Plautus: Rudens

ARCTVRVS PROLOGVS
SCEPARNIO SERVVS
PLESIDIPPVS ADULESCENS
DAEMONES SENEX
PALAESTRA PVELLA
AMPELISCA PVELLA
PTOLEMOCRATIA SACERDOS VENERIS
PISCATORES
TRACHALIO SERVVS
LABRAX LENO
CHARMIDES SENEX
LORARII
GRIPVS PISCATOR

ARCTURUS PROLOGUE
SCEPARNIO SERVANT
PLESIDIPPUS ADOLESCENT
DAEMONES OLD MAN
PALAESTRA GIRL
AMPELISCA GIRL
PTOLEMOCRATIA PRIESTESS OF VENUS
FISHERMEN
TRACHALIO SERVANT
LABRAX PROCURER
CHARMIDES OLD MAN
SCOURGERS
GRIPUS FISHERMAN

ARGVMENTVM

ARGUMENT

Reti piscator de mari extraxit vidulum,
Vbi erant erilis filiae crepundia,
Dominum ad lenonem que subrepta venerat.
Ea in clientelam suipte inprudens patris
Naufragio eiecta devinit: cognoscitur
Suoque amico Plesidippo iungitur.

Retrieving from the sea a bag, a fisherman drew it out,
Vithin were the master’s daughter’s infant tokens,
Delivered, stolen away, she had come to a procurer.
Ejected by shipwreck, unwitting, she comes into the clientele of her own father;
Now she is recognized,
She is joined to her friend Plesidippus.

PROLOGVS

PROLOGUE

ARCTVRVS Qui gentes omnes mariaque et terras movet,
eius sum civis civitate caelitum.
ita sum, ut videtis, splendens stella candida,
signum quod semper tempore exoritur suo
hic atque in caelo: nomen Arcturo est mihi. 5
[noctu sum in caelo clarus atque inter deos,
inter mortalis ambulo interdius.
at alia signa de caelo ad terram accidunt.]
qui est imperator divom atque hominum Iuppiter,
is nos per gentis alium alia disparat, 10
qui facta hominum, mores, pietatem et fidem
noscamus, ut quemque adiuvet opulentia.

ARCTURUS Who moves all nations and the seas and lands,
I am his citizen, with the citizenship of the celestials.
thus I am, as you see, a splendid shining white star,
a sign which always rises at its own time
here and in heaven: my name is Arcturus. 5
[by night I am bright in the sky and among the gods,
among mortals I walk by day.
but other signs descend from heaven to earth.]
he who is emperor of gods and men, Jupiter,
he dispatches us through the nations, one to one place, another to another, 10
that we may come to know the deeds of men, their morals, piety, and faith,
so that opulence may help each one.

Qui falsas litis falsis testimoniis
petunt quique in iure abiurant pecuniam,
eorum referimus nomina exscripta ad Iovem;      15
cotidie ille scit quis hic quaerat malum:
qui hic litem apisci postulant peiurio
mali, res falsas qui impetrant apud iudicem,
iterum ille eam rem iudicatam iudicat;
maiore multa multat quam litem auferunt.        20
Bonos in aliis tabulis exscriptos habet.
atque hoc scelesti in animum inducunt suom,
Iovem se placare posse donis, hostiis:
et operam et sumptum perdunt; id eo fit quia
nihil ei acceptumst a periuris supplici;            25
facilius si qui pius est a dis supplicans,
quam qui scelestust, inveniet veniam sibi.
idcirco moneo vos ego haec, qui estis boni
quique aetatem agitis cum pietate et cum fide:
* * *                                                            29a
retinete porro, post factum ut laetemini.

Those who seek false suits with false testimonies,
and those who in law forswear money,
we report their names, written out, to Jove;      15
every day he knows who here seeks evil:
those wicked ones who seek to obtain a suit by perjury,
who obtain false matters before the judge,
he adjudges that matter, adjudged, a second time;
he penalizes with a greater fine than the lawsuit carries off.        20
The good he has written out on other tablets.
And this the criminals bring into their own mind,
that they can placate Jove with gifts and sacrificial victims:
both effort and expense they waste; this happens because
nothing from perjured suppliants is acceptable to him;            25
more easily will one who is pious, supplicating the gods,
than one who is criminal, find pardon for himself.
Therefore I warn you of these things, you who are good
and who pass your lifetime with piety and with good faith:
* * *                                                          29a
retain it further, so that after the deed you may rejoice.

Nunc, huc qua causa veni, argumentum eloquar.
primumdum huic esse nomen urbi Diphilus
Cyrenas voluit. illic habitat Daemones
in agro atque villa proxima propter mare,
senex, qui huc Athenis exul venit, hau malus; 35
neque is adeo propter malitiam patria caret,
sed dum alios servat se impedivit interim,
rem bene paratam comitate perdidit.

Now, the cause for which I have come here, I will set forth the argument (plot).
First of all, Diphilus wished this city’s name to be Cyrene.
There lives Daemones there, in the countryside and at a villa nearest by the sea,
an old man, who came here from Athens as an exile, not bad; 35
nor is it on account of malice that he is deprived of his fatherland,
but while he was saving others he hampered himself meanwhile,
he lost property well prepared by his comity (courtesy).

huic filiola virgo periit parvola.
eam de praedone vir mercatur pessumus, 40
is eam huc Cyrenas leno advexit virginem.
adulescens quidam civis huius Atticus
eam vidit ire e ludo fidicinio domum,
amare occepit: ad lenonem devenit,
minis triginta sibi puellam destinat 45
datque arrabonem et iure iurando alligat.

to this man his little maiden-daughter was lost.
a most wicked man buys her from a brigand, 40
this pimp brought the maiden here to Cyrene.
a certain young man, an Attic citizen of this city,
saw her go home from the music school,
he began to love; he came to the pimp,
he agrees on the girl for himself for thirty minae 45
and he gives earnest-money and binds him by an oath.

Is leno, ut se aequom est, flocci non fecit fidem
neque quod iuratus adulescenti dixerat.
ei erat hospes par sui, Siculus senex
scelestus, Agrigentinus, urbis proditor; 50
is illius laudare infit formam virginis
et aliarum itidem quae eius erant mulierculae.
infit lenoni suadere, ut secum simul
eat in Siciliam: ibi esse homines voluptarios
dicit, potesse ibi eum fieri divitem. 55
[ibi esse quaestum maximum meretricibus.]
Persuadet.

That pimp, as is just like himself, valued the pledge not a whit,
nor what he had said to the adolescent under oath.
he had as a guest-friend a peer of his, a Sicilian old man,
a wicked fellow, an Agrigentine, a betrayer of his city; 50
he begins to praise the form of that maiden,
and likewise of the other little women who were his.
he begins to urge the pimp to go together with him
to Sicily: he says there are voluptuaries there,
that he can there become wealthy. 55
[that there is the greatest profit there for courtesans.]
He persuades him.

navis clanculum conducitur,
quidquid erat noctu in navem comportat domo
leno; adulescenti qui puellam ab eo emerat
ait sese Veneri velle votum solvere— 60
id hic est Veneris fanum— et eo ad prandium
vocavit adulescentem huc. ipse hinc ilico
conscendit navem, avehit meretriculas.
adulescenti alii narrant ut res gesta sit,
lenonem abiisse.

a ship is secretly hired,
whatever there was, by night the pimp carries from the house into the ship;
to the young man who had bought the girl from him
he says he wishes to pay a vow to Venus— 60
this here is the shrine of Venus— and there to a luncheon
he invited the young man here. He himself from here immediately
boards the ship, carries off the little harlots.
to the young man others narrate how the matter was done,
that the pimp has gone away.

ad portum adulescens venit: 65
illorum navis longe in altum abscesserat.
Ego quoniam video virginem asportarier,
tetuli ei auxilium et lenoni exitium simul:
increpui hibernum et fluctus movi maritimos.
nam Arcturus signum sum omnium acerrimum: 70
vehemens sum exoriens, cum occido vehementior.

to the harbor the young man comes: 65
their ship had withdrawn far out into the deep.
I, since I see the maiden being carried off,
bore him aid and the pimp destruction at the same time:
I rattled up wintry weather and stirred the maritime waves.
for I am Arcturus, the constellation most sharp of all: 70
I am vehement when I rise, when I set more vehement.

Nunc ambo in saxo, leno atque hospes, simul
sedent eiecti: navis confracta est eis.
illa autem virgo atque altera itidem ancillula
de navi timidae desuluerunt in scapham. 75
nunc eas ab saxo fluctus ad terram ferunt
ad villam illius, exul ubi habitat senex,
cuius deturbavit ventus tectum et tegulas;
et servos illic est eius, qui egreditur foras.
adulescens huc iam adveniet, quem videbitis, 80
qui illam mercatust de lenone virginem.

Now both upon a rock, the pander and the host, together
sit cast ashore: their ship is shattered.
but that maiden and likewise the other little handmaid,
timid, have leapt down from the ship into the skiff. 75
now the waves bear them from the rock to the land
to that man’s villa, where an old man in exile dwells,
whose roof and tiles the wind has torn off;
and there his slave is, who is going out.
the young man will now arrive here, whom you will see, 80
who has purchased that maiden from the pander.

valete, ut hostes vestri diffidant sibi.—

farewell, so that your enemies may distrust themselves.—

ACTVS I

ACT 1

I.i
SCEPARNIO Pro di immortales, tempestatem cuius modi
Neptunus nobis nocte hac misit proxima.
detexit ventus villam — quid verbis opust? 85
non ventus fuit, verum Alcumena Euripidi,
ita omnis de tecto deturbavit tegulas;
inlustrioris fecit fenestrasque indidit.

1.1
SCEPARNIO O immortal gods, what sort of tempest Neptune sent us this last night!
the wind uncovered the villa—what need is there of words? 85
it was not a wind, but Alcmena of Euripides,
so did he tumble all the tiles from the roof;
he made it more illustrious and even inserted windows.

I.ii
PLESIDIPPVS Et vos a vestris abduxi negotiis
neque id processit qua vos duxi gratia, 90
neque quivi ad portum lenonem prehendere.
sed mea desidia spem deserere nolui:
eo vos, amici, detinui diutius.
nunc huc ad Veneris fanum venio visere,
ubi rem divinam se facturum dixerat. 95
SCEP. Si sapiam, hoc quod me mactat concinnem lutum.

I.ii
PLESIDIPPUS And I have drawn you away from your own business,
nor did that succeed for the sake for which I led you, 90
nor was I able to apprehend the pimp at the port.
but I did not wish, through my sloth, to desert hope:
for that reason, friends, I have detained you longer.
now I come here to visit the fane of Venus,
where he had said he would perform a divine rite. 95
SCEP. If I am wise, I’ll concoct mud from this that’s slaughtering me.

PLES. Prope me hic nescio quis loquitur. DAEMONES Heus, Sceparnio.
SCEP. Qui nominat me? DAEM. Qui pro te argentum dedit.

PLES. Near me here someone I-know-not is speaking. DAEMONES Hey, Sceparnio.
SCEP. Who names me? DAEM. He who gave silver for you.

SCEP. Quasi me tuom esse servom dicas, Daemones.
DAEM. Luto usust multo, multam terram confode. 100
villam integundam intellego totam mihi,
nam nunc perlucet ea quam cribrum crebrius.
PLES. Pater salveto, amboque adeo.

SCEP. As though you were saying I am your servant, Daemones.
DAEM. There’s need of much mud; dig up much earth. 100
I understand the whole villa is to be covered over for me (plastered),
for just now it lets light through more frequently than a sieve.
PLES. Father, greetings—and to both of you as well.

DAEM. Salvos sis.
SCEP. Sed utrum tu masne an femina es, qui illum patrem
voces? PL. Vir sum equidem.

DAEM. Be safe.
SCEP. But are you male or female, you who call that man “father”? PL. I am a man indeed.

SC. Quaere vir porro patrem. 105
DAEM. Filiolam ego unam habui, eam unam perdidi.
virile sexus numquam ullum habui. PLES. At di dabunt.

SC. Look farther for a father, man. 105
DAEM. I had one little daughter—just one—her alone I lost.
I never had any of the virile sex. PLES. But the gods will grant it.

SCEP. Tibi quidem hercle, quisquis es, magnum malum,
qui oratione [nos] hic occupatos occupes.
PLES. Isticine vos habitatis? SCEP. Quid tu id quaeritas? 110
quon furatum mox venias, vestigas loca?

SCEP. Indeed, by Hercules, for you, whoever you are, a great nuisance, that with your oration you occupy us here, already occupied.
PLES. Do you live right here? SCEP. Why do you ask that? 110
since you’ll be coming soon to steal, are you scouting the place?

PLES. Peculiosum esse addecet servom et probum,
quem ero praesente ~ praetereat oratio
aut qui inclementer dicat homini libero.
SCEP. Et impudicum et impudentem hominem addecet 115
molestum ultro advenire ad alienam domum,
cui debeatur nil. DAEM. Tace, Sceparnio.

PLES. It befits a slave to have a peculium and to be upright, one whom, with the master present, speech passes over, or who speaks harshly to a free man.
SCEP. And it befits a shameless and impudent man to come unprovoked to another’s house to be a nuisance, to whom nothing is owed. 115
DAEM. Be quiet, Sceparnio.

quid opust, adulescens? PLES. Istic infortunium,
qui praefestinet, ubi erus adsit, praeloqui.
sed nisi molestumst, paucis percontarier 120
volo ego ex te. DAEM. Dabitur opera, atque in negotio.

what do you need, adolescent? PLES. That’s the misfortune, for one who hastens, when the master is present, to speak beforehand.
but unless it is troublesome, I want to inquire a few things from you 120
I will give attention, even amid business. DAEM. Attention shall be given, and in the business.

