAMPHILUS:Neque pol consili locum habeo, neque auxili copiam.Sed istuc quidnam est?
CHARINUS:To-day you are going to take a wife?
CHARINUS:Hodie uxorem ducis?
PAMPHILUS:So they say.
PAMPHILUS:Aiunt.
CHARINUS:Pamphilus, if you do that, you behold me this day for the last time.
CHARINUS:Pamphile,Si id facis hodie postremum me vides.
PAMPHILUS:Why so
PAMPHILUS:Quid ita?
CHARINUS:Ah me! I dread to tell it; prithee, do you tell it, Byrrhia.
CHARINUS:Hei mihi,Vereor dicere: huic dic quaeso Byrrhia.
BYRRHIA:I’ll tell it.
BYRRHIA:Ego dicam.
PAMPHILUS:What is it?
PAMPHILUS:Quid est?
BYRRHIA:He’s in love with your betrothed.
BYRRHIA:Sponsam hic tuam amat.
PAMPHILUS:Assuredly he’s not of my way of thinking. Come now, tell me,have you had any more to do with her, Charinus?
PAMPHILUS:Nae iste haud mecum sentit: Ehodum dic mihi:Numquidnam amplius tibi cum illa fuit Charine?
CHARINUS:Oh Pamphilus, nothing.
CHARINUS:Ah PamphileNihil.
PAMPHILUS:How much I wish you had.
PAMPHILUS:Quam vellem.
CHARINUS:Now, by our friendship and by my affection, I do beseech you, in the first place, not to marry her.
CHARINUS:Nunc te per amicitiam et per amorem obsecroPrincipio ut ne ducas.
PAMPHILUS:For my own part I’ll use my endeavors.
PAMPHILUS:Dabo equidem operam.
CHARINUS:But if that can not be, or if this marriage is agreeable to you—
CHARINUS:Sed si id non potes,Aut tibi nuptiae haec sunt cordi.
PAMPHILUS:Agreeable to me?
PAMPHILUS:Cordi?
CHARINUS:Put it off for some days at least, while I go elsewhere, that I may not be witness.
CHARINUS:Saltem aliquot diesProfer, dum proficiscor aliquo ne videam.
PAMPHILUS:Now listen, once for all:I think it, Charinus, to be by no means the part of an ingenuous man, when he confers nothing, to expect that it should be considered as an obligation on his part. I am more desirous to avoid this match, than you to gain it.
PAMPHILUS:Audi nunc iam.Ego Charine neutiquam officium liberi esse hominis putoCum is nihil promereat postulare id gratiae adponi sibi.Nuptias effugere ego istas malo, quam tu adipiscier.
CHARINUS:You have restored me to life.
CHARINUS:Reddidisti animum.
PAMPHILUS:Now, if you can do any thing, either you yourself, or Byrrhia here, manage, fabricate, invent, contrive some means, whereby she may be given to you;this I shall aim at, how she may not be given to me.
PAMPHILUS:Nunc si quid potes aut tute aut hic Byrrhia,Facite, fingite, invenite, efficite qui detur tibi:Ego id agam qui mihi ne detur.
CHARINUS:I am satisfied.
CHARINUS:Sat habeo.
PAMPHILUS:Most opportunely I perceive Davus, on whose advice I have depended.
PAMPHILUS:Davom optumeVideo cuius consilio fretus sum.
CHARINUS: (turning to BYRRHIA.)But you, i’faith, tell me nothing, except those things which there is no need for knowing. (Pushing him away.) Get you gone from here.
CHARINUS:At tu hercle haud quidquam mihi;Nisi ea quae nihil opus sunt sciri. Fugin’ hinc?
BYRRHIA:Certainly I will, and with all my heart. (Exit.)
BYRRHIA:Ego vero ac libens.
(Enter DAVUS in haste.)DAVUS: (not seeing PAMPHILUS and CHARINUS.)Ye gracious Gods, what good news I bring! But where shall I find Pamphilus, that I may remove the apprehension in which he now is, and fill his mind with joy—?
(DAVUS.CHARINUS. PAMPHILUS.)DAVUS:Di boni, boni quid porto! sed ubi inveniam Pamphilum,Ut metum in quo nunc est adimam, atque expleam animum gaudio?
CHARINUS: (apart to PAMPHILUS.)He’s rejoiced about something, I don’t know what.
CHARINUS:Laetus est nescio quid.
PAMPHILUS: (apart.)It’s of no consequence; he hasn’t yet heard of these misfortunes.
PAMPHILUS:Nihil est: nondum haec rescivit mala.
DAVUS: (to himself.)For I do believe now, if he has already heard that a marriage is prepared for him—
DAVUS:Quem ego nunc credo, si iam audierit sibi paratas nuptias—
CHARINUS: (apart.)Don’t you hear him?
CHARINUS:Audin’ tu illum?
DAVUS: (to himself.)He is seeking me distractedly all the city over. But where shall I look for him? Or in which direction now first to betake me—
DAVUS:toto me oppido exanimatum quaerere.Sed ubi quaeram? quo nunc primum intendam?
CHARINUS: (apart to PAMPHILUS.)Do you hesitate to accost him?
CHARINUS:Cessas adloqui?
DAVUS: (to himself.)I have it.(Moving on.)
DAVUS:Abeo.
PAMPHILUS:Davus, come here! Stop!
PAMPHILUS:Dave: ades. Resiste.
DAVUS:Who’s the person that’s—(Turning round.) O Pamphilus,you are the very man I’m looking for. Well done, Charinus! both in the nick of time: I want you both.CHARINUS:Davus, I’m undone!
DAVUS:Quis homo est, qui me? O Pamphile,Te ipsum quaero. Euge Charine: ambo opportune. Vos volo.PAMPHILUS:Dave, perii.
DAVUS:Nay but, do hear this.
DAVUS:Quin tu hoc audi.
PAMPHILUS:I’m utterly ruined!
PAMPHILUS:Interii.
DAVUS:I know what you are afraid of.
DAVUS:Quid timeas scio.
CHARINUS:I’faith, my life indeed is really in danger.
CHARINUS:Mea quidem hercle certe in dubio vita est.
DAVUS: (to CHARINUS.)And what you are afraid of, I know.
DAVUS:Et quid tu scio.
PAMPHILUS:My marriage—
PAMPHILUS:Nuptiae mihi.
DAVUS:As if I did not know it?
DAVUS:Etsi scio.
PAMPHILUS:This day—
PAMPHILUS:Hodie.
DAVUS:Why keep dinning me with it, when I know it all? (To PAMPHILUS.) This are you afraid of, lest you should marry her; and you (to CHARINUS,) lest you should not marry her.
DAVUS:Obtundis, tametsi intellego.Id paves ne ducas tu illam, tu autem ut ducas.
CHARINUS:You understand the matter.
CHARINUS:Rem tenes.