SCEP. Quin tu in paludem is exicasque harundinem,
qui pertegamus villam, dum sudumst? DAEM. Tace.
tu si quid opus est dice.

SCEP. Why don’t you go into the marsh and cut reed, so that we may re-cover the villa, while it is fair? DAEM. Be silent.
you, if there is any need, speak.

PLES. Dic quod te rogo,
ecquem tu hic hominem crispum, incanum videris,        125
malum, periurum, palpatorem— DAEM. Plurimos,
nam ego propter eius modi viros vivo miser.
PLES. Hic dico, in fanum Veneris qui mulierculas
duas secum adduxit, quique adornaret sibi
ut rem divinam faciat, aut hodie aut heri.                       130
DAEM. Non hercle, adulescens, iam hos dies complusculos
quemquam istic vidi sacruficare, neque potest
clam me esse si qui sacruficat: semper petunt
aquam hinc aut ignem aut vascula aut cultrum aut veru
aut aulam extarem, aut aliquid—quid verbis opust?       135
Veneri paravi vasa et puteum, non mihi.
nunc intervallum iam hos dies multos fuit.

PLES. Say what I ask you,
have you seen here any man curly, hoary,        125
a bad one, perjured, a palpating flatterer— DAEM. Very many,
for on account of men of that sort I live wretched. PLES. I mean the one who into the shrine of Venus
brought two little women with him, and who was getting things ready for himself
to perform a sacred rite, either today or yesterday.                       130
DAEM. By Hercules, no, young man, for these several days now
I have seen no one sacrificing there, nor can it
be hidden from me if anyone sacrifices: they always ask
for water from here, or fire, or little vessels, or a knife, or a spit,
or a pot for entrails, or something—what need is there of words?       135
For Venus I prepared the vessels and the well, not for myself.
now there has been an interval these many days.

PLES. Vt verba praehibes, me periisse praedicas.
DAEM. Mea quidem hercle causa salvos sis licet.
SCEP. Heus tu, qui fana ventris causa circumis, 140
iubere meliust prandium ornari domi.

PLES. As you proffer words, you proclaim that I have perished.
DAEM. Indeed, by Hercules, for my cause you may be safe.
SCEP. Hey you, who go around shrines for the sake of your belly, 140
it is better to order the luncheon to be set out at home.

DAEM. Fortasse tu huc vocatus es ad prandium,
ille qui vocavit nullus venit? PLES. Admodum.
SCEP. Nullumst periclum te hinc ire inpransum domum:
Cererem te meliust quam Venerem sectarier: 145
amori haec curat; tritico curat Ceres.

DAEM. Perhaps you were called here to a luncheon,
the one who invited did not come? PLES. Quite so.
SCEP. There’s no peril in your going home from here un-lunched:
it’s better to follow Ceres than Venus: 145
she looks after love; Ceres looks after wheat.

PLES. Deludificavit me illic homo indignis modis.
DAEM. Pro di immortales, quid illuc est, Sceparnio,
hominum secundum litus? SCEP. Vt mea est opinio,
propter viam illi sunt vocati ad prandium. 150
DAEM. Qui?

PLES. That fellow there deluded me by unworthy ways.
DAEM. By the immortal gods, what is that yonder, Sceparnio, of people along the shore? SCEP. As my opinion is, they have been invited to luncheon by the roadside. 150
DAEM. How so?

SCEP. Quia post cenam, credo, laverunt heri.
DAEM. Confracta navis in mari est illis. SCEP. Ita est.

SCEP. Because after dinner, I believe, they bathed yesterday.
DAEM. Their ship is broken at sea. SCEP. So it is.

at hercle nobis villa in terra et tegulae. DAEM. Hui,
homunculi quanti estis. eiecti ut natant. 154-155
PLES. Vbi sunt i homines, obsecro?

but, by Hercules, for us there is a villa on land and roof-tiles. DAEM. Hey,
little men, how small you are. how the castaways swim. 154-155
PLES. Where are those men, I beg?

DAEM. Hac ad dexteram— 156
viden?— secundum litus. PLES. Video. sequimini.

DAEM. This way to the right— 156
do you see?— along the shore. PLES. I see. Follow.

utinam is sit quem ego quaero, vir sacerrimus.
valete.— SCEP. Si non moneas, nosmet meminimus.
sed, o Palaemon, sancte Neptuni comes, 160
qui Herculis socius esse diceris,~
quod facinus video.

Would that this be the one whom I seek, most sacred man.
farewell.— SCEP. Though you do not warn, we ourselves remember.
but, O Palaemon, holy companion of Neptune, 160
who are said to be the associate of Hercules,~
what a deed I behold.

DAEM. Quid vides? SCEP. Mulierculas
video sedentis in scapha solas duas.
ut adflictantur miserae.

DAEM. What do you see? SCEP. I see women sitting in a skiff, two alone.
how the poor wretches are being buffeted.

euge euge, perbene,
ab saxo avortit fluctus ad litus scapham, 165
neque gubernator umquam potuit <rectius>.
non vidisse undas me maioris censeo.
salvae sunt, si illos fluctus devitaverint.
nunc, nunc periclumst.

bravo, bravo, very well,
from the rock the wave has turned the skiff toward the shore, 165
nor could the pilot ever have done <more correctly>.
I reckon I have not seen greater waves.
they are safe, if they have avoided those waves.
now, now there is danger.

<unda> eiecit alteram.
at in vadost, iam facile enabit. eugepae, 170
[viden alteram illam ut fluctus eiecit foras?]
surrexit, horsum se capessit.

<wave> has cast out the other one.
but she is in the shallows, now she’ll easily swim out. bravo, 170
[do you see how the wave has cast that other one out?]
she has risen, she is making for this way.

salva res.
desiluit haec autem altera in terram e scapha.
ut prae timore in genua in undas concidit.

all safe.
but this other one has leapt down onto land from the skiff.
how, for sheer fear, she fell onto her knees into the waves.

salvast, evasit ex aqua. iam in litore est. 175
sed dextrovorsum avorsa it in malam crucem.
hem, errabit illaec hodie.

she's safe, she has escaped from the water. now she's on the shore. 175
but off to the right, turned away—go to the gallows with her.
ha! that one will err/wander today.

DAEM. Quid id refert tua?
SCEP. Si ad saxum quo capessit, ea deorsum cadit,
errationis fecerit compendium. 179-180
DAEM. Si tu de illarum cenaturus vesperi es, 181
illis curandum censeo, Sceparnio,
si apud me essurus, mihi dari operam volo.
SCEP. Bonum aequomque oras.

DAEM. What does that concern you?
SCEP. If at the rock she is making for she falls downwards, she will have made a compendium of her wandering. 179-180
DAEM. If you are going to dine off those women this evening, 181
I consider that they must be cared for, Sceparnio;
if you are going to eat with me, I want service to be given to me.
SCEP. You ask for what is good and equitable.

DAEM. Sequere me hac ergo.— SCEP. Sequor.—

DAEM. Follow me this way then.— SCEP. I follow.—

I.iii
PALAESTRA Nimio hominum fortunae minus miserae memorantur, 185
*** experiundo iis datur acerbum.
*** hoc deo complacitumst, me hoc ornatu ornatam in incertas
regiones timidam eiectam.
hancine ego ad rem natam <esse me> miseram memorabo?

I.iii
PALAESTRA Men’s fortunes are reported as far less miserable, 185
*** by experiencing them, the bitter is given to them.
*** this has pleased the god—that I, adorned in this attire, timid, be cast out into uncertain regions.
am I to recount, wretched as I am, that I was born for this very thing?

hancine ego partem capio ob pietatem praecipuam?       190
nam hoc mi haud laborist, laborem hunc potiri,
si erga parentem aut deos me impiavi;
sed id si parate curavi ut caverem,
tum hoc mi indecore, inique, inmodeste
datis, di; nam quid habebunt sibi signi impii posthac,    195
si ad hunc modum est innoxiis honor apud vos?
nam me si sciam <in vos> fecisse aut parentis
sceleste, minus me miserer;                              197a
sed erile scelus me sollicitat, eius me impietas male habet.
is navem atque omnia perdidit in mari:
haec bonorum eius sunt reliquiae; etiam quae simul    200
vecta mecum in scaphast, excidit.

Am I taking this share on account of preeminent piety?       190
for this is no labor to me, to obtain this labor,
if toward my parent or the gods I have acted impiously;
but if I took care in advance to beware of that,
then this is to me indecorous, iniquitous, immodest
that you give, gods; for what sign will the impious have for themselves hereafter,    195
if in this way honor stands with you for the innocent?
for if I knew that I had done against you or against my parent
wickedly, I would pity myself less;                              197a
but the master’s crime troubles me, his impiety afflicts me.
he lost the ship and all things at sea:
these are the relics of his goods; even what together    200
was carried with me in the skiff has fallen out.

ego nunc sola sum.
quae mihi si foret salva saltem, labor
lenior esset hic mi eius opera.
nunc quam spem aut opem aut consili quid capessam?

I now am alone.
If at least that were safe for me, this toil
would be lighter for me by its help.
Now what hope or aid or what counsel should I take up?

ita hic sola solis locis compotita sum.                        205
hic saxa sunt, hic mare sonat,
neque quisquam homo mihi obviam venit.                206a
* * *                                                                         206b
hoc quod induta sum, summae opes oppido,
nec cibo nec loco tecta quo sim scio:
quae mihist spes, qua me vivere velim?
nec loci gnara sum, nec vidi aut hic fui.               210
saltem aliquem velim qui mihi ex his locis
aut viam aut semitam monstret, ita nunc
hac an illac eam, incerta sum consili;
nec prope usquam hic quidem cultum agrum conspicor.
algor, error, pavor, me omnia tenent.                  215
haec parentes mei haud scitis miseri,
me nunc miseram esse ita uti sum.                       216a
libera ego prognata fui maxume, nequiquam fui.

thus here I, alone, am possessed only of solitary places.                        205
here there are rocks, here the sea resounds,
nor does any man come to meet me.                206a
* * *                                                                         206b
this that I am clothed in is my utmost wealth indeed,
nor do I know either food or a roofed place where I might be sheltered:
what hope have I, by which I might wish to live?
nor am I cognizant of the place, nor have I seen or been here.               210
at least I would like someone who for me from these places
would show either a road or a footpath, so now
whether I should go this way or that, I am uncertain of counsel;
nor do I anywhere near here indeed espy a cultivated field.
chill, error (wandering), pavor—everything holds me.                  215
these things, my parents—you poor souls—do not know,
that I am now wretched, just as I am.                       216a
I, born most free, was so—vainly was I so.

nunc qui minus servio, quam si serva forem nata?
neque quicquam umquam illis profuit qui me sibi eduxerunt.

now how do I serve less, than if I had been born a slave-girl?
nor has anything ever profited those who reared me for themselves.

I.iv
AMPELISCA Quid mihi meliust, quid magis in remst, quam a corpore vitam 220
ut secludam?
ita male vivo atque ita mihi multae in pectore sunt curae exanimales.
ita res se habent: vitae hau parco, perdidi spem qua me oblectabam.

I.iv
AMPELISCA What is better for me, what is more to my interest, than to seclude life from my body 220
that I should seclude it?
so badly I live, and so many cares exanimating are in my breast.
so the matter stands: I do not spare my life; I have lost the hope with which I used to delight myself.

omnia iam circumcursavi atque omnibus latebris perreptavi
quaerere conservam, voce oculis auribus ut pervestigarem.
neque eam usquam invenio neque quo eam neque qua quaeram consultumst, 225
neque quem rogitem responsorem quemquam interea convenio,
neque magis solae terrae solae sunt quam haec loca atque hae regiones;
neque si vivit, eam viva umquam quin inveniam desistam.
PAL. Quoianam vox mihi prope hic sonat?

I have now run around everywhere and crept through all hiding places
to seek my fellow-slave, that I might investigate her by voice, eyes, and ears.
nor do I find her anywhere, nor is it determined whither she has gone nor by what way I should seek, 225
nor meanwhile do I meet any respondent whom I might ask,
nor are the most solitary lands more solitary than these places and these regions;
nor, if she lives, will I ever desist before I find her alive.
PAL. Whose voice is it that sounds near me here?

AMP. Pertimui, quis hic loquitur prope? 230
PAL. Spes bona, obsecro, subventa mihi,
exime ex hoc miseram metu.
AMP. Certo vox muliebris auris tetigit meas.
PAL. Mulier est, muliebris vox mi ad auris venit.

AMP. I was frightened; who is speaking here nearby? 230
PAL. Good Hope, I beseech, come to my aid,
remove me, wretched, from this fear.
AMP. Surely a woman’s voice has touched my ears.
PAL. It is a woman; a womanly voice has come to my ears.

num Ampelisca obsecro est? AMP. Ten, Palaestra, audio? 235
PAL. Quin voco, ut me audiat, nomine illam suo?
Ampelisca.

Please, is it Ampelisca? AMP. Is it you, Palaestra, that I hear? 235
PAL. Why not call her by her own name, so that she may hear me?
Ampelisca.