PAMPHILUS:That’s the very thing.
PAMPHILUS:Istuc ipsum.
DAVUS:And that very thing is in no danger; trust me for that.
DAVUS:Atque istuc ipsum nihil pericli est: me vide.
PAMPHILUS:I do entreat you, release wretched me as soon as possible from this apprehension.
PAMPHILUS:Obsecro te, quam primum hoc me libera miserum metu.
DAVUS:Well, then, I will release you; Chremes is not going to give you his daughter at present.
DAVUS:Hem,Libero; tibi uxorem non dat iam Chremes.
PAMPHILUS:How do you know?
PAMPHILUS:Qui scis?
DAVUS:You shall know. Your father just now laid hold of me; he said that a wife was to be given you to-day, and many other things as well, which just now I haven’t time to relate.Hastening to you immediately, I ran on to the Forum that I might tell you these things. When I didn’t find you, I ascended there to ahigh place. I looked around; you were nowhere. There by chance I saw Byrrhia, his servant (pointing to CHARINUS.). I inquired of him; he said he hadn’t seen you. This puzzled me. I considered what I was to do. As I was returning in the mean time, a surmise from the circumstances themselves occurred to me: “How now,—”“a very small amount of good cheer; he out of spirits; a marriage all of a sudden; these things don’t agree.”
DAVUS:Scies.Tuus pater me modo prehendit: ait tibi uxorem dariHodie; item alia multa quae nunc non est narrandi locus.Continuo ad te properans percurro ad forum ut dicam tibi haec.Ubi te non invenio ibi ascendo in quendam excelsum locum.Circumspicio; nusquam. Ibi forte huius video Byrrhiam;Rogo: negat vidisse. Mihi molestum. Quid agam, cogito.Redeunti interea ex ipsa re mihi incidit suspicio: hem,Paululum obsoni: ipsus tristis: de improviso nuptiae:Non cohaerent.
PAMPHILUS:But to what purpose this?
PAMPHILUS:Quorsumnam istuc?
DAVUS:I forthwith betook myself to the house of Chremes. When I arrived there—stillness before the door; then I was pleased at that.
DAVUS:Ego me continuo ad Chremem.Cum illo advenio solitudo ante ostium: iam id gaudeo.
CHARINUS:You say well.
CHARINUS:Recte dicis.
PAMPHILUS:Proceed.
PAMPHILUS:Perge.
DAVUS:I stopped there. In the mean time I saw no one going in, no one going out; no matron at the house,no preparation, no bustle. I drew near; looked in—
DAVUS:Maneo: interea introire neminemVideo exire neminem, matronam nullam in aedibus,Nil ornati, nil tumulti: accessi: intro aspexi.
PAMPHILUS:I understand; a considerable indication.
PAMPHILUS:Scio.Magnum signum.
DAVUS:Do these things seem to accord with a wedding?
DAVUS:Num videntur convenire haec nuptiis?
PAMPHILUS:I think not, Davus.
PAMPHILUS:Non opinor Dave.
DAVUS:Think, do you say? You don’t view it rightly; the thing is certain. Besides, coming away from there I saw the servant-boy of Chremes carrying some vegetables and little fishes, an obol’s worth, for the old man’s dinner.
DAVUS:“Opinor” narras? non recte accipis.Certa res est. Etiam puerum inde abiens conveni ChremiOlera et pisciculos minutos ferre obolo in coenam seni.
CHARINUS:This day, Davus, have I been delivered by your means.
CHARINUS:Liberatus sum hodie Dave tua opera.
DAVUS:And yet not at all.
DAVUS:Ac nullus quidem.
CHARINUS:Why so? Surely he will not give her to him, after all this. (Pointing to PAMPHILUS.)
CHARINUS:Quid ita? Nempe huic prorsus illam non dat.
DAVUS:You silly fellow! as though it were a necessary consequence that if he doesn’t give her to him you should marry her: unless, indeed, you look about you; unless you entreat and make court to the old man’s friends.
DAVUS:Ridiculum caput,Quasi necesse sit, si huic non dat, te illam uxorem ducere:Nisi vides, nisi senis amicos oras, ambis.
CHARINUS:You advise well. I’ll go; although, upon my faith, this hope has often eluded me already. Farewell!(Exit.)
CHARINUS:Bene mones.Ibo: etsi hercle saepe iam me spes haec frustrata est. Vale.
(PAMPHILUS and DAVUS.)PAMPHILUS:What then does my father mean? Why does he thus make pretense?
(PAMPHILUS. DAVUS.)PAMPHILUS:Quid igitur sibi vult pater? cur simulat?
DAVUS:I’ll tell you. If now he were angry with you, because Chremes will not give you a wife, he would seem to himself to be unjust, and that not without reason, before he has ascertained your feelings as to the marriage, how they are disposed. But if you refuse to marry her, in that case he will transfer the blame to you;then such disturbances will arise.
DAVUS:Ego dicam tibi.Si id succenseat nunc quia non det tibi uxorem Chremes,Ipsus sibi esse iniurius videatur, neque id iniuria,Prius quam tuum ut sese habeat animum ad nuptias perspexerit.Sed si tu negaris ducere, ibi culpam in te transferet:Tum illae turbae fient.
PAMPHILUS:I will submit to any thing from him.
PAMPHILUS:Quidvis patiar.
DAVUS:He is your father, Pamphilus. It is a difficult matter. Besides, this woman is defenseless. No sooner said than done; he will find some pretext for driving her away from the city.
DAVUS:Pater est Pamphile.Difficile est: tum haec sola est mulier: dictum ac factum inveneritAliquam causam quamobrem eiiciat oppido.
PAMPHILUS:Driving her away?
PAMPHILUS:Eiiciat?
DAVUS:Aye, and quickly too.
DAVUS:Cito.
PAMPHILUS:Tell me then, Davus, what am I to do?
PAMPHILUS:Cedo igitur quid faciam Dave?
DAVUS:Say that you will marry her.
DAVUS:Dic te ducturum.
PAMPHILUS: (starting.)Ha!
PAMPHILUS:Hem.
DAVUS:What’s the matter?
DAVUS:Quid est?
PAMPHILUS:What, am I to say so?
PAMPHILUS:Egon dicam?
DAVUS:Why not?
DAVUS:Cur non?
PAMPHILUS:Never will I do it.
PAMPHILUS:Numquam faciam.
DAVUS:Don’t say so.
DAVUS:Ne nega.
PAMPHILUS:Don’t attempt to persuade me.
PAMPHILUS:Suadere noli.
DAVUS:Consider what will be the result of it.
DAVUS:Ex ea re quid fiat vide.
PAMPHILUS:That I shall be deprived of the one, and fixed with the other.
PAMPHILUS:Ut ab illa excludar huc concludar.