AMP. Hem quis est? PAL. Ego, Palaestra ***
AMP. Dic ubi es? PAL. Pol ego nunc in malis plurimis.
AMP. Socia sum, nec minor pars meast quam tua.

AMP. Ha, who is it? PAL. It is I, Palaestra ***
AMP. Tell me, where are you? PAL. By Pollux, I am now in very great troubles.
AMP. I am a companion, and my share is no smaller than yours.

sed videre expeto te. PAL. Mihi es aemula. 240
AMP. Consequamur gradu vocem. ubi es? PAL. Ecce me.
accede ad me atque adi contra. AMP. Fit sedulo.

but I long to see you. PAL. You are my rival. 240
AMP. Let us follow the voice step by step. Where are you? PAL. Here I am.
come up to me and head straight toward me. AMP. It’s done sedulously.

PAL. Cedo manum. AMP. Accipe. PAL. Dic, vivisne?

PAL. Give me your hand. AMP. Take it. PAL. Tell me, are you alive?

obsecro.
AMP. Tu facis me quidem ut vivere nunc velim,
quom mihi te licet tangere. ut vix mihi 245
credo ego hoc, te tenere.

I beseech.
AMP. You indeed make me wish to live now,
since I am allowed to touch you; so that I scarcely 245
believe this myself, that I am holding you.

obsecro, amplectere,
spes mea. ut me omnium iam laborum levas.
PAL. Occupas praeloqui quae mea oratiost.

I beseech, embrace me,
my hope. How you now relieve me of all my labors.
PAL. You forestall in saying what my speech is.

nunc abire hinc decet nos. AMP. Quo, amabo, ibimus?
PAL. Litus hoc persequamur.

now it is fitting that we depart from here. AMP. Whither, please, shall we go?
PAL. Let us follow this shore.

AMP. Sequor quo lubet. 250
sicine hic cum uvida veste grassabimur?
PAL. Hoc quod est, id necessarium est perpeti.
sed quid hoc, obsecro, est?

AMP. I follow wherever you please. 250
are we really to go about here with a soaked vestment?
PAL. This which is, it is necessary to endure.
but what is this, I beseech?

AM. Quid? PA. Viden, amabo,
fanum [videsne] hoc? AMP. Vbi est?

AM. What? PA. Do you see, please,
this fane [do you see]? AMP. Where is it?

PAL. Ad dexteram.
AMP. Video decorum dis locum viderier. 255
PAL. Haud longe abesse oportet homines hinc, ita hic lepidust locus.
<quisquis> est deus, veneror ut nos ex hac aerumna eximat,
miseras inopis aerumnosas ut aliquo auxilio adiuvet.

PAL. To the right.
AMP. I see the place seems decorous for the gods. 255
PAL. People can hardly be far from here, so charming is this place.
<whoever> the god is, I venerate him that he may take us out of this tribulation,
that he may with some aid help us, wretched, poor, afflicted.

I.v
PTOLEMOCRATIA Qui sunt qui a patrona preces mea expetessunt?
nam vox me precantum huc foras excitavit. 260
bonam atque obsequentem deam atque haud gravatam
patronam exsequontur benignamque multum.
PAL. Iubemus te salvere, mater.

1.5
PTOLEMOCRATIA Who are they who from the patroness are seeking my prayers?
for the voice of the supplicants has excited me out here. 260
they are seeking a good and compliant goddess and a patroness not grudging,
and very benign.
PAL. We bid you be well, mother.

PTOL. Salvete,
puellae. sed unde
vos ire [cum uvida veste] dicam, obsecro, tam maestiter vestitas? 265
PAL. Ilico hinc imus, haud longule ex hoc loco;
verum longe hinc abest unde advectae huc sumus.
PTOL. Nempe equo ligneo per vias caerulas
estis vectae?

PTOL. Greetings,
maidens. But whence shall I say
you go [with wet garment], I beseech, so mournfully dressed? 265
PAL. Straightaway we go from here, not very far from this place;
but far from here is the place whence we were borne hither.
PTOL. Surely by a wooden horse along the cerulean ways
have you been borne?

PAL. Admodum. PTOL. Ergo aequius vos erat
candidatas venire hostiatasque. ad hoc 270
fanum ad istunc modum non veniri solet.

PAL. Quite so. PTOL. Therefore it would have been more fitting for you
to come as candidates in white and garlanded for sacrifice. To this 270
shrine one is not wont to come in such a manner.

PAL. Quaene eiectae e mari simus ambae, obsecro,
unde nos hostias agere voluisti huc?
nunc tibi amplectimur genua egentes opum,
quae in locis nesciis nescia spe sumus, 275
ut tuo recipias tecto servesque nos
miseriarumque te ambarum uti misereat,
quibus nec locust ullus nec spes parata,
neque hoc amplius, [quam] quod vides, nobis quicquamst.
PTOL. Manus mihi date, exurgite a genibus ambae. 280
misericordior nulla me est feminarum.

PAL. We who have been cast out of the sea, both of us, I beg,
for what reason did you wish us to conduct sacrifices here?
now we embrace your knees, being needy of resources,
we who in unknown places are unknowing of hope, 275
that you may receive us into your roof and keep us
and that you may pity the miseries of us both,
for whom there is neither any place nor hope prepared,
nor anything more for us [than] what you see.
PTOL. Give me your hands; rise from your knees, both of you. 280
Among women none is more merciful than I.

sed haec pauperes res sunt inopesque, puellae:
egomet <meam> vix vitam colo; Veneri cibo meo servio.
AMP. Veneris fanum, obsecro, hoc est?
PTOL. Fateor.

but these things are poor and destitute, girls:
I myself scarcely maintain my own life; with my food I serve Venus.
AMP. Is this the shrine of Venus, I beg?
PTOL. I admit it.

ego huius fani sacerdos clueo. 285
verum, quidquid est, comiter fiet a me,
quo nunc copia valebit.
ite hac mecum. PAL. Amice benigneque honorem,
mater, nostrum habes.— PTOL. Oportet.—

I am known as the priestess of this shrine. 285
But, whatever it is, it shall be done graciously by me,
so far as means will now avail.
go this way with me. PAL. Friend and kindly one, mother, you have our honor,—
— PTOL. It is proper.—

ACTVS II

ACT 2

II.i
PISCATORES Omnibus modis qui pauperes sunt homines miseri vivont, 290
praesertim quibus nec quaestus est, nec didicere artem ullam:
necessitate quidquid est domi id sat est habendum.
nos iam de ornatu propemodum ut locupletes simus scitis:
hisce hami atque haec harundines sunt nobis quaestu et cultu.
*** ex urbe ad mare huc prodimus pabulatum: 295
pro exercitu gymnastico et palaestrico hoc habemus;
echinos, lopadas, ostreas, balanos captamus, conchas,
marinam urticam, musculos, plagusias striatas;
post id piscatum hamatilem et saxatilem aggredimur.

2.1
FISHERMEN In every way the men who are poor live wretchedly, 290
especially those who have neither a livelihood nor have learned any art at all:
out of necessity whatever there is at home must be held enough.
As for us, you know that as to equipment we are now pretty much as if we were well-to-do:
these hooks and these rods are for us our means of gain and our outfit.
*** from the city we come out here to the sea to forage: 295
we count this in place of gymnastic and palaestric exercise;
we catch sea urchins, limpets, oysters, barnacles, shells,
sea nettle, mussels, striped flatfish;
after that we undertake fishing by hook and rock-fishing.

cibum captamus e mari: si eventus non evenit 300
neque quicquam captumst piscium, salsi lautique pure
domum redimus clanculum, dormimus incenati.
atque ut nunc valide fluctuat mare, nulla nobis spes est:
nisi quid conclarum capsimus, incenati sumus profecto.
nunc Venerem hanc veneremur bonam, ut nos lepide adiuerit hodie. 305

we go after food from the sea: if the event does not come about 300
and nothing at all of fish has been caught, salted and laved purely
we return home clandestinely, we sleep without supper.
and as now the sea fluctuates strongly, we have no hope:
unless we catch something notable, we are surely supperless.
now let us venerate this Good Venus, that she may have charmingly aided us today. 305

II.ii
TRACHALIO Animum adversavi sedulo, ne erum usquam praeterirem;
nam cum modo exibat foras, ad portum se aibat ire,
me huc obviam iussit sibi venire ad Veneris fanum.
sed quos perconter commode eccos video astare. adibo.

II.ii
TRACHALIO I set my mind sedulously, so that I might not pass by my master anywhere;
for when just now he was going out, he said he was going to the port,
he ordered me to come here to meet him at the fane of Venus.
but whom I might conveniently ask—look, I see them standing by. I will approach.

salvete, fures maritimi, conchitae atque hamiotae, 310
famelica hominum natio. quid agitis? ut peritis?

greetings, maritime thieves, conchers and anglers, 310
famished nation of men. what are you doing? how do you fare?

PISC. Vt piscatorem aequomst, fame sitique [speque] ***
TRACH. ecquem adulescentem
huc, dum hic astatis, strenua facie rubicundum fortem,
qui tres secum homines duceret chlamydatos cum machaeris,     315
vidistis <vos> venire * ? *                                                           315a
PISC. Nullum istac facie ut praedicas venisse huc scimus. TRACH. Ecquem
recalvom ac Silanum senem, statutum, ventriosum,
tortis superciliis, contracta fronte, fraudulentum,
deorum odium atque hominum, malum, mali viti probrique plenum,
qui duceret mulierculas duas secum satis venustas?                     320
PISC. Cum istius modi virtutibus operisque natus qui sit,
eum quidem ad carnificem est aequius quam ad Venerem commeare.

PISC. As is fitting for a fisherman, with hunger and thirst [and hope] ***
TRACH. Did you see any young man
come here, while you were standing here, vigorous in aspect, ruddy, stalwart,
who was leading with him three men, cloaked and with swords,     315
did you see <you> come * ? *                                                         315a
PISC. We know that no one of that appearance, as you proclaim, has come here. TRACH. Anyone
bald‑pated and a Silenus‑like old man, well‑set, pot‑bellied,
with twisted eyebrows, a contracted brow, fraudulent,
a hatred of the gods and of men, a bad one, full of evil vice and disgrace,
who was leading along with him two rather winsome little women?                     320
PISC. With “virtues” and “works” of that sort as belong to such a one,
it is more equitable that he go to the executioner than to Venus.

TRACH. At si vidistis, dicite. PISC. Huc profecto nullus venit.
vale.— TRACH. Valete.

TRACH. But if you have seen, say. PISC. Certainly no one came here.
farewell.— TRACH. Farewell.

credidi: factum est quod suspicabar,
data verba ero sunt, leno abit scelestus exulatum, 325
in navem ascendit, mulieres avexit: hariolus sum.
is huc erum etiam ad prandium vocavit, sceleris semen.
nunc quid mihi meliust, quam ilico hic opperiar erum dum veniat?

I believed: what I suspected has come to pass,
words have been given to the master, the wicked pander has gone off into exile, 325
he ascended into the ship, carried off the women: I am a soothsayer.
that fellow even called the master here to luncheon, seed of crime.
now what is better for me than that I wait right here on the spot for the master until he comes?

eadem, sacerdos Veneria haec si quid amplius scit,
si videro, exquisivero: faciet me certiorem. 330

Likewise, if this Venerian priestess knows anything more,
if I see her, I will inquire: she will make me more certain. 330

II.iii
AMPELISCA Intellego: hanc quae proxuma est villam Veneris fano
pulsare iussisti atque aquam rogare. TRACH. Cuia ad auris
vox mi advolavit? AMP. Obsecro, quis hic loquitur?

2.3
AMPELISCA I understand: you ordered her to knock at the villa that is nearest to the shrine of Venus and to ask for water. TRACH. Whose voice has flown to my ears? AMP. I beg, who is speaking here?

quem ego video?
TR. Estne Ampelisca haec quae foras e fano egreditur? AM. Estne hic
Trachalio, quem conspicor, calator Plesidippi? 335
TRACH. East.

whom do I
see?
TR. Is this Ampelisca who is coming out from the shrine? AM. Is this here
Trachalio, whom I descry, attendant of Plesidippus? 335
TRACH. It is.

AMP. Is est. Trachalio, salve. TRACH. Salve, Ampelisca.

AMP. That’s him. Trachalio, greetings. TRACH.
Greetings, Ampelisca.

quid agis tu? AMP. Aetatem haud malam male. TRACH. Melius ominare.
AMPH. Verum omnes sapientes decet conferre et fabulari.

how are you? AMP. I pass a not-bad age badly. TRACH. Speak with a better omen.
AMPH. But truly it befits all the wise to confer and to converse.

sed Plesidippus tuos erus ubi, amabo, est? TRACH. Heia vero,
quasi non sit intus. AMP. Neque pol est neque huc quidem ullus venit. 340
TR. Non venit?

but where, please, is Plesidippus, your master? TRACH. Come now, really,
as if he weren’t inside. AMP. By Pollux, he isn’t, nor has he even come here at all. 340
TR. He hasn’t come?

AMP. Vera praedicas. TR. Non est meum, Ampelisca.
sed quam mox coctum est prandium?

AMP. You speak true. TR. It is not my business, Ampelisca.
but how soon is lunch cooked?

AMP. Quod prandium, obsecro te?
TRACH. Nempe rem divinam facitis hic. AMP. Quid somnias, amabo?
TRACH. Certe huc Labrax ad prandium vocavit Plesidippum
erum meum erus vester.

AMP. What luncheon, I beseech you?
TRACH. Surely you are performing a divine rite here. AMP. What are you dreaming, please?
TRACH. Certainly Labrax called Plesidippus here to a luncheon,
my master, your master.

AMP. Pol haud miranda facta dicis: 345
si deos decepit et homines, lenonum more fecit.
TRACH. Non rem divinam facitis hic vos neque erus? AMP. Hariolare.

AMP. By Pollux, you speak of deeds not to be wondered at: 345
if he has deceived gods and men, he has done it in the manner of pimps.
TRACH. Aren’t you doing a sacred rite here, you and the master? AMP. You’re raving.

TRACH. Quid tu agis hic igitur? AMP. Ex malis multis metuque summo
capitalique ex periculo orbas auxilique opumque huc
recepit ad se Veneria haec sacerdos me et Palaestram. 350
TRACH. An hic Palaestrast, obsecro, eri mei amica? AMP. Certo.

TRACH. What are you doing here, then? AMP. From many evils and utmost fear
and from a capital peril, bereft of help and of resources, to here
this Venerian priestess has received to herself me and Palaestra. 350
TRACH. Is this Palaestra, pray, my master’s beloved? AMP. Certainly.

TRACH. Inest lepos in nuntio tuo magnus, mea Ampelisca.
sed istuc periclum perlubet quod fuerit vobis scire.
AMP. Confracta est, mi Trachalio, hac nocte navis nobis.

TRACH. There is great charm in your news, my Ampelisca.
but I very much desire to know what that peril has been for you.
AMP. Our ship was shattered, my Trachalio, last night.

TRACH. Quid navis? quae istaec fabulast? AMP. Non audivisti, amabo, 355
quo pacto leno clanculum nos hinc auferre voluit
in Siciliam et quidquid domi fuit in navem imposivit?

TRACH. What about the ship? What is that story? AMP. Haven’t you heard, please, 355
by what plan the pimp wanted secretly to carry us off from here
to Sicily and loaded onto the ship whatever was at home?

ea nunc perierunt omnia. TRACH. Oh, Neptune lepide, salve,
nec te aleator nullus est sapientior; profecto
nimis lepide iecisti bolum: periurum perdidisti. 360
sed nunc ubi est leno Labrax? AMP. Periit potando, opinor.

all those things have now perished. TRACH. Oh, Neptune, neatly done, hail,
and as a gambler none is wiser than you; assuredly
you have cast the bait very neatly: you have destroyed the perjurer. 360
but now where is the pimp Labrax? AMP. He has perished by drinking, I suppose.

Neptunus magnis poculis hac nocte eum invitavit.
TRACH. Credo hercle anancaeo datum quod biberet. ut ego amo te,
mea Ampelisca, ut dulcis es, ut mulsa dicta dicis.

Neptune invited him with great goblets this night.
TRACH. I believe, by Hercules, that an Ancaean cup was given him to drink. How I love you,
my Ampelisca, how sweet you are, how honeyed words you speak.

sed tu et Palaestra quomodo salvae estis? AMP. Scibis faxo. 365
<de> navi timidae ambae in scapham insiluimus, quia videmus
ad saxa navem ferrier; properans exsolvi restim,
dum illi timent; nos cum scapha tempestas dextrovorsum
differt ab illis. itaque nos ventisque fluctibusque
iactatae exemplis plurimis miserae perpetuam noctem; 370
vix hodie ad litus pertulit nos ventus exanimatas.

but you and Palaestra—how are you safe? AMP. I’ll make you know. 365
<de> from the ship, both of us, fearful, leapt into the skiff, because we see
the ship being borne to the rocks; hurrying I untied the rope,
while those men were afraid; the storm carries us with the skiff rightward
away from them. and so we poor wretches, tossed by winds and waves
in countless ways, a perpetual night;* 370
hardly today did the wind bear us, half-dead, to the shore.

TRACH. Novi, Neptunus ita solet, quamvis fastidiosus
aedilis est: si quae improbae sunt merces, iactat omnis.
AMP. Vae capiti atque aetati tuae. TRACH. Tuo, mea Ampelisca. 374-375
scivi lenonem facere hoc, quod fecit, saepe dixi; 376
capillum promittam optimumst occipiamque hariolari.

TRACH. I know; Neptune is wont to do so, although he is a very fastidious aedile: if there is any improper merchandise, he tosses it all overboard.
AMP. Woe to your head and your age. TRACH. To yours, my Ampelisca. 374-375
I knew the procurer would do this which he did; I often said so; 376
I’ll let my hair grow long—it’s best—and I’ll take up soothsaying.

AMP. Cavistis ergo tu atque erus ne abiret, cum scibatis.
TRACH. Quid faceret? AMP. Si amabat, rogas, quid faceret?

AMP. So you and the master took care that he not go away, when you knew.
TRACH. What was he to do? AMP. If he was in love, you ask what he was to do?

adservaret
dies noctesque, in custodia esset semper. verum ecastor 380
ut multi fecit ita probe curavit Plesidippus.
TRACH. Cur tu istuc dicis?

let him keep watch days and nights, let her be in custody always. But, by Castor, 380
as many do, so properly Plesidippus took care. TRACH. Why do you say that?

AMP. Res palam est. TRACH. Scin tu? etiam
qui it lavatum
in balineas, cum ibi sedulo sua vestimenta servat,
tamen surripiuntur, quippe qui quem illorum observet falsust;
fur facile qui observat videt: custos qui fur sit nescit. 385
sed duce me ad illam ubi est. AMP. I sane in Veneris fanum huc intro,
sedentem flentemque opprimes.

AMP. The matter is plain. TRACH. Do you know? even
the fellow who goes to bathe
into the baths, when there he carefully watches his clothes,
yet they are stolen; for indeed the one of them he keeps his eye on is the wrong one;
the thief easily sees the watcher; the guard does not know who the thief is. 385
but lead me to her where she is. AMP. Yes indeed, go in here into Venus’s shrine,
you will catch her sitting and weeping.

TRACH. Vt iam istuc mihi molestumst.
sed quid flet? AMP. Ego dicam tibi: hoc sese excruciat animi,
quia leno ademit cistulam ei, quam habebat ubique habebat
qui suos parentis noscere posset: eam veretur 390
ne perierit.

TRACH. How that is bothersome to me now.
sed why is she weeping? AMP. I will tell you: this excruciates her mind,
because the pimp has taken away the little chest from her, which she had—she had it everywhere,
by which she could come to know her parents: she fears it 390
may have perished.

TRACH. Vbinam ea fuit cistellula? AMP. Ibidem in navi.
conclusit ipse in vidulum, ne copia esset eius,
qui suos parentes nosceret.

TRACH. Where on earth was that little casket? AMP. In the same place on the ship.
he himself shut it up in a valise, so that there might not be access to it
for him who would recognize his parents.

TRACH. O facinus impudicum,
quam liberam esse oporteat servire postulare.
AMP. Nunc eam cum navi scilicet abiisse pessum in altum. 395
et aurum et argentum fuit lenonis omne ibidem.

TRACH. O impudent crime,
to demand that one who ought to be free serve.
AMP. Now of course she, together with the ship, has gone down to ruin into the deep. 395
and the whole of the pimp’s gold and silver was there likewise.

T. Credo aliquem immersisse atque eum excepisse. A. Id misera maestast,
sibi eorum evenisse inopiam. TRACH. Iam istoc magis usus factost,
ut eam intro consolerque eam, ne sic se excruciet animi;
nam multa praeter spem scio multis bona evenisse. 400
AMP. At ego etiam, qui speraverint spem decepisse multos.

T. I think someone plunged down and picked it up. A. That is the wretched sadness, that want of those things has befallen her.
TRACH. Now all the more there is occasion for this, that I go inside and console her, that she not so torture herself in mind;
for I know many good things have happened to many beyond hope. 400
AMP. But I too (know) that hope has deceived many who have hoped.

TRACH. Ergo animus aequos optimum est aerumnae condimentum.
ego eo intro, nisi quid vis.— AMP. Eas. ego quod mihi imperavit
sacerdos, id faciam atque aquam hinc de proximo rogabo;
nam extemplo, si verbis suis peterem, daturos dixit. 405
neque digniorem censeo vidisse anum me quemquam,
cui deos atque homines censeam bene facere magis decere.

TRACH. Therefore an equable spirit is the best seasoning for hardship.
I will go inside, unless you want anything.— AMP. Go. I will do what the priest commanded me,
and I will ask for water from close by here;
for at once, if I should ask in his own words, he said they would give. 405
nor do I deem that I have seen any old woman more worthy,
for whom I deem it more fitting that gods and men do good.

ut lepide, ut liberaliter, ut honeste atque haud gravate
timidas egentes uvidas eiectas exanimatas
accepit ad sese, haud secus quam si ex se simus natae; 410
ut eapse <sic> succincta aquam calefactat, ut lavemus.
nunc ne morae illi sim, petam hinc aquam, unde mi imperavit.
heus ecquis in villast?

how neatly, how liberally, how honorably and without reluctance
she has taken to herself the timid, needy, soaked, cast‑out, breathless ones,
not otherwise than as if we were born of her; 410
how she herself <sic>, girded up, heats water, that we may bathe.
now, lest I be a delay to her, I will fetch water from here, where she ordered me.
hey, is anyone in the villa?

ecquis hoc recludit? ecquis prodit?

Does anyone open this? Does anyone come forth?

II.iv
SCEPARNIO Quis est qui nostris tam proterve foribus facit iniuriam?
AMP. Ego sum. SCEP. Hem, quid hoc boni est?

II.iv
SCEPARNIO Who is it that so insolently does injury to our doors?
AMP. I am. SCEP. Ha, what good is this?

eu edepol specie lepida 415
mulierem.
AMP. Salve, adulescens. SCEP. Et tu multum salveto, adulescentula.

oh, by Pollux of lovely appearance 415
a woman.
AMP. Greetings, young man. SCEP. And you, be very well, young lady.

AMP. Ad vos venio. SCEP. Accipiam hospitio, si mox venies ***
item ut adfectam; nam nunc nihil est qui te manem ***
sed quid ais, mea lepida, hilara? AMP. Aha, nimium familiariter
me attrectas.

AMP. I come to you. SCEP. I will receive you with hospitality, if you soon come
***
likewise in the same condition; for now there is nothing that would make me wait for you ***
but what do you say, my charming one, cheerful? AMP. Aha, too familiarly
you handle me.

SCEP. Pro di immortales, Veneris effigia haec quidem est. 420
ut in ocellis hilaritudo est, heia, corpus cuius modi,
subvolturium—illud quidem, subaquilum volui dicere.
vel papillae cuius modi, tum quae indoles in saviost.
AMP. Non ego sum pollucta pago.

SCEP. O immortal gods, this indeed is the effigy of Venus. 420
how much hilarity there is in the little eyes, hey, what a sort of body,
somewhat vulture-nosed—no, rather, I meant slightly aquiline.
or even what sort of nipples, then what a nature in kissing.
AMP. I am not a sacrificial offering laid out for the village.

potin ut me abstineas manum?
SCEP. Non licet saltem sic placide bellam belle tangere? 425
AMP. Otium ubi erit, tum tibi operam ludo et deliciae dabo;
nunc quam ob rem huc sum missa, amabo, vel tu mi aias vel neges.
SCEP. Quid nunc vis?

can you keep your hand off me?
SCEP. Is it not permitted at least to touch the pretty one prettily like this, gently? 425
AMP. When there is leisure, then I will give you attention—play and delights;
now, as to the reason I have been sent here, please, either say yes to me or say no.
SCEP. What do you want now?

AMP. Sapienti ornatus quid velim indicium facit.
SCEP. Meus quoque hic sapienti ornatus quid velim indicium facit.
AMP. Haec sacerdos Veneris hinc me petere aquam iussit a vobis.

AMP. For the wise, my attire makes an indication of what I would wish.
SCEP. My attire here likewise, for the wise, makes an indication of what I want.
AMP. This priestess of Venus ordered me to seek water here from you.

~ 430
SCEP. At ego basilicus sum: quem nisi oras, guttam non feres.
nostro illum puteum periclo et ferramentis fodimus.
nisi multis blanditiis a me gutta non ferri potest.

~ 430
SCEP. But I am a royal fellow: unless you entreat me, you will not carry off a drop.
we dug that well at our own peril and with our iron tools.
unless with many blandishments, a drop cannot be carried off from me.

AMP. Cur tu aquam gravare, amabo, quam hostis hosti commodat?
SCEP. Cur tu operam gravare mihi quam civis civi commodat? 435
AMP. Immo etiam tibi, mea voluptas, quae voles faciam omnia.
SCEP. Eugepae, salvos sum, haec iam me suam voluptatem vocat.

AMP. Why do you begrudge water, please, which even an enemy lends to an enemy?
SCEP. Why do you begrudge me the service which citizen lends to citizen? 435
AMP. Rather, my delight, I’ll do for you whatever you wish—everything.
SCEP. Bravo, I’m saved—she now calls me her own delight.

dabitur tibi aqua, ne nequiquam me ames. cedo mi urnam. AMP. Cape.