DAVUS:Not so. In fact, I think it will be thus: Your father will say: “I wish you to marry a wife to-day.” You reply: “I’ll marry her.” Tell me, how can he raise a quarrel with you? Thus you will cause all the planswhich are now arranged by him to be disarranged, without any danger; for this is not to be doubted, that Chremes will not give you his daughter. Therefore do not hesitate in those measures which you are taking, on this account, lest he should change his sentiments. Tell your father that you consent; so that although he may desire it, he may not be able to be angry at you with reason.For that which you rely on, I will easily refute; “No one,” you think, “will give a wife to a person of these habits.” But he will find a beggar for you, rather than allow you to be corrupted by a mistress. If, however, he shall believe that you bear it with a contented mind, you will render him indifferent; at his leisure he will look out for another wife for you; in the mean time something lucky may turn up.
DAVUS:Non ita est.Nempe hoc sic esse opinor: dicturum patrem,“Ducas volo hodie uxorem:” tu, “ducam,” inquies:Cedo quid iurgabit tecum? Hic reddes omniaQuae nunc sunt certa ei consilia incerta ut sient,Sine omni periclo: nam hocce haud dubium est quin ChremesTibi non det gnatam. Nec tu ea causa minuerisHaec quae facis ne is mutet suam sententiam.Patri dic velle, ut cum velit tibi iure irasci non queat.Nam quod tu speres propulsabo facile. Uxorem his moribusDabit nemo; inveniet inopem potius quam te corrumpi sinat.Sed si te aequo animo ferre accipiet, neglegentem feceris:Aliam otiosus quaeret: interea aliquid acciderit boni.
PAMPHILUS:Do you think so?
PAMPHILUS:Itan credis?
DAVUS:It really is not a matter of doubt.
DAVUS:Haud dubium id quidem est.
PAMPHILUS:Consider to what you are persuading me.
PAMPHILUS:Vide quo me inducas.
DAVUS:Nay, but do be quiet.
DAVUS:Quin taces?
PAMPHILUS:Well, I’ll say it; but, that he mayn’t come to know that she has had a child by me, is a thing to be guarded against; for I have promised to bring it up.
PAMPHILUS:Dicam. Puerum autem ne resciscat mihi esse ex illa cautio est:Nam pollicitus sum suscepturum.
DAVUS:Oh, piece of effrontery.
DAVUS:O facinus audax!
PAMPHILUS:She entreated me that I would give her this pledge, by which she might be sure she should not be deserted.
PAMPHILUS:Hanc fidemSibi me obsecravit qui se sciret non deserturum ut darem.
DAVUS:It shall be attended to; but your father’s coming. Take care that he doesn’t perceive that you are out of spirits.
DAVUS:Curabitur. Sed pater adest. Cave te esse tristem sentiat.
(Enter SIMO, at a distance.)SIMO: (apart to himself.)I’ve come back to see what they are about, or what scheme they are hatching.
(SIMO.DAVUS. PAMPHILUS.)SIMO:Reviso quid agant aut quid captent consili.
DAVUS: (to PAMPHILUS.)He has no doubt at present but that you’ll refuse to marry. Having considered his course, he’s come from a retired spot somewhere or other; he hopes that he has framed a speech by which to disconcert you; do you take care, then, to be yourself.
DAVUS:Hic nunc non dubitat quin te ducturum neges.Venit meditatus alicunde ex solo loco:Orationem sperat invenisse seQui differat te: proin tu fac apud te ut sies.
PAMPHILUS:If I am only able, Davus.
PAMPHILUS:Modo ut possim Dave.
DAVUS:Trust me for that, Pamphilus, I tell you; your father will never this day exchange a single word with you, if you say that you will marry.
DAVUS:Crede inquam hoc mihi Pamphile,Numquam hodie tecum commutaturum patremUnum esse verbum si te dices ducere.
(Enter BYRRHIA, unperceived, at a distance behind SIMO.)BYRRHIA: (apart to himself.)My master has ordered me, leaving my business, to keep an eye on Pamphilus today, what he is doing with regard to the marriage. I was to learn it; for that reason, I have now followed him (pointing to SIMO.) as he came hither.Himself, as well, I see standing with Davus close at hand; I’ll note this.
(BYRRHIA.SIMO.DAVUS. PAMPHILUS.)BYRRHIA:Herus me relictis rebus iussit PamphilumHodie observare, ut quid ageret de nuptiisScirem: id propterea nunc hunc venientem sequor.Ipsum adeo praesto video cum Davo: hoc agam.
SIMO: (apart to himself.)I see that both of them are here.
SIMO:Utrumque adesse video.
DAVUS: (in a low voice to PAMPHILUS.)Now then, be on your guard.
DAVUS:Hem, serva.
SIMO:Pamphilus!
SIMO:Pamphile!
DAVUS: (in a low voice.)Look round at him as though taken unawares.
DAVUS:Quasi de inproviso respice ad eum.
PAMPHILUS: (turning round sharply.)What, my father!
PAMPHILUS:Ehem pater.
DAVUS: (in a low voice.)Capital!
DAVUS:Probe.
SIMO:I wish you to marry a wife to-day, as I was saying.
SIMO:Hodie uxorem ducas ut dixi volo.
BYRRHIA: (apart.)Now I’m in dread for our side, as to what he will answer.
BYRRHIA:Nunc nostrae timeo parti quid hic respondeat.
PAMPHILUS:Neither in that nor in any thing else shall you ever find any hesitation in me.
PAMPHILUS:Neque istic neque alibi tibi erit usquam in me mora.
BYRRHIA: (apart.)Hah!
BYRRHIA:Hem.
DAVUS: (in a low voice to PAMPHILUS.)He is struck dumb.
DAVUS:Obmutuit.
BYRRHIA: (apart.)What a speech!
BYRRHIA:Quid dixit?
SIMO:You act as becomes you, when that which I ask I obtain with a good grace.
SIMO:Facis ut te decetCum istuc quod postulo impetro cum gratia.
DAVUS: (aside to PAMPHILUS.)Am I right?
DAVUS:Sum verus?
BYRRHIA:My master, so far as I learn, has missed his wife.
BYRRHIA:Herus, quantum audio, uxore excidit.
SIMO:Now, then, go in-doors, that you mayn’t be causing delay when you are wanted.
SIMO:I nunc iam intro; ne in mora cum opus sit sies.
PAMPHILUS:I’ll go.(Goes into the house.)
PAMPHILUS:Eo.
BYRRHIA: (apart.)Is there, in no case, putting trust in any man? That is a true proverb which is wont to be commonly quoted, that “all had rather it to be well for themselves than for another.” I remember noticing, when I saw her, that she was a young woman of handsome figure; wherefore I am the more disposed to excuse Pamphilus,if he has preferred that he himself, rather than the other, should embrace her in his slumbers. I’ll carry back these tidings, that, in return for this evil he may inflict evil upon me.(Exit.)
BYRRHIA:Nullane in re esse homini cuiquam fidem?Verum illud verbum est, vulgo quod dici solet,Omnes sibi malle melius esse quam alteri.Ego illam vidi virginem; forma bonaMemini videre: quo aequior sum Pamphilo,Si se illam in somnis quam illum amplecti maluit.Renuntiabo, ut pro hoc malo mihi det malum.
(SIMO and DAVUS.)DAVUS: (aside, coming away from the door of the house.)He now supposes that I’m bringing some trick to bear against him, and that on that account I’ve remained here.
(DAVUS. SIMO.)DAVUS:Hic nunc me credit aliquam sibi fallaciamPortare, et ea me hic restitisse gratia.
SIMO:What does he say, Davus?
SIMO:Quid Davus narrat?
DAVUS:Just as much as nothing.
DAVUS:Aeque quicquam nunc quidem.
SIMO:What, nothing? Eh?
SIMO:Nihilne? hem.
DAVUS:Nothing at all.
DAVUS:Nihil prorsus.
SIMO:And yet I certainly was expecting something.
SIMO:Atqui expectabam quidem.
DAVUS:It has turned out contrary to your expectations. (Aside.) I perceive it; this vexes the man.
DAVUS:Praeter spem evenit: sentio: hoc male habet virum.
SIMO:Are you able to tell me the truth?
SIMO:Potin es mihi verum dicere?
DAVUS:I? Nothing more easy.
DAVUS:Nihil facilius.
SIMO:Is this marriage at all disagreeable to him, on account of his intimacy with this foreign woman?
SIMO:Num illi molestae quippiam hae sunt nuptiaeHuiusce propter consuetudinem hospitae?
DAVUS:No, faith; or if at all, it is a two or three days’ annoyance this—you understand. It will then cease. Moreover, he himself has thought over this matter in a proper way.
DAVUS:Nihil hercle: aut, si adeo, bidui est aut triduiHaec sollicitudo: nosti: deinde desinet.Etenim ipsus secum recta reputavit via.
SIMO:I commend him.
SIMO:Laudo.
DAVUS:While it was allowed him, and while his years prompted him,he intrigued; even then it was secretly. He took precaution that that circumstance should never be a cause of disgrace to him, as behooves a man of principle;now that he must have a wife, he has set his mind upon a wife.
DAVUS:Dum licitum est ei, dumque aetas tulit,Amavit: tum id clam: cavit ne umquam infamiaeEa res sibi esset, ut virum fortem decet:Nunc uxore opus est: animum ad uxorem appulit.
SIMO:He seemed to me to be somewhat melancholy in a slight degree.
SIMO:Subtristis visus est esse aliquantulum mihi.
DAVUS:Not at all on account of her, but there’s something he blames you for.
DAVUS:Nil propter hanc rem: sed est quod succenset tibi.
SIMO:What is it, pray?
SIMO:Quidnam est?
DAVUS:It’s a childish thing.
DAVUS:Puerile est.
SIMO:What is it?
SIMO:Quid est?
DAVUS:Nothing at all.
DAVUS:Nihil.
SIMO:Nay but, tell me what it is.
SIMO:Quin dic quid est?
DAVUS:He says that you are making too sparing preparations.
DAVUS:Ait nimium parce facere sumptum.
DAVUS:You.—He says that there has hardly been fare provided to the amount of ten drachmae. —“Does he seem to be bestowing a wife on his son? Which one now, in preference, of my companions shall I invite to the dinner?” And, it must be owned,you really are providing too parsimoniously—I do not commend you.
DAVUS:Te.“Vix,” inquit, “drachmis est obsonatum decem:”“Num filio videtur uxorem dare?”“Quem,” inquit, “vocabo ad coenam meorum aequalium”“Potissimum nunc?” et, quod dicendum hic siet,Tu quoque perparce nimium. Non laudo.
SIMO:Hold your tongue.
SIMO:Tace.
DAVUS: (aside.)I’ve touched him up.
DAVUS:Commovi.
SIMO:I’ll see that these things are properly done. (DAVUS goes into the house.) What’s the meaning of this? What does this old rogue mean? But if there’s any knavery here, why, he’s sure to be the source of the mischief.(Goes into his house.)
SIMO:Ego istaec recte ut fiant videro.Quidnam hoc rei est? quid hic vult veterator sibi?Nam si hic mali est quicquam, hem illic est huic rei caput.
(Enter SIMO and DAVUS from the house of the former. MYSIS and LESBIA are coming toward the house of GLYCERIUM.)MYSIS: (not seeing SIMO and DAVUS.)Upon my faith, the fact is really as you mentioned, Lesbia,you can hardly find a man constant to a woman.
(MYSIS.SIMO.DAVUS.LESBIA. GLYCERIUM.)MYSIS:Ita pol quidem res est ut dixti Lesbia:Fidelem haud ferme mulieri invenias virum.
SIMO: (apart to DAVUS.)This maid-servant comes from the Andrian.
SIMO:Ab Andria est ancilla haec.
DAVUS: (apart to SIMO.)What do you say?
DAVUS:Quid narras?
SIMO: (apart to DAVUS.)It is so.
SIMO:Ita est.
MYSIS:But this Pamphilus—
MYSIS:Sed hic Pamphilus—
SIMO: (apart to DAVUS.)What is she saying?
SIMO:Quid dicit?
MYSIS:Has proved his constancy.
MYSIS:firmavit fidem.
SIMO: (apart.)Hah!
SIMO:Hem.
DAVUS: (apart to himself.)I wish that either he were deaf, or she struck dumb.
DAVUS:Utinam aut hic surdus aut haec muta facta sit.
MYSIS:For the child she brings forth, he has ordered to be brought up.
MYSIS:Nam quod peperisset iussit tolli.
SIMO: (apart.)O Jupiter!What do I hear! It’s all over, if indeed this woman speaks the truth.
SIMO:O Iupiter!Quid ego audio? Actum est siquidem haec vera praedicat.
LESBIA:You mention a good disposition on the part of the young man.
LESBIA:Bonum ingenium narras adolescentis.
MYSIS:A most excellent one. But follow me in-doors, that you mayn’t keep her waiting.
MYSIS:Optimum.Sed sequere me intro, ne in mora illi sis.
LESBIA:I’ll follow.(MYSIS and LESBIA go into GLYCERIUM’s house.)
LESBIA:Sequor.
DAVUS: (aside.)What remedy now shall I find for this mishap?
DAVUS:Quod remedium nunc huic malo inveniam?
SIMO: (to himself aloud.)What does this mean? Is he so infatuated? The child of a foreign woman? Now I understand; ah!scarcely even at last, in my stupidity, have I found it out.
SIMO:Quid hoc?Adeone est demens? Ex peregrina? Iam scio; ah!Vix tandem sensi stolidus.