Water will be given to you, that you may not love me in vain. hand me the urn. AMP. Take it.

propera, amabo, efferre. SCEP. Manta, iam hic ero, voluptas mea.—
AMP. Quid sacerdoti me dicam hic demoratam tam diu?                440
ut etiam nunc misera timeo, ubi oculis intueor mare.
sed quid ego misera video procul in litore?                               442-450
meum erum lenonem Siciliensemque hospitem,                               451
quos periisse ambos misera censebam in mari.

hurry, please, bring it out. SCEP. Wait, I’ll be here at once, my delight .—
AMP. What shall I say to the priestess, that I have been delayed here so long?                440
that even now I, wretched, am afraid, when with my eyes I look upon the sea.
but what do I, wretched, see far off on the shore?                               442-450
my master the pimp and the Sicilian guest,                               451
whom I, wretched, supposed both to have perished in the sea.

iam illud mali plus nobis vivit quam ratae.
sed quid ego cesso fugere in fanum ac dicere haec
Palaestrae, in aram ut confugiamus prius quam huc~ 455
scelestus leno veniat nosque hic opprimat?
confugiam huc, ita res suppetit subit ***

Already that share of misfortune lives on for us beyond what was reckoned.
But why do I delay to flee into the fane and tell these things
to Palaestra, that we may take refuge at the altar before the 455
wicked leno comes here and oppresses us?
I will flee for refuge here, so the matter supplies—comes up—***

II.v
SCEPARNIO Pro di immortales, in aqua numquam credidi
voluptatem inesse tantam. ut hanc traxi lubens.
nimio minus altus puteus visust quam prius. 460
ut sine labore hanc extraxi, praefiscine.

II.v
SCEPARNIO O immortal gods, in water I never believed
there to be such pleasure. How gladly I hauled this up.
the well seemed by far less deep than before. 460
How without labor I drew this—without ill-omen.

satin nequam sum, ut pote qui hodie amare inceperim?
em tibi aquam, mea tu belliata. em sic volo
te ferre honeste, ut ego fero, ut placeas mihi.

Am I not quite good‑for‑nothing, seeing that today I have begun to love?
Here you are, water for you, my little beauty. Here—thus I want you to carry it properly, as I carry it, so that you may please me.

sed ubi tu es, delicata? cape aquam hanc sis. ubi es? 465
amat hercle me, ut ego opinor.

but where are you, delicate one? take this water, please. where are you? 465
she loves me, by hercules, as i opine.

delituit mala.
ubi tu es? etiamne hanc urnam acceptura es? ubi es?
commodule ludis. tandem vero serio,
etiam acceptura es urnam hanc?

the naughty one has hidden herself.
where are you? are you still going to take this urn? where are you?
you play cleverly. at last then, seriously,
are you still going to take this urn?

ubi tu es gentium?
nusquam hercle equidem illam video. ludos me facit. 470
adponam hercle urnam iam ego hanc in media via.

where in the world are you?
nowhere, by Hercules, indeed I do not see her. she makes sport of me. 470
by Hercules, I’ll set this urn right now in the middle of the road.

sed autem, quid si hanc hinc abstulerit quispiam,
sacram urnam Veneris? mi exhibeat negotium.
metuo hercle ne illa mulier mi insidias locet,
ut comprehendar cum sacra urna Veneria. 475
nempe optimo <me> iure in vinclis enicet
magistratus si quis me hanc habere viderit.

but then, what if someone should carry this off from here,
the sacred urn of Venus? let him cause me trouble for it.
I’m afraid, by Hercules, lest that woman set an ambush for me,
so that I may be caught with the sacred Venerian urn. 475
surely, with the best right, a magistrate would kill me in bonds,
if any magistrate should see me having this.

nam haec litteratast, eapse cantat cuia sit.
iam hercle evocabo hinc hanc sacerdotem foras,
ut hanc accipiat urnam. accedam huc ad fores. 480
heus exi, Ptolemocratia, cape hanc urnam tibi:
muliercula hanc nescio quae huc ad me detulit.

for this is lettered; it itself sings whose it is.
now, by Hercules, I will call this priestess out from in here,
so that she may accept this urn. I will go up here to the doors. 480
hey, come out, Ptolemocratia, take this urn for yourself:
some little woman, I know not who, brought this here to me.

intro ferundast. repperi negotium,
siquidem his mihi ultro adgerunda etiam est aqua.—

It must be carried inside. I have discovered business,
since for these the water even must be brought by me, into the bargain.—

II.vi
LABRAX Qui homo sese miserum et mendicum volet,~ 485
Neptuno credat sese atque aetatem suam:
nam si quis cum eo quid rei commiscuit,
ad hoc exemplum amittit ornatum domum.
edepol, Libertas, lepida es, quae numquam pedem
voluisti in navem cum Hercule una imponere. 490
sed ubi ille meus est hospes, qui me perdidit?
atque eccum incedit.

II.vi
LABRAX Whoever would wish himself wretched and beggarly,~ 485
let him entrust himself and his lifetime to Neptune:
for if anyone has mixed any matter of business with him,
after this example he loses his well-appointed home.
by Pollux, Liberty, you are charming, you who never wished to set a foot
upon a ship together with Hercules. 490
but where is that guest-friend of mine, who has ruined me?
and look, here he comes striding.

CHARMIDES Quo malum properas, Labrax?
nam equidem te nequeo consequi tam strenue.
LABR. Vtinam te prius quam oculis vidissem meis,
malo cruciatu in Sicilia perbiteres, 495
quem propter hoc mihi optigit misero mali.

CHARMIDES Where the devil are you hurrying, Labrax?
for indeed I cannot keep up with you so strenuously.
LABR. Would that, before I had seen you with my eyes,
you had perished in Sicily in evil cruciation, 495
on account of whom this evil has befallen miserable me.

CHARM. Vtinam, quom in aedis me ad te adduxisti <tuas>,
in carcere illo potius cubuissem die.
deosque immortales quaeso, dum vivas uti
omnes tui similes hospites habeas tibi. 500
LABR. Malam fortunam in aedis te adduxi meas.
quid mihi scelesto tibi erat auscultatio,
quidve hinc abitio quidve in navem inscensio?

CHARM. Would that, when you led me into your own house,
I had rather lain in that prison on that day.
and I beg the immortal gods, so long as you live, that
you may have as guests all your fellows of your sort. 500
LABR. I brought ill fortune into my house when I brought you.
why was there for me, a scoundrel, any listening to you,
or any departure from here, or any embarkation upon the ship?

ubi perdidi etiam plus boni quam mihi fuit.
CHARM. Pol minime miror, navis si fractast tibi, 505
scelus te et sceleste parta quae vexit bona.
LABR. Pessum dedisti me blandimentis tuis.

where I lost even more goods than I had.
CHARM. By Pollux, I am in no way surprised, if your ship has been wrecked for you, 505
a crime carried you, and the goods wickedly gotten which it was carrying.
LABR. You have ruined me with your blandishments.

CHARM. Scelestiorem cenam cenavi tuam,
quam quae Thyestae quondam aut posita est Tereo.
LABR. Perii, animo male fit. contine quaeso caput. 510
CHARM. Pulmoneum edepol nimis velim vomitum vomas.

CHARM. I have eaten a more criminal supper—yours—
than that which once was set before Thyestes or Tereus.
LABR. I’m ruined, my heart is ill. Hold your tongue, please. 510
CHARM. By Pollux, I’d very much like you to vomit a lungy vomit.

LABR. Eheu, Palaestra atque Ampelisca, ubi estis nunc?
CHARM. Piscibus in alto, credo, praebent pabulum.
LABR. Mendicitatem mi optulisti opera tua,
dum tuis ausculto magnidicis mendaciis. 515
CHARM. Bonam est quod habeas gratiam merito mihi,
qui te ex insulso salsum feci opera mea.

LABR. Alas, Palaestra and Ampelisca, where are you now?
CHARM. In the deep, I believe, they are providing pabulum for the fishes.
LABR. You have proffered me mendicancy by your deed,
while I listen to your grandiloquent mendacities. 515
CHARM. It is good that you have gratitude to me, deservedly,
who made you from insipid into salty by my efforts.

LABR. Quin tu hinc is a me in maxumam malam crucem?
CHARM. Eas. easque res agebam commodum.

LABR. Why don’t you go away from me to the very greatest wicked cross?
CHARM. Go; and I was just now doing those very things.

LABR. Eheu, quis vivit me mortalis miserior? 520
CHARM. Ego multo tanto miserior quam tu, Labrax.
LABR. Qui? CH. Quia ego indignus sum, tu dignus qui sies.

LABR. Alas, what mortal lives more miserable than I? 520
CHARM. I am by far more miserable than you, Labrax.
LABR. How? CH. Because I am undeserving; you are deserving to be so.

LABR. O scirpe, scirpe, laudo fortunas tuas,
qui semper servas gloriam aritudinis.
CHARM. Equidem me ad velitationem exerceo, 525
nam omnia corusca prae temore fabulor.
LABR. Edepol, Neptune, es balineator frigidus:
cum vestimentis postquam aps te abii, algeo.

LABR. O rush, rush, I praise your fortunes,
you who always preserve the glory of aridity.
CHARM. Indeed I exercise myself for skirmishing, 525
for I babble everything, all aquiver from fear.
LABR. By Pollux, Neptune, you are a frigid bath-keeper:
since I went away from you with my clothes, I am freezing.

CHARM. Ne thermipolium quidem ullum instruit,
ita salsam praehibet potionem et frigidam. 530
LABR. Vt fortunati sunt fabri ferrarii,
qui apud carbones adsident: semper calent.
CHARM. Vtinam fortuna nunc anetina uterer,
ut quom exiissem ex aqua, arerem tamen.
LABR. Quid si aliquo ad ludos me pro manduco locem? 535
CHARM. Quapropter?

CHARM. Not even any thermopolium does he outfit, so salty a potion and cold he proffers. 530
LABR. How fortunate are the iron-workers, who sit by the coals: they are always warm.
CHARM. Would that I enjoyed an anatine fortune now, so that when I had gone out of the water, I would be dry nonetheless.
LABR. What if I hire myself out somewhere at the games as a manducus? 535
CHARM. Wherefore?

LABR. Quia pol clare crepito dentibus.
CHARM. Iure optumo me elavisse arbitror.
L. Qui?

LABR. Because, by Pollux, my teeth chatter loudly.
CHARM. I think I was most rightly slipping away.
L. How?

CH. Qui <un>a auderem tecum in navem ascendere,
qui a fundamento mi usque movisti mare.
LABR. Tibi auscultavi, tu promittebas mihi 540
illi esse quaestum maximum meretricibus,
ibi me conruere posse aiebas ditias.
CHARM. Iam postulabas te, impurata belua,
totam Siciliam devoraturum insulam?

CH. How could I dare to go aboard a ship with you,
you who stirred the sea for me from its very foundation.
LABR. I listened to you; you were promising to me 540
that there was the greatest profit there for harlots,
you said that I could tumble into riches there.
CHARM. Just now you were demanding, filthy brute,
that you were going to devour the whole island of Sicily?

LABR. Quaenam ballaena meum voravit vidulum, 545
aurum atque argentum ubi omne compactum fuit?
CHARM. Eadem illa, credo, quae meum marsuppium,
quod plenum argenti fuit in sacciperio.
LABR. Eheu, redactus sum usque ad unam hanc tuniculam
et ad hoc misellum pallium.

LABR. What whale has swallowed my little travel-bag, 545
where all the gold and silver had been packed away?
CHARM. The same one, I suppose, that took my purse,
which was full of silver, in the sack-satchel.
LABR. Alas, I am reduced down to this one little tunic
and to this wretched little cloak.

perii oppido. 550
CHARM. Vel consociare mihi quidem tecum licet:
aequas habemus partes. LABR. Saltem si mihi
mulierculae essent salvae, spes aliquae forent.
nunc si me adulescens Plesidippus viderit,
quo ab arrabonem pro Palaestra acceperam, 555
iam is exhibebit hic mihi negotium.

I have perished utterly. 550
CHARM. I can indeed even consociate with you:
we have equal parts. LABR. At least if my girls were safe,
there would be some hope. Now if the young man Plesidippus sees me,
from whom I had received earnest-money for Palaestra, 555
right away he will bring me trouble here.

CHARM. Quid, stulte, ploras? tibi quidem edepol copiast,
dum lingua vivet, qui rem solvas omnibus.

CHARM. Why, fool, do you weep? For you, indeed, by Pollux, there is plenty of resource,
so long as your tongue lives, with which you may solve the matter in all things.

II.vii
SCEPARNIO Quid illuc, opsecro, negotist quod duae mulierculae
hic in fano Veneris signum flentes amplexae tenent, 560
nescio quem metuentes miserae? nocte hac aiunt proxuma
se iactatas, atque eiectas hodie esse aiunt e mari.
LABR. Opsecro hercle, adulescens, ubi istaec sunt quas memoras mulieres?

2.7
SCEPARNIO What’s that there, I beg, what business is it, that two little women
here in the fane of Venus hold the image, weeping, clasped in embrace, wretched, fearing I-know-not-whom? 560
They say that on this most recent night they were tossed about, and they say that today they were ejected from the sea.
LABR. By Hercules, I beg, young man, where are those women whom you mention?

SCEP. Hic in fano Veneris. LABR. Quot sunt? SCEP. Totidem quot ego et
tu sumus.

SCEP. Here in the temple of Venus. LABR. How many are there? SCEP. Exactly as many as I and
you are.

LABR. Nempe meae? SCEP. Nempe nescio istuc. LABR. Qua sunt facie?

LABR. Surely they are mine? SCEP. Surely I do not know that. LABR. What do they look like?