DAVUS: (aside to himself.)What does he say he has found out?
DAVUS:Quid hic sensisse ait?
SIMO: (aside.)This piece of knavery is being now for the first time palmed upon me by this fellow; they are pretending that she’s in labor, in order that they may alarm Chremes.GLYCERIUM: (exclaiming from within her house.)Juno Lucina, grant me thine aid, save me, I do entreat thee!
SIMO:Haec primum adfertur iam mihi ab hoc fallacia:Hanc simulant parere quo Chremetem absterreant.GLYCERIUM:“Iuno Lucina fer opem, serva me, obsecro.”
SIMO:Whew! so sudden? What nonsense! As soon asshe has heard that I’m standing before the door, she makes all haste. These incidents, Davus, have not been quite happily adapted by you as to the points of time.
SIMO:Hui tam cito? ridiculum: postquam ante ostiumMe audivit stare approperat. Non sat commodeDivisa sunt temporibus tibi, Dave, haec.
SIMO:Are your scholars forgetful?DAY.:I don’t know what you are talking about.
SIMO:Num immemor es discipuli?DAVUS:Ego quid narres nescio.
SIMO: (aside.)If he at the real marriage of my son had taken me off my guard, what sport he would have made of me.Now it is at his own risk; I’m sailing in harbor.
SIMO:Hicine me si imparatum in veris nuptiisAdortus esset quos mihi ludos redderet?Nunc huius periclo fit, ego in portu navigo.
(Re-enter LESBIA from the house of GLYCERIUM.)LESBIA: (speaking to ARCHYLIS at the door, and not seeing SIMO and DAVUS.)As yet, Archylis, all the customary symptoms which ought to exist toward recovery, I perceive in her. Now, in the first place, take care and let her bathe; then, after that, what I ordered to be given her to drink, and as much as I prescribed,do you administer: presently I will return hither. (To herself aloud.) By all that’s holy, a fine boy has been born to Pamphilus. I pray the Gods that he may survive, since the father himself is of a good disposition, and since he has hesitated to do an injustice to this most excellent young woman.(Exit.)
(LESBIA.SIMO. DAVUS.)LESBIA:Adhuc Archylis quae assolent quaeque oportetSigna esse ad salutem omnia huic esse video.Nunc primum fac istaec lavet: post deindeQuod iussi ei dari bibere et quantum imperaviDate: mox ego huc revertar.Per ecastor scitus puer est natus Pamphilo.Deos quaeso ut sit superstes, quandoquidem ipse est ingenio bono,Cumque huic est veritus optimae adulescenti facere iniuriam.
SIMO:Even this, who is there that knows you that would not believe that it originated in you?
SIMO:Vel hoc quis non credat qui te norit abs te esse ortum?
DAVUS:Why, what is this?
DAVUS:Quidnam id est?
SIMO:She didn’t order in their presence what was requisite to be done for the woman lying in; but after she has come out, she bawls from the street to those who are in the house. O Davus, am I thus trifled with by you? Or pray, do I seem to you so very well suited to be thus openly imposed upon by your tricks? At all events it should have been with pre-caution; that at least I might have seemed to be feared, if I should detect it.
SIMO:Non imperabat coram quid opus facto esset puerperae:Sed postquam egressa est illis quae sunt intus clamat de via.O Dave, itan contemnor abs te? aut itane tandem idoneusTibi videor esse quem tam aperte fallere incipias dolis?Saltem accurate, ut metui videar certe si resciverim.
DAVUS: (aside.)Assuredly, upon my faith, it’s he that’s, now deceiving himself, not I.
DAVUS:Certe hercle nunc hic se ipsus fallit haud ego.
SIMO:I gave you warning, I forbade you with threats to do it. Have you been awed? What has it availed? Am I to believe you now in this, that this woman has had a child by Pamphilus?
SIMO:Edixin tibi,Interminatus sum ne faceres? num veritus? quid retulit?Credon tibi hoc, nunc peperisse hanc e Pamphilo?
DAVUS: (aside.)I understand where he’s mistaken; and I see what I must do.
DAVUS:Teneo quid erret: et quid agam habeo.
SIMO:Why are you silent?
SIMO:Quid taces?
DAVUS:What would you believe? As though word had not been brought you that thus it would happen.
DAVUS:Quid credas? quasi non tibi renunciata sint haec sic fore.
SIMO:Any word brought to me?
SIMO:Mihin quisquam?
DAVUS:Come now, did you of your own accord perceive that this was counterfeited?
DAVUS:Eho an tute intellexti hoc assimulari?
SIMO:I am being trifled with.
SIMO:Irrideor.
DAVUS:Word has been brought you; for otherwise how could this suspicion have occurred to you?
DAVUS:Renunciatum est: nam qui istaec tibi incidit suspicio?
SIMO:How? Because I knew you.
SIMO:Qui? quia te noram.
DAVUS:As though you meant to say that this has been done by my contrivance.
DAVUS:Quasi tu dicas factum id consilio meo.
SIMO:Why, I’m sure of it, to a certainty.
SIMO:Certe enim scio.
DAVUS:Not yet even do you know me sufficiently, Simo, what sort of person I am.
DAVUS:Non satis me pernosti etiam qualis sim Simo.
SIMO:I, not know you!
SIMO:Ego non te?
DAVUS:But if I begin to tell you any thing, at onceyou think that deceit is being practiced upon you in guile; therefore, upon my faith, I don’t dare now even to whisper.
DAVUS:Sed si quid narrare occoepi, continuo dariTibi verba censes falso: itaque hercle nihil iam muttire audeo.
SIMO:This one thing I am sure of, that no person has been delivered here.(Pointing to GLYCERIUM’s house.)
SIMO:Hoc ego scio unum neminem peperisse hic.
DAVUS:You have discovered that? Still, not a bit the less will they presently be laying the child here before the door. Of this, then, I now warn you, master, that it will happen, that you may be aware of it. Don’t you hereafter be saying that this was done through the advice or artifices of Davus.I wish this suspicion of yours to be entirely removed from myself.
DAVUS:Intellexti.Sed nihilo setius mox deferent puerum huc ante ostium.Id ego iam nunc tibi renuntio here futurum, ut sis sciens.Ne tu hoc mihi posterius dicas Davi factum consilio aut dolis.Prorsus a me opinionem hanc tuam esse ego amotam volo.
SIMO:How do you know that?
SIMO:Unde id scis?
DAVUS:I’ve heard so, and I believe it: many things combine for me to form this conjecture. In the first place then, she declared that she was pregnant by Pamphilus; that has been proved to be false. Now, when she sees that preparations are being made for the wedding at our house, the maid-servant is directly sentto fetch the midwife to her, and to bring a child at the same time. Unless it is managed for you to see the child, the marriage will not be at all impeded.
DAVUS:Audivi et credo: multa concurrunt simulQui coniecturam hanc nunc facio. Iam primum haec se e PamphiloGravidam dixit esse; inventum est falsum: nunc, postquam videtNuptias domi apparari, missa est ancilla ilicoObstetricem arcessitum ad eam, et puerum ut afferret simul.Hoc nisi fit puerum ut tu videas, nihil moventur nuptiae.
SIMO:What do you say to this? When you perceived that they were adopting this plan, why didn’t you tell Pamphilus immediately?
SIMO:Quid ais? Quom intellexerasId consili capere, cur non dixti extemplo Pamphilo?
DAVUS:Why, who has induced him to leave her, but myself? For, indeed, we allknow how desperately he loved her. Now he wishes for a wife. In fine, do you intrust me with that affair; proceed however, as before, to celebrate these nuptials, just as you are doing, and I trust that the Gods will prosper this matter.
DAVUS:Quis igitur eum ab illa abstraxit nisi ego? nam omnes nos quidemScimus quam misere hanc amarit: nunc sibi uxorem expetit.Postremo id mihi da negoti: tu tamen idem has nuptiasPerge facere ita ut facis: et id spero adiuturos deos.
SIMO:Very well; be off in-doors; wait for me there, and get ready what’s necessary to be prepared. (DAVUS goes into the house.) He hasn’t prevailed upon me even now altogether to believe these things,and I don’t know whether what he has said is all true; but I deem it of little moment; this is of far greater importance to me—that my son himself has promised me. Now I’ll go and find Chremes; I’ll ask him for a wife for my son; if I obtain my request, at what other time rather than to-day should I prefer these nuptials taking place?For as my son has promised, I have no doubt but that if he should prove unwilling, I can fairly compel him. And look! here’s Chremes himself, just at the very time.
SIMO:Immo abi intro: ibi me opperire, et quod parato opus est para.Non impulit me haec nunc omnino ut crederem:Atque haud scio an quae dixit sint vera omnia:Sed parvi pendo: illud mihi multo maximum estQuod mihi pollicitus est ipse gnatus. Nunc ChrememConveniam: orabo gnato uxorem: si impetro,Quid alias malim quam hodie has fieri nuptias?Nam gnatus quod pollicitus est haud dubium est mihiSi nolit quin eum merito possim cogere.Atque adeo in ipso tempore eccum ipsum obviam.
(Enter CHREMES.)SIMO:I greet you, Chremes.
(SIMO. CHREMES.)SIMO:Iubeo Chremetem.
CHREMES:O, you are the very person I was looking for.
CHARINUS:O, te ipsum quaerebam.
SIMO:And I for you.
SIMO:Et ego te.
CHREMES:You meet me at a welcome moment. Some persons have been to me, to say that they had heard from you, that my daughterwas to be married to your son to-day; I’ve come to see whether they are out of their senses or you.
CHARINUS:Optato advenis.Aliquot me adiere ex te auditum qui aiebant hodie filiamMeam nubere tuo gnato: id viso tune an illi insaniant.
SIMO:Listen; in a few words you shall learn both what I want of you, and what you seek to know.
SIMO:Ausculta paucis: et quid ego te velim et tu quod quaeris scies.
CHREMES:I am listening; say what you wish.
CHARINUS:Ausculto: loquere quid velis.
SIMO:By the Gods, I do entreat you, Chremes, and by our friendship, which, commencing with our infancy, has grown up with our years,and by your only daughter and by my own son (of preserving whom the entire power lies with you), that you will assist me in this matter; and that, just as this marriage was about to be celebrated, it may be celebrated.
SIMO:Per te deos oro et nostram amicitiam ChremeQuae incepta a parvis cum aetate accrevit simul,Perque unicam gnatam tuam et gnatum meum,Cuius tibi potestas summa servandi datur,Ut me adiuves in hac re, atque ita ut nuptiaeFuerant futurae fiant.
CHREMES:O, don’t importune me; as though you needed to obtain this of me by entreaty.Do you suppose I am different now from what I was formerly, when I promised her? If it is for the advantage of them both that it should take place, order her to be sent for. But if from this course there would result more harm than advantage for each, this I do beg of you, that you will consult for their common good, as though she were your own daughter, and I the father of Pamphilus.
CHARINUS:Ah ne me obsecra:Quasi hoc te orando a me impetrare oporteat.Alium esse censes nunc me atque olim cum dabam?Si in rem est utrique ut fiant, arcessi iube.Sed si ex ea re plus mali est quam commodiUtrique, id oro te in commune ut consulas,Quasi illa tua sit, Pamphilique ego sim pater.
SIMO:Nay, so I intend, and so I wish it to be, Chremes; and I would not ask it of you, did not the occasion itself require it.
SIMO:Immo ita volo itaque postulo ut fiat Chreme:Neque postulem abs te nisi ipsa res moneat.
CHREMES:What is the matter?
CHARINUS:Quid est?
SIMO:There is a quarrel between Glycerium and my son.
SIMO:Irae sunt inter Glycerium et gnatum.
CHREMES: (ironically.)I hear you.
CHARINUS:Audio.
SIMO:So munch so, that I’m in hopes they may be separated.
SIMO:Ita magnae ut sperem posse avelli.
CHREMES:Nonsense!
CHARINUS:Fabulae.
SIMO:It really is so.
SIMO:Profecto sic est.
CHREMES:After this fashion, i’faith, I tell you,“the quarrels of lovers are the renewal of love.”
CHARINUS:Sic hercle ut dicam tibi:Amantium irae amoris integratio est.
SIMO:Well—this I beg of you, that we may prevent it. While an opportunity offers, and while his passion is cooled by affronts, before the wiles of these women and their tears, craftily feigned,bring back his love-sick mind to compassion, let us give him a wife. I trust, Chremes, that, when attached by intimacy and a respectable marriage, he will easily extricate himself from these evils.
SIMO:Hem, id te oro ut ante eamus dum tempus datur,Dumque eius libido occlusa est contumeliis,Prius quam harum scelera et lacrimae confictae dolisReducunt animum aegrotum ad misericordiam:Uxorem demus: spero consuetudine etConiugio liberali devinctum ChremeDein facile ex illis sese emersurum malis.
CHREMES:So it appears to you; but I do not think that either he can possibly hold to her with constancy, or that I can put up with it if he does not.
CHARINUS:Tibi ita hoc videtur: at ego non posse arbitrorNeque illum hanc perpetuo habere, neque me perpeti.
SIMO:How then can you be sure of that, unless you make the experiment?
SIMO:Qui scis ergo istuc nisi periclum feceris?
CHREMES:But for that experiment to be made upon a daughter is a serious thing—
CHARINUS:At istuc periclum in filia fieri grave est.
SIMO:Why look, all the inconvenience in fine amounts to this—possibly, which may the Gods forfend, a separation may take place. But if he is reformed, see how many are the advantages:in the first place, you will have restored a son to your friend; you will obtain a sure son-in-law for yourself, and a husband for your daughter.