565
SCEP. Scitula.
vel ego amare utramvis possum, si probe adpotus siem.
LABR. Nempe puellae?

565
SCEP. Pretty.
why, I can love either one, if I am properly drunk.
LABR. You mean the girls?

SCEP. Nempe molestus es. i vise, si lubet.
LABR. Meas oportet intus esse hic mulieres, mi Charmides.
CHARM. Iuppiter te perdat, et si sunt, et si non sunt tamen.

SCEP. Indeed you are annoying. Go, go take a look, if you like.
LABR. My women ought to be inside here, my Charmides.
CHARM. May Jupiter destroy you, whether they are or whether they are not, all the same.

LABR. Intro rumpam iam huc in Veneris fanum.— CHARM. In barathrum 570
mavelim.
opsecro, hospes, da mihi aliquid ubi condormiscam loci.
SCEP. Istic ubi vis condormisce; nemo prohibet, publicum est.

LABR. I’ll break in now here into the fane of Venus.— CHARM.
Into the barathrum 570
I’d rather.
I beseech you, stranger, give me some place where I may doze a little.
SCEP. There, wherever you wish, doze; no one forbids it, it’s public.

CHARM. At vides me ornatus ut sim vestimentis uvidis:
recipe me in tectum, da mihi vestimenti aliquid aridi,
dum arescunt mea; in aliquo tibi gratiam referam loco. 575
SCEP. Tegillum eccillud, mihi unum id aret; id si vis, dabo:
eodem amictus, eodem tectus esse soleo, si pluit.
tu istaec mihi dato: exarescent faxo. CHARM. Eho an te paenitet,
in mari quod elavi, ni hic in terra iterum eluam?

CHARM. But you see how I am arrayed, with my garments dripping:
take me into shelter, give me some item of dry clothing,
while mine dry; in some place I will return you a favor. 575
SCEP. That little cover there—see it?—let that, my one thing, dry for me; if you want, I’ll give it:
I am wont, wrapped in the same, covered with the same, if it rains.
you give me those things: I’ll make sure they dry right out. CHARM. Hey—does it vex you,
that what I washed out in the sea I should wash out again here on land?

SCEP. Eluas tu an exunguare, ciccum non interduim. 580
tibi ego numquam quicquam credam, nisi si accepto pignore.
tu vel suda vel peri algu, vel tu aegrota vel vale.
barbarum hospitem mi in aedis nil moror.

SCEP. Whether you wash or anoint yourself, I don’t care a fig. 580
I will never entrust you with anything, unless after receiving a pledge.
sweat if you like, or perish of cold; be sick if you like, or be well.
I have no use for a barbarian guest in my house.

sat litiumst.—
CHARM. Iamne abis? venalis illic ductitavit, quisquis est;
non est misericors. sed quid ego hic asto infelix uvidus? 585
quin abeo huc in Veneris fanum, ut edormiscam hanc crapulam,
quam potavi praeter animi quam libuit sententiam?

enough of litigations.—
CHARM. Are you off already? That venal fellow yonder has led me about, whoever he is;
he is not merciful. But why do I stand here, unlucky and soaked? 585
Why don’t I go off here to the shrine of Venus, so that I may sleep off this crapulence,
which I drank beyond what my mind’s judgment approved?

quasi vinis Graecis Neptunus nobis suffudit mare,
itaque alvom prodi speravit nobis salsis poculis;
quid opust verbis? si invitare nos paulisper pergeret, 590
ibidem obdormissemus: nunc vix vivos amisit domum.
nunc lenonem quid agat intus visam, convivam meum.—

as if with Greek wines Neptune has drenched the sea upon us,
and so with salty cups he hoped to make our bowels give way;
what need of words? if he had gone on inviting us a little longer, 590
we would have fallen asleep right there: now he has scarcely sent us home alive.
now I will go see what the pimp, my fellow-diner, is doing inside.—

ACTVS III

ACT 3

III.i
DAEMONES Miris modis di ludos faciunt hominibus:
[mirisque exemplis somnia in somnis danunt]
ne dormientis quidem sinunt quiescere. 595
velut ego hac nocte quae praecessit proxima
mirum atque inscitum somniavi somnium.
ad hirundininum nidum visa est simia
ascensionem ut faceret admolirier
* * * 599a
neque eas eripere quibat inde. postibi
videtur ad me simia adgredirier,
rogare scalas ut darem utendas sibi.

III.i
DAEMONES In wondrous modes the gods make sport with humans:
[and with wondrous exemplars they grant dreams within dreams]
they do not allow even those sleeping to rest. 595
just as I this night which immediately preceded
I dreamed a strange and unapt dream.
toward the swallows’ nest a monkey seemed
to be contriving to make an ascent,
* * * 599a
nor could it snatch them from there. After that
the monkey seems to approach me,
asking that I give him ladders to be used.

ego ad hoc exemplum simiae respondeo,
* * * 603a
natas ex Philomela ~ atque ex Progne esse hirundines.
ago cum illa, ne quid noceat meis popularibus.
atque illa animo iam fieri ferocior;
videtur ultro mihi malum minitarier.

I respond to this example of the monkey,
* * * 603a
that the swallows are born from Philomela ~ and from Progne.
I treat with her, lest she do any harm to my compatriots.
and she now becomes more ferocious in spirit;
she seems of her own accord to me to threaten harm.

in ius vocat med. ibi ego nescio quo modo
iratus videor mediam arripere simiam;
concludo in vincla bestiam nequissimam. 610
nunc quam ad rem dicam hoc attinere somnium,
numquam hodie quivi ad coniecturam evadere.
sed quid hic in Veneris fano meae viciniae
clamoris oritur?

he summons me into court. There I, I know not how,
angry, seem to seize the monkey by the middle;
I shut up in bonds the most wicked beast. 610
now to what matter I should say this dream pertains,
never today have I been able to arrive at a conjecture.
but what outcry is arising here in the shrine of Venus in my neighborhood
arises?

animus mirat<ur meus.>

my mind marvels.

III.ii
TRACHALIO Pro Cyrenenses populares, vostram ego imploro fidem, 615
agricolae, accolae propinqui qui estis his regionibus,
ferte opem inopiae atque exemplum pessumum pessum date.
vindicate, ne impiorum potior sit pollentia
quam innocentum, qui se scelere fieri nolunt nobiles.
statuite exemplum impudenti, date pudori praemium, 620
facite hic lege potius liceat quam vi victo vivere.

III.ii
TRACHALIO For my Cyrenian countrymen, I implore your faith, 615
farmers, neighboring dwellers who are in these regions,
bring help to indigence and cast the worst example down to ruin.
vindicate, lest the prevalence of the impious be superior
to that of the innocent, who do not wish to make themselves noble by crime.
set an example for the impudent, give a reward to modesty, 620
see to it that here it is permitted rather to live by law than, conquered by force, to live.

currite huc in Veneris fanum, vostram iterum imploro fidem,
qui prope hic adestis quique auditis clamorem meum,
ferte suppetias qui Veneri Veneriaeque antistitae
more antiquo in custodelam suom commiserunt caput, 625
praetorquete iniuriae prius collum quam ad vos pervenat.
DA. Quid istuc est negoti? TR. Per ego haec genua te optestor, senex,
quisquis es — DAEM. Quin tu ergo omitte genua et quid sit mi expedi
<quod tu>multues.

Run hither into the fane of Venus, I implore your good faith again,
you who are nearby here and who hear my clamor,
bring succor, you who to Venus and to the antistite of Venus,
by the ancient custom, have entrusted your head into her custodianship, 625
and pre-twist the neck of the injury before it reaches you.
DA. What’s that for business? TR. By these knees I beseech you, old man,
whoever you are — DAEM. Why don’t you then leave off my knees and make clear to me what it is
that you would mulct.

TRACH. Teque oro et quaeso, si speras tibi
hoc anno multum futurum sirpe et laserpicium 630
eamque eventuram exagogam Capuam salvam et sospitem,
atque ab lippitudine usque siccitas ut sit tibi,
[DAEM. Sanun es? TRACH. Seu tibi confidis fore multam magudarim]
ut te ne pigeat dare operam mihi quod te orabo, senex.
DAEM. At ego te per crura et talos tergumque obtestor tuom, 635
ut, tibi ulmeam ni deesse speres virgidemiam
et tibi eventuram hoc anno uberem messem mali,
ut mi istuc dicas negoti quid sit, quod tumultues.
TRACH. Qui lubet maledicere?

TRACH. And I beg and beseech you, if you hope that for you this year there will be much sirpe and laserpicium 630
and that the exagoga to Capua will turn out safe and sound, and that, as for bleary-eyedness, dryness may be yours,
[DAEM. Are you sane? TRACH. Or if you trust that there will be much magudarim for you,]
that it may not irk you to lend effort to me in what I will beg you, old man. DAEM. But I implore you by your shins and ankles and your back, 635
that, unless you hope that an elm-rod harvest will not fail you and that a rich harvest of harm will be yours this year, that you tell me what that business is, about which you are making a disturbance. TRACH. How you do love to speak ill?

equidem tibi bona optavi omnia.
DAEM. Bene equidem tibi dico, qui te digna ut eveniant precor. 640
TR. Obsecro, hoc praevortere ergo. DA. Quid negotist?

indeed I have wished all good things for you.
DAEM. Well indeed I speak well to you, in that I pray that things worthy may eventuate to you. 640
TR. I beg you, therefore turn aside to this first. DA. What’s the business?

TR. Mulieres
duae innocentes intus hic sunt, tui indigentes auxili,
quibus advorsum ius legesque insignite iniuria hic
facta est fitque in Veneris fano; tum sacerdos Veneria
indigne adflictatur. DAEM. Quis homo est tanta confidentia, 645
qui sacerdotem violare audet? sed eae mulieres
quae sunt?

TR.
Women—
two innocent are inside here, indigent of your aid,
to whom, against right and the laws, a remarkable injury here
has been done and is being done in the temple of Venus; then the priestess of Venus
is undeservedly afflicted. DAEM. What man has such confidence, 645
who dares to violate a priestess? But those women—
who are they?

aut quid is iniqui fit? TRACH. Si das operam, eloquar.
Veneris signum sunt amplexae.

or what injustice is being done? TRACH. If you give attention, I will set it forth.
They have embraced the statue of Venus.

nunc <homo audacissimus>
eas deripere volt. eas ambas esse oportet <liberas>.
DAEM. Quis istic est qui deos tam parvi pendit? <paucis expedi>. 650
TRACH. Fraudis sceleris parricidi periuri plenis<simus>,
legirupa impudens impurus inverecundissimus,
uno verbo absolvam, lenost: quid illum porro praedicem?

now <a most audacious man>
wants to tear them away. both of them ought to be <free>.
DAEM. Who is it there who so lightly esteems the gods? <explain in few words>. 650
TRACH. most replete with fraud, crime, parricide, perjury,
a law-breaker, impudent, impure, most shameless,
I will sum up in one word: he’s a pimp; what further shall I proclaim of him?

DAEM. Edepol infortunio hominem praedicas donabilem.
TRACH. Qui sacerdoti scelestus faucis interpresserit. 655
DAEM. At malo cum magno suo fecit hercle. ite istinc foras,
Turbalio, Sparax.

DAEM. By Pollux, you proclaim the man as fit to be given over to misfortune.
TRACH. He who, nefarious, has throttled the priest by the throat. 655
DAEM. But, by Hercules, he did it to his own great harm. Go out from there, Turbalio, Sparax.

ubi estis? TRACH. I obsecro intro, subveni
illis. DAEM. Iterum haud imperabo.

Where are you? TRACH. Go, I beseech, inside, succor
them. DAEM. I will not command again.

sequimini hac. TRACH. Age nunciam,
iube oculos elidere, itidem ut sepiis faciunt coqui.
DAEM. Proripite hominem pedibus huc itidem quasi occisam suem.— 660
TRACH. Audio tumultum.

follow this way. TRACH. Come now,
order the eyes to be dashed out, just as cooks do to cuttlefish.
DAEM. Snatch the man by the feet over here, likewise, like a slain sow.— 660
TRACH. I hear a tumult.

opinor, leno pugnis pectitur.
nimis velim improbissimo homini malas edentaverint.
sed eccas ipsae huc egrediuntur timidae e fano mulieres.

I suppose the pimp is being pummeled in the chest with fists.
I would very much like it if they have knocked the teeth out of the cheeks of that most shameless man.
but look—here the women themselves, timid, are coming out here from the shrine.

III.iii
PALAESTRA Nunc id est cum omnium copiarum atque opum,
auxili, praesidi viduitas nos tenet.                           665
<nulla nunc> speculast quae salutem afferat,
<nec quam in> partem ingredi persequamur
<scimus: tanto> in metu nunc sumus ambae,
<tanta> importunitas tantaque iniuria
<facta in> nos est modo hic intus ab nostro ero,      670
qui scelestus sacerdotem anum praecipes
reppulit propulit perquam indignis modis
nosque ab signo intimo vi deripuit sua.
sed nunc sese ut ferunt res fortunaeque nostrae,
par moriri est. neque est melius morte in malis,             675
rebus miseris.

III.iii
PALAESTRA Now it is when the widowhood of all supplies and resources,
of aid and protection, holds us.                           665
is on watch who might bring salvation,
direction to enter and pursue
is the fear we two are now in,
the importunity and so great the injury
us just now here inside by our master,      670
who, the wicked man, drove the old priestess headlong,
pushed her back and out in most unworthy ways,
and by his own force tore us away from the inmost image.
But now, as our affairs and fortunes carry themselves,
it is all one to die. Nor is there anything better than death in evils,             675
in wretched circumstances.