SIMO:Nempe incommoditas denique huc omnis redit:Si eveniat quod Di prohibeant, discessio.At si corrigitur, quot commoditates vide:Principio amico filium restitueris;Tibi generum firmum et filiae invenias virum.
CHREMES:What is one to say to all this? If you feel persuaded that this is beneficial, I don’t wish that any advantage should be denied you.
CHARINUS:Quid istic? si ita istuc animum induxti esse utile,Nolo tibi ullum commodum in me claudier.
SIMO:With good reason, Chremes, have I always considered you a most valuable friend.
SIMO:Merito te semper maximi feci Chreme.
CHREMES:But how say you—?
CHARINUS:Sed quid ais?
CHREMES:How do you know that they are now at variance?
CHARINUS:Qui scis eos nunc discordare inter se?
SIMO:Davus himself, who is privy to all their plans, has told me so; and he advises me to expedite the match as fast as I can. Do you think he would do so, unless he was aware that my son desired it? You yourself as well shall presently hear what he says. (Goes to the door of his house and calls.) Halloo there! Call Davus out here.Look, here he is; I see him just coming out.
SIMO:Ipsus mihi Davus qui intimus est eorum consiliis dixit;Et is mihi suadet nuptias quantum queam ut maturem.Num censes faceret filium nisi sciret eadem haec velle?Tute adeo iam eius verba audies. Heus evocate huc Davum.Atque eccum: video ipsum foras exire.
(Enter DAVUS from the house.)DAVUS:I was coming to you.
(DAVUS.SIMO. CHREMES.)DAVUS:Ad te ibam.
SIMO:Why, what’s the matter?
SIMO:Quidnam est?
DAVUS:Why isn’t the bride sent for? It’s now growing late in the day.
DAVUS:Cur uxor non accersitur? iam advesperascit.
SIMO:Do you hear me? I’ve been for some time not a little apprehensive of you, Davus, lest you should do that which the common class of servants is in the habit of doing, namely, impose upon me by your artifices; because my son is engaged in an amour.
SIMO:Audin tu illum?Ego dudum non nihil veritus sum Dave abs te, ne faceres idemQuod vulgus servorum solet dolis ut me deluderesPropterea quod amat filius.
DAVUS:What, I do that?
DAVUS:Egone istuc facerem?
SIMO:I fancied so;and therefore, fearing that, I concealed from you what I shall now mention.
SIMO:Credidi:Idque adeo metuens vos celavi quod nunc dicam.
SIMO:You shall know; for now I almost feel confidence in you.
SIMO:Scies:Nam propemodum habeo iam fidem.
DAVUS:Have you found out at last what sort of a person I am?
DAVUS:Tandem cognosti qui siem?
SIMO:The marriage was not to have taken place.
SIMO:Non fuerant nuptiae futurae.
DAVUS:How? Not to have taken place?
DAVUS:Quid? non?
SIMO:But I was making pretense, that I might test you all.
SIMO:Sed ea gratiaSimulavi vos ut pertentarem.
DAVUS: (affecting surprise.)What is it you tell me?
DAVUS:Quid ais?
SIMO:Such is the fact.
SIMO:Sic res est.
DAVUS:Only see! I was not able to discover that. Dear me! what a cunning contrivance!
DAVUS:Vide,Numquam istuc ego quivi intellegere. Vah consilium callidum.
SIMO:Listen to this. Just as I ordered you to go from here into the house, he (pointing to CHREMES.) most opportunely met me.
SIMO:Hoc audi: ut hinc te introire iussi opportune hic fit mihi obviam.
DAVUS: (aside.)Ha! Are we undone, then?
DAVUS:Hem,Numnam periimus?
SIMO:I told him what you just now told me.
SIMO:Narro huic quae tu dudum narrasti mihi.
DAVUS: (aside.)Why, what am I to hear?
DAVUS:Quidnam audio?
SIMO:I begged him to give his daughter, and with difficulty I prevailed upon him.
SIMO:Gnatam ut det oro, vixque id exoro.
DAVUS: (aside.)Utterly ruined!
DAVUS:Occidi.
SIMO: (overhearing him speaking.)Eh—What was it you said?
SIMO:Hem,Quid dixisti?
DAVUS:Extremely well done, I say.
DAVUS:Optime inquam factum.
SIMO:There’s no delay on his part now.
SIMO:Nunc per hunc nulla est mora.
CHREMES:I’ll go home at once; I’ll tell her to make due preparation, and bring back word here.(Exit.)
CHARINUS:Domum modo ibo: ut apparentur dicam: atque huc renuntio.
SIMO:Now I do entreat you, Davus, since you by yourself have brought about this marriage for me—
SIMO:Nunc te oro Dave quoniam solus mihi effecisti has nuptias—
DAVUS:I myself, indeed!
DAVUS:Ego vero solus.
SIMO:Do your best still to reform my son.
SIMO:corrigere mihi gnatum porro enitere.
DAVUS:Troth, I’ll do it with all due care.
DAVUS:Faciam hercle sedulo.
SIMO:Do it now, while his mind is agitated.
SIMO:Potes nunc dum animus irritatus est.
DAVUS:You may be at ease.
DAVUS:Quiescas.
SIMO:Come then; where is he just now?
SIMO:Age igitur ubi nunc est ipsus?
DAVUS:A wonder if he isn’t at home.
DAVUS:Mirum ni domi est.
SIMO:I’ll go to him; and what I’ve been telling you, I’ll tell him as well.(Goes into his house.)
SIMO:Ibo ad eum: atque eadem haec tibi quae dixi dicam itidem illi.
DAVUS: (to himself.)I’m a lost man!What reason is there why I shouldn’t take my departure straightway hence for the mill? There’s no room left for supplicating; I’ve upset every thing now; I’ve deceived my master; I’ve plunged my master’s son into a marriage; I’ve been the cause of its taking place this very day, without his hoping for it, and against the wish of Pamphilus. Here’s cleverness for you! But, if I had kept myself quiet, no mischief would have happened. (Starting.)But see, I espy him; I’m utterly undone! Would that there were some spot here for me, from which I might this instant pitch myself headlong!(Stands apart.)
DAVUS:Nullus sum.Quid causae est quin hinc in pistrinum recta proficiscar via?Nihil est preci loci relictum; iam perturbavi omnia:Herum fefelli; in nuptias conieci herilem filium;Feci hodie ut fierent insperante hoc atque invito Pamphilo. HemAstutias! quod si quiessem nihil evenisset mali.Sed eccum video ipsum: occidi.Utinam mihi esset aliquid hic quo me nunc praecipitem darem.
(Enter PAMPHILUS in haste from SIMO’s house.)PAMPHILUS:Where is he? The villain, who this day—I’m ruined;and I confess that this has justly befallen me, for being such a dolt, so devoid of sense; that I should have in-trusted my fortunes to a frivolous slave!I am suffering the reward of my folly; still he shall never get off from me un-punished for this.
(PAMPHILUS. DAVUS.)PAMPHILUS:Ubi illic est scelus qui me perdidit?DAVUS:Perii.PAMPHILUS:Atque hoc confiteor mihiIure obtigisse; quandoquidem tam iners tam nulli consiliSum. Servon fortunas meas me commisisse futili?Ergo pretium ob stultitiam fero: sed inultum numquam id auferet.
DAVUS: (apart.)I’m quite sure that I shall be safe in future, if for the present I get clear of this mishap.
DAVUS:Posthac incolumem sat scio fore me nunc si hoc devito malum.
PAMPHILUS:But what now am I to say to my father? Am I to deny that I am ready, who have just promised to marry? With what effrontery could I presume to do that? I know not what to do with myself.
PAMPHILUS:Nam quid ego nunc dicam patri? Negabon velle me modoQui sum pollicitus ducere? Qua fiducia id facere audeam?Nec quid me nunc faciam scio.
DAVUS: (apart.)Nor I with myself, and yet I’m giving all due attention to it.I’ll tell him that I will devise something, in order that I may procure some respite in this dilemma.
DAVUS:Nec quid me; atque id ago sedulo.Dicam aliquid iam inventurum ut huic malo aliquam producam moram.
PAMPHILUS: (catching sight of him.)Oho!
PAMPHILUS:Ohe.
DAVUS: (apart.)I’m seen.
DAVUS:Visus sum.
PAMPHILUS: (sneeringly.)How now, good sir, what are you about? Do you see how dreadfully I am hampered by your devices?
PAMPHILUS:Ehodum bone vir quid ais? viden me consiliis tuisMiserum impeditum esse?
DAVUS:Still, I’ll soon extricate you.
DAVUS:At iam expediam.
PAMPHILUS:You, extricate me?
PAMPHILUS:Expedies?
DAVUS:Assuredly, Pamphilus.
DAVUS:Certe Pamphile.
PAMPHILUS:As you have just done, I suppose.
PAMPHILUS:Nempe ut modo.
DAVUS:Why no, better, I trust.
DAVUS:Immo melius spero.
PAMPHILUS:What, am I to believe you, you scoundrel?You, indeed, make good a matter that’s all embarrassment and ruin! Just see, in whom I’ve been placing reliance—you who this day from a most happy state have been and plunged me into a marriage. Didn’t I say that this would be the case?
PAMPHILUS:Oh tibi ego ut credam furcifer?Tu rem impeditam et perditam restituas? Hem quo fretus siem,Qui me hodie ex tranquillissima re coniecisti in nuptias.Annon dixi esse hoc futurum?
DAVUS:You did say so.
DAVUS:Dixti.
PAMPHILUS:What do you deserve?
PAMPHILUS:Quid meritus?
DAVUS:The cross. But allow me a little time to recover myself; I’ll soon hit upon something.
DAVUS:Crucem.Sed sine paululum ad me redeam: iam aliquid dispiciam.
PAMPHILUS:Ah me! not to have the leisure to inflict punishment upon you as I desire! for the present conjuncture warns me to take precautions for myself, not to be taking vengeance on you.(Exeunt.)
PAMPHILUS:Hei mihiCum non habeo spatium ut de te sumam supplicium ut volo:Namque hoc tempus praecavere mihi me haud te ulcisci sinit.
(Enter CHARINUS, wringing his hands.)CHARINUS: (to himself.)Is this to be believed or spoken of; that malice so great could be inborn in any one as to exult at misfortunes, and to derive advantage from the distresses of another! Oh, is this true? Assuredly, that is the most dangerous class of men,in whom there is only a slight degree of hesitation at refusing; afterward, when the time arrives for fulfilling their promises, then, obliged, of necessity they discover themselves. They are afraid, and yet the circumstances compel them to refuse. Then, in that case, their very insolent remark is,“Who are you? What are you to me? What should I give up to you what’s my own? Look you, I am the most concerned in my own interests.” But if you inquire where is honor, they are not ashamed. Here, where there is occasion, they are not afraid; there, where there is no occasion, they are afraid. But what am I to do? Ought I not to go to him, and reason with him upon this outrage,and heap many an invective upon him? Yet some one may say, “you will avail nothing.” Nothing? At least I shall have vexed him, and have given vent to my own feelings.(Enter PAMPHILUS and DAVUS.)
(CHARINUS.PAMPHILUS. DAVUS.)CHARINUS:Hocine est credibile aut memorabileTanta vecordia innata cuiquam ut sietUt malis gaudeant atque ex incommodisAlterius sua ut comparent commoda? ahIdne est verum? immo id est genus hominum pessimum inDenegando modo quis pudor paululum adest:Post ubi tempus promissa iam perfici,Tum coacti necessario se aperiunt,Et timent: et tamen res premit denegare:Ibi tum eorum impudentissima oratio est,“Quis tu es? quis mihi es? cur meam tibi? Heus,”“Proximus sum egomet mihi.” Attamen “Ubi fides,”Si roges, nihil pudet; hic ubi opus estNon verentur: illic ubi nihil opus est ibi verentur.Sed quid agam? adeamne ad eum, et cum eo iniuriam hanc expostulem?Ingeram mala multa? Atque aliquis dicat, “Nihil promoveris.”Multum: molestus certe ei fuero: atque animo morem gessero.PAMPHILUS:Charine et me et te imprudens, nisi quid Di respiciunt, perdidi.CHARINUS:Itane imprudens? tandem inventa est causa: solvisti fidem.
PAMPHILUS:Charinus, unintentionally I have ruined both myself and you, unless the Gods in some way befriend us.
PAMPHILUS:Quid tandem?
CHARINUS:Unintentionally, is it! An excuse has been discovered at last. You have broken your word.
CHARINUS:Etiam nunc me ducere istis dictis postulas?
PAMPHILUS:How so, pray?
PAMPHILUS:Quid istuc est?
CHARINUS:Do you expect to deceive me a second time by these speeches?
CHARINUS:Postquam me amare dixi complacita est tibi.Heu me miserum qui tuum animum ex animo spectavi meo.
PAMPHILUS:What does this mean?
PAMPHILUS:Falsus es.
CHARINUS:Since I told you that I loved her, she has become quite pleasing to you. Ah wretched me! to have judged of your disposition from my own.
CHARINUS:Nonne tibi satis esse hoc visum solidum est gaudium,Nisi me lactasses amantem et falsa spe produceres.Habeas.
PAMPHILUS:You are mistaken.
PAMPHILUS:Habeam? ah nescis quantis in malis verser miser;Quantasque hic suis consiliis mihi confecit sollicitudinesMeus carnufex.