TRACH. Quid est? quae illaec oratiost?
cesso ego has consolari?

TRACH. What is it? What is that oration?
Do I delay to console these?

heus, Palaestra, PAL. Qui vocat?
TRACH. Ampelisca. AMPELISCA Obsecro, quis est qui vocat?

hey, Palaestra, PAL. Who calls?
TRACH. Ampelisca. AMPELISCA I beseech, who is it that calls?

PAL. Quis is est qui nominat? TRACH. Si respexis, scies.
PAL. O salutis meae spes.

PAL. Who is it that names me? TRACH. If you look back, you will know.
PAL. O hope of my salvation.

TRACH. Tace ac bono animo es. 680
me vide. PAL. Si modo id liceat, vis ne opprimat, 680a
quae vis vim mi afferam ipsa adigit. TR. Ah, desine, nimis inepta es.
PAL. Desiste dictis nunciam miseram me consolari;
nisi quid re praesidium apparas, Trachalio, acta haec res est.

TRACH. Be silent and be of good spirit. 680
look at me. PAL. If only that be permitted, let not force overwhelm me, 680a
the very force drives me to bring violence upon myself. TR. Ah, stop, you are too silly.
PAL. Cease now to console wretched me with words;
unless you are preparing some help in deed, Trachalio, this matter is done for.

AMP. Certumst moriri quam hunc pati <saevire> lenonem in me.
sed muliebri animo sum tamen: miserae <quom venit> in mentem 685
mihi mortis, metus membra occupat. edepol * hunc acerbum.
T. Bonum animum habete.

AMP. It is settled to die rather than to endure this pimp against me.
but nonetheless I am of a womanly spirit: when it into the mind of wretched me 685
of death, fear seizes my limbs. By Pollux * this is bitter. T. Keep good courage.

P. Nam, obsecro, unde <ani>mus mi invenitur?
TRACH. Ne, inquam, timete; adsidite hic in ara. AMP. Quid istaec ara
prodesse nobis <plus> potest quam signum in fano hic intus
Veneris, quod amplexae modo, unde abreptae per vim miserae? 690
TRACH. Sedete hic modo, ego hinc vos tamen tutabor.

P. For, I beg, whence is courage found for me?
TRACH. Don’t, I say, be afraid; be seated here at the altar. AMP. What can that altar profit us more than the image in the shrine here within
of Venus, which we had just embraced, whence we wretches were snatched away by violence? 690
TRACH. Only sit here; I, from here, will nonetheless keep you safe.

aram habete hanc
vobis pro castris, moenia hinc ego vos defensabo;
praesidio Veneris malitiae lenonis contra incedam.
PAL. Tibi auscultamus et, Venus alma, ambae te obsecramus,
aram amplexantes hanc tuam lacrumantes, genibus nixae, 695
in custodelam nos tuam ut recipias et tutere;
illos scelestos, qui tuom fecerunt fanum parvi,
fac ut ulciscare nosque ut hanc tua pace aram obsidere
patiare: elautae ambae sumus opera Neptuni noctu,
ne <invisas> habeas neve idcirco nobis vitio vortas, 700
si quippiamst, minus quod bene esse lautum tu arbitrare.
TRACH. Venus, aequom has petere intellego: decet abs te id impetrari;
ignoscere his te convenit: metus has id ut faciant subigit.

Have this altar
for yourselves in place of a camp; from here I will defend you as walls;
with Venus’s protection I will advance against the malice of the pimp.
PAL. We hearken to you, and, nourishing Venus, we both beseech you,
embracing this your altar, weeping, leaning on our knees, 695
that you may receive us into your custody and protect us;
those wicked men, who have made your fane of little account,
see that you avenge us, and that you allow us to occupy this altar under your peace;
we both are washed clean by the operation of Neptune by night,
lest you hold us as odious, nor therefore impute it to us as a fault, 700
if there is anything which you judge to have been less well washed.
TRACH. Venus, I understand it is equitable that they ask: it is fitting that this be obtained from you;
it is proper for you to pardon them: fear compels them to do this.

te ex concha natam esse autumant, cave tu harum conchas spernas.
sed optume eccum exit senex, patronus mihique et vobis. 705

they aver you were born from a conch; beware lest you spurn the conchs of these.
but very well, look, out comes the old man, a patron for me and for you. 705

III.iv
DAEMONES Exi e fano, natum quantum est hominum sacrilegissime.
vos in aram abite sessum. sed ubi sunt?

3.4
DAEMONES Get out of the fane, you most sacrilegious of all born of men!
you all go away onto the altar to sit. But where are they?

TRACH. Huc respice.
DAEM. Optume, istuc volueramus. iube modo accedat prope.

TRACH. Look here.
DAEM. Excellent, that’s what we wanted. Just order him to come close.

tun legirupionem hic nobis cum dis facere postulas?
pugnum in os impinge. LABR. Iniqua haec patior cum pretio tuo. 710
DAEM. At etiam minitatur audax?

Do you then demand to play the law-rupturer here against us, with the gods present?
drive a fist into his face. LABR. I endure these iniquities for your pay. 710
DAEM. But does the audacious one even menace?

LABR. Ius meum ereptum est mihi,
meas mihi ancillas invito me eripis. TRACH. Cedo <iudicem>
de senatu Cyrenensi quemvis opulentum virum,
si tuas esse oportet nive eas esse oportet liberas
nive in carcerem compingi <te> est aequom aetatemque ibi 715
te usque habitare, donec totum carcerem contriveris.
LABR. Non hodie isti rei auspicavi, ut cum furcifero fabuler.

LABR. My right has been wrested from me,
you snatch my handmaids from me, against my will. TRACH. Produce <judge>
from the Cyrenaean senate, any opulent man,
whether it must be that they are yours, or that they ought to be free,
or that it is just for <you> to be bolted in prison and to dwell there for your lifetime, 715
until you have worn out the whole prison. LABR. I did not take auspices today for that matter, to be talking with a gallows-bird.

te ego appello. DAEM. Cum istoc primum, qui te novit, disputa.
LABR. Tecum ago.

I address you. DAEM. First dispute with that fellow there, who knows you.
LABR. I deal with you.

TRACH. At qui mecum agendumst. suntne illae ancillae tuae?
LABR. Sunt.

TRACH. But the business must be done with me. Are those your maidservants?
LABR. They are.

TRACH. Agedum ergo, tange utramvis digitulo minimo modo. 720
L. Quid si attigero? T. Extemplo hercle ego te follem pugilatorium
faciam et pendentem incursabo pugnis, periurissime.
LABR. Mihi non liceat meas ancillas Veneris de ara abducere?

TRACH. Come on then, touch either one with only your tiniest fingertip. 720
L. What if I do touch? T. Forthwith, by Hercules, I will make you a pugilatorial bag and, hanging you up, I will charge at you with my fists, you most perjured man.
LABR. Am I not allowed to lead my maidservants away from the altar of Venus?

DAEM. Non licet: est lex apud nos— LABR. Mihi cum vestris legibus
<nil quicquamst> commerci. equidem istas iam ambas educam foras. 725
tu, senex, si istas amas, huc arido argentost opus;
si autem Veneri complacuerunt, habeat, si argentum dabit.
DAEM. Det tibi argentum?

DAEM. It is not permitted: there is a law among us— LABR. For me, with your
laws there is <nothing whatsoever> of commerce. Indeed I’ll now lead both of those out of doors. 725
you, old man, if you love those girls, here there is need of dry silver;
but if they have pleased Venus, let her have them, if she will give the silver.
DAEM. She give you silver?

nunc adeo meam ut scias sententiam,
occipito modo illis adferre vim ioculo pausillulum,
ita ego te hinc ornatum amittam, tu ipsus te ut non noveris. 730
vos adeo, ubi ego innuero vobis, ni ei caput exoculassitis,
quasi murteta iunci, item ego vos virgis circumvinciam.
LA. Vi agis mecum. TR. Etiam vim ~proportas, flagiti flagrantia?

Now then, so that you may know my opinion,
just begin to apply to them a wee bit of force in jest,
so will I send you away from here so ornamented that you yourself will not know yourself. 730
And you lot, indeed, when I nod to you, unless you have gouged out his eyes,
just as myrtle-beds by rushes, so likewise will I encircle you with rods.
LA. You use force with me. TR. Do you even proffer force, you conflagration of scandal?

LABR. Tun, trifurcifer, mihi audes inclementer dicere?
TRACH. Fateor, ego trifurcifer sum, tu es homo adprime probus: 735
numqui minus hasce esse oportet liberas? LABR. Quid, liberas?

LABR. Do you, gallows-bird, dare to speak to me harshly?
TRACH. I confess, I am a gallows-bird; you are a man of consummate probity: 735
ought these here to be any the less free? LABR. What, freewomen?

TRACH. Atque eras tuas quidem hercle, atque ex germana Graecia;
nam altera haec est nata Athenis ingenuis parentibus.
DAEM. Quid ego ex te audio? TRACH. Hanc Athenis esse natam liberam.

TRACH. And your mistresses indeed, by Hercules, and from genuine Greece;
for this other one was born at Athens of freeborn parents.
DAEM. What do I hear from you? TRACH. That she was born free at Athens.

DA. Mea popularis, obsecro, haec est? TR. Non tu Cyrenensis es? 740
DAEM. Immo Athenis natus altusque educatusque Atticis.
TRACH. Opsecro, defende cives tuas, senex.

DA. Is this my compatriot, I beg? TR. Are you not a Cyrenian? 740
DAEM. No—born at Athens, and raised and educated among the Attics. TRACH. I beg, defend your countrywomen, old man.

DAEM. O filia
mea, quom hanc video, mearum me absens miseriarum commones;
trima quae periit mihi, iam tanta esset, si vivit, scio.
LABR. Argentum ego pro istisce ambabus cuiae erant domino dedi; 745
quid mea refert, haec Athenis natae an Thebis sient,
dum mihi recte servitutem serviant? TRACH. Itane, impudens?

DAEM. O daughter
mine, when I see this one, you, though absent, remind me of my miseries;
who, three years old, was lost to me; if she lives, I know she would now be so big.
LABR. I gave the silver to the master to whom these two belonged; 745
what’s it to me whether these were born at Athens or at Thebes,
so long as they rightly serve in slavery for me? TRACH. Is it so, impudent one?

tune hic, feles virginalis, liberos parentibus
sublectos habebis atque indigno quaestu conteres?
nam huic alterae quae patria sit profecto nescio, 750
nisi scio probiorem hanc esse, quam te, impuratissime.
LA. ~Tuae istae sunt.

are you here, maiden-stalking cat, will you have children stolen from their parents and grind them down for unworthy gain? for as to this other one, what fatherland she has I truly do not know, 750
unless I know that this one is more upright than you, most impure.
LA. ~Those are yours.

TR. Contende ergo, uter sit tergo—verior:
ni offerumentas habebis pluris in tergo tuo,
quam ulla navis longa clavos, tum ego ero mendacissimus:
postea aspicito meum, quando ego tuom inspectavero: 755
ni erit tam sincerum, ut quivis dicat ampullarius
optimum esse operi faciundo corium et sincerissimum,
quid causae est quin virgis te usque ad saturitatem sauciem?
quid illas spectas? quas si attigeris, oculos eripiam tibi.

TR. Then contend, which is truer—as to the back:
if you do not have more welts on your back
than any long ship has nails, then I shall be most mendacious:
afterward, look at mine, when I shall have inspected yours: 755
unless it will be so sincere that any ampullarius
would say the hide is the best and most most-sincere for fashioning the work,
what reason is there why I should not wound you with rods up to satiety?
why are you looking at those? if you touch them, I will tear out your eyes.

LABR. At qui, quia votas, utramque iam mecum abducam simul. 760
DAEM. Quid facies? LABR. Volcanum adducam, is Venerist adversarius.
TRACH. Quo illic it? LABR. Heus, ecquis hic est?

LABR. But indeed, since you make vows, I will now carry both off with me at once. 760
DAEM. What will you do? LABR. I will bring Vulcan; he is Venus’s adversary.
TRACH. Where is that fellow going? LABR. Hey, is anyone here?

heus. DAEM. Si
attigeris ostium,
iam hercle tibi messis in ore fiet mergis pugneis.
LORARIVS Nullum habemus ignem, ficis victitamus aridis.

hey. DAEM. If
you touch the door,
now, by Hercules, there will be a harvest in your mouth by pugilistic fists.
LORARIVS We have no fire; we live on dried figs.

DAEM. Ego dabo ignem, siquidem in capite tuo conflandi copiast. 765
LABR. Ibo hercle aliquo quaeritatum ignem. DAEM. Quid quom inveneris?
LA. Ignem magnum hic faciam.

DAEM. I will give fire, since indeed on your head there is the means for kindling. 765
LABR. By Hercules, I will go somewhere to seek fire. DAEM. What then, when you have found it?
LA. I will make a great fire here.

DA. Quin ~ inhumanum exuras tibi?
LABR. Immo hasce ambas hic in ara ut vivas comburam, id volo.
DAEM. Iam hercle ego te barba continuo arripiam, in ignem coniciam
teque ambustulatum obiciam magnis avibus pabulum. 770
quom coniecturam egomet mecum facio, haec illast simia,
quae has hirundines ex nido volt eripere ingratiis,
quod ego in somnis somniavi.

DA. Why not ~ burn out your inhumanity?
LABR. No indeed: I want to burn these two here alive on the altar.
DAEM. Right now, by Hercules, I’ll grab you straight by the beard, I’ll throw you into the fire,
and, half-burned, I’ll cast you as fodder to the great birds. 770
When I make a conjecture with myself, this is that ape
who wants to snatch these swallows from the nest without leave,
as I dreamed in my sleep.

TRACH. Scin quid tecum oro, senex?
ut illas serves, vim defendas, dum ego erum adduco meum.
D. Quaere erum atque adduce.

TRACH. Do you know what I beg of you, old man?
that you preserve those girls, defend against violence, while I bring my master here.
D. Seek the master and bring him.

T. At hic ne— D. Maximo malo suo, 775
si attigerit sive occeptassit. TRACH. Cura. DAEM. Curatumst, abi.

T. But let this one not— D. To his very great harm, 775
if he touches or even sets about it. TRACH. See to it. DAEM. It’s taken care of; be off.

TRACH. Hunc quoque adserva ipsum, ne quo abitat; nam promisimus
carnufici aut talentum magnum aut hunc hodie sistere.
DAEM. Abi modo, ego dum hoc curabo recte. TRACH. Iam ego revenero.

TRACH. Guard this man himself as well, so that he doesn’t slip off anywhere; for we have promised
the executioner either a great talent or to present this man today.
DAEM. Just go; meanwhile I will take care of this properly. TRACH. Now I’ll be back right away.

III.v
DAEM. Vtrum tu, leno, cum malo lubentius 780
quiescis an sic sine malo, si copiast?
LABR. Ego quae tu loquere flocci non facio, senex.
meas quidem te invito et Venere et summo Iove
de ara capillo iam deripiam.

3.5
DAEM. Whether you, pander, more willingly keep quiet with the cudgel 780
or thus without harm, if there is opportunity?
LABR. I make what you say worth a floccus, old man.
my girls indeed, against your will, and by Venus and by highest Jove,
I will right now drag down from the altar by the hair.

DAEM. Tange dum.
LABR. Tangam hercle vero. DAEM. Agedum ergo, accede huc modo. 785
LABR. Iube dum recedere istos ambo illuc modo.

DAEM. Touch, then.
LABR. By Hercules, I surely will. DAEM. Come on then, just come over here now. 785
LABR. Just order those two to step back over there.

DAEM. Immo ad te accedent. LABR. Non hercle equidem censeo.
DAEM. Quid ages, si accedent propius?

DAEM. Nay rather, they will come toward you. LABR. By Hercules, I for my part do not think so.
DAEM. What will you do, if they come nearer?

LABR. Ego recessero.
verum, senex, si te umquam in urbe offendero,
numquam hercle quisquam me lenonem dixerit, 790
si te non ludos pessimos dimisero.
DAEM. Facito istuc quod minitare; sed nunc interim,
si illas attigeris, dabitur tibi magnum malum.

LABR. I will withdraw.
but, old man, if I ever meet you in the city,
by Hercules, never shall anyone call me a pander, 790
if I do not put you through the worst games.
DAEM. Do that which you threaten; but now meanwhile,
if you touch them, great harm will be given to you.

LABR. Quam magnum vero? DAEM. Quantum lenoni sat est.
LABR. Minacias ego flocci non faciam tuas, 795
equidem has te invito iam ambas rapiam.

LABR. How great, indeed? DAEM. As much as is enough for a pimp.
LABR. Your menaces I will not value a straw, 795
indeed, I will now seize both of these, against your will.

DAEM. Tange dum.
LABR. Tangam hercle vero. DAEM. Tanges, at scin quo modo?

DAEM. Go on, touch.
LABR. By Hercules, I surely will touch. DAEM. You will touch, but do you know how?

i dum, Turbalio, curriculo, adfert<o domo>
duas clavas. LABR. Clavas? DAEM. Sed probas.

go on, Turbalio, at a run, bring<from home>
two clubs. LABR. Clubs? DAEM. But good ones.

propera cito.
ego te hodie faxo recte acceptum, ut dignus es. 800
LABR. Eheu, scelestus galeam in navi perdidi;
nunc mi opportuna hic esset, salva si foret.
licet saltem istas mi appellare?

make haste quickly.
I will make you today rightly accepted, as you are worthy. 800
LABR. Alas, wretch that I am, I lost the helmet on the ship;
now it would be opportune for me here, if it were safe.
is it permitted at least for me to appeal to those?

DAEM. Non licet.
ehem, optime edepol eccum clavator advenit. 804-805
LABR. Illud quidem edepol tinnimentum est auribus. 806
DAEM. Age accipe illinc alteram clavam, Sparax.
age, alter istinc, alter hinc adsistite.

DAEM. It is not permitted.
ahem, excellent—by Pollux, behold, the club-bearer arrives. 804-805
LABR. That indeed, by Pollux, is a ringing to the ears. 806
DAEM. Come, take from there the other club, Sparax.
come, one of you over there, the other here, stand by.

adsistite ambo. sic. audite nunciam:
si hercle illic illas hodie digito tetigerit 810
invitas, ni istunc istis invitassitis
usque adeo donec qua domum abeat nesciat,
periistis ambo.

stand by, both of you. so. listen now:
if, by Hercules, that fellow today touches those with a finger 810
unwilling, unless you shall have invited that one with those
all the way until he does not know by what way he is to go home,
you both are dead.

si appellabit quempiam,
vos respondetote istinc istarum vicem;
sin ipse abire hinc volet, quantum potest 815
extemplo amplectitote crura fustibus.
LABR. Etiam me abire hinc non sinent? DAEM. Dixi satis.

if he addresses anyone,
you respond from that side in the stead of those women;
but if he himself wishes to go away from here, as fast as he can 815
immediately embrace his shins with clubs.
LABR. Will they not even let me go away from here? DAEM. I have said enough.

et ubi ille servos cum ero huc advenerit,
qui erum accersivit, itote extemplo domum.
curate haec sultis magna diligentia.— 820
LABR. Heu hercle, ne istic fana mutantur cito:
iam hoc Herculi est, Veneris fanum quod fuit,
ita duo destituit signa hic cum clavis senex.
non hercle quo hinc nunc gentium aufugiam scio,
ita nunc mi utrumque saevit, et terra et mare. 825
Palaestra.

and when that slave who has summoned the master shall have come here with the master,
go you immediately home. see to these things, if you please, with great diligence.— 820
LABR. Ah, by Hercules, how quickly the shrines there are changed:
now this is Hercules’s, which was the shrine of Venus,
thus the old man has set up two statues here with clubs.
by Hercules, I truly do not know whither in the world I might flee from here now,
so now both rage against me, both land and sea. 825
Palaestra.

LOR. Quid vis? LABR. Apage, controversia est,
haec quidem Palaestra, quae respondit, non mea est.
heus, Ampelisca.

LOR. What do you want? LABR. Away! there’s a controversy:
this indeed is Palaestra, the one who responded, not mine.
hey, Ampelisca.

LOR. ALTER Cave sis infortunio.
LABR. Vltro te. signa ut homines satis recte monent.

LOR. ALTER Beware, please, of misfortune.
LABR. Same to you. How the statues admonish men quite rightly.

sed vobis dico, heus vos, num molestiaest, 830
me adire ad illas propius? LOR. Nil nobis quidem.
LABR. Numquid molestum mihi erit?

but to you I say, hey you, is it any annoyance, 830
for me to approach those women more closely? LOR. Nothing to us indeed.
LABR. Will anything be troublesome to me?

LOR. Nil, si caveris.
LABR. Quid est quod caveam? LOR. Em, a crasso infortunio.

LOR. Nothing, if you beware.
LABR. What is it that I should beware of? LOR. Look—of gross ill-fortune.

LABR. Quaeso hercle, abire ut liceat. LOR. Abeas, si velis.
LABR. Bene hercle factum.

LABR. By Hercules, I beg, that I be allowed to go. LOR. You may go, if you wish.
LABR. Well done, by Hercules.

habeo vobis gratiam. 835
[non] accedam potius. LOR. Illic astato ilico.
LABR. Edepol proveni nequiter multis modis.

I have gratitude to you. 835
[not] shall I rather approach. LOR. Stand there on the spot at once.
LABR. By Pollux, I have turned out ill in many ways.

certumst hasce hodie usque obsidione vincere.

It’s settled: we will conquer these here by siege all day today.

III.vi
PLESIDIPPVS Meamne ille amicam leno vi, violentia
de ara deripere Veneris voluit? TRACHALIO Admodum. 840
PLES. Quin occidisti extemplo? TRACH. Gladius non erat.

3.6
PLESIDIPPVS Did that pimp wish to tear my girlfriend down from the altar of Venus by force, by violence? TRACHALIO Very much so. 840
PLES. Why did you not kill him on the spot? TRACH. There was no sword.

PL. Caperes aut fustem aut lapidem. TR. Quid? ego quasi canem
hominem insectarer lapidibus nequissimum?

PL. You should have seized either a club or a stone. TR. What? Was I to, as if
a dog,
pursue a most worthless man with stones?

LABR. Nunc pol ego perii, Plesidippus eccum adest.
converret iam hic me totum cum pulvisculo. 845
PLES. Etiamne in ara tunc sedebant mulieres,
quom ad me profectu's ire? TRACH. Ibidem nunc sedent.

LABR. Now, by Pollux, I am ruined; look, Plesidippus is here.
right now this fellow would sweep me up whole, with the little dust. 845
PLES. Were the women even then sitting on the altar,
when you set out to go to me? TRACH. In the same place they are sitting now.

PLES. Quis illas nunc illic servat? TRACH. Nescio quis senex,
vicinus Veneris; is dedit operam optumam.
is nunc cum servis servat.

PLES. Who is keeping watch over them there now? TRACH. Some old man, I don’t know who,
a neighbor of Venus; he has given the very best attention.
he now with the slaves keeps watch.

ego mandaveram. 850
PLES. Duc me ad lenonem recta. ubi illic est homo?
LABR. Salve.

I had mandated it. 850
PLES. Lead me straight to the pimp. Where is that man there?
LABR. Greetings.

PLES. Salutem nil moror. opta ocius:
rapi te obtorto collo mavis an trahi?
utrum vis opta, dum licet.

PLES. I care nothing for salutation. Choose quickly:
would you rather be seized with your neck twisted, or be dragged?
choose which you want, while it is permitted.

LABR. Neutrum volo.
PLES. Abi sane ad litus curriculo, Trachalio, 855
iube illos in urbem ire obviam ad portum mihi,
quos mecum duxi, hunc qui ad carnificem traderent.
post huc redito atque agitato hic custodiam.

LABR. I want neither.
PLES. Go then to the shore at a run, Trachalio, 855
order those to go into the city to meet me at the port,
whom I brought with me, to hand this fellow over to the executioner.
afterward come back here and keep watch here.

ego hunc scelestum in ius rapiam exulem.
age, ambula in ius. LABR. Quid ego deliqui?

I will drag this wicked exile into court.
Come on, walk to court. LABR. What wrong have I done?

PLES. Rogas, 860
quin arrabonem a me accepisti ob mulierem
et eam hinc abduxti? LABR. Non avexi. PLES. Cur negas?

PLES. You ask, 860
why, did you not accept earnest-money from me for the woman
and abduct her from here? LABR. I did not carry her off. PLES. Why do you deny it?

LABR. Quia pol provexi: avehere non quivi miser.
equidem tibi me dixeram praesto fore
apud Veneris fanum: <num>quid muto? sumne ibi? 865
PLES. In iure causam dicito, hic verbum sat est:
sequere.

LABR. Because, by Pollux, I conveyed her forward: to carry her away I, poor wretch, could not.
indeed I had told you I would be at hand for you at Venus’s fane: <num>have I changed anything? am I there? 865
PLES. Plead your case in court; here one word is enough:
follow.

LABR. Obsecro te, subveni mi, Charmides.
rapior optorto collo. CHARMIDES Quis me nominat?

LABR. I beseech you, come to my aid, Charmides.
I am being dragged, my neck twisted. CHARMIDES Who names me?

LABR. Viden me ut rapior? CHARM. Video, atque inspecto lubens.
LABR. Non subvenire mi audes?

LABR. Do you see how I am being dragged off? CHARM. I see, and I inspect gladly.
LABR. Do you not dare to help me?

CHARM. Quis homo te rapit? 870
LABR. Adulescens Plesidippus. CHARM. Vt nanctu's, habe.
bono animo meliust te in nervom conrepere.

CHARM. Who is the man who is seizing you? 870
LABR. The young man Plesidippus. CHARM. As you’re caught, take it;
it’s better, with good courage, for you to creep into the stocks.

tibi optigit quod plurimi exoptant sibi.
LABR. Quid id est? CHARM. Vt id quod quaerant inveniant sibi.

it has befallen you what very many exopt for themselves.
LABR. What is that? CHARM. That they may find for themselves that which they seek.

LABR. Sequere, obsecro, me. CHARM. Pariter suades qualis es: 875
tu in nervom rapere, eo me obsecras ut te sequar.
etiam retentas? LABR. Perii.

LABR. Follow me, I beseech. CHARM. You urge in like manner as you are: 875
you to drag into the stocks, and for that very reason you implore me to follow you.
even now detained? LABR. I am undone.

PLES. Verum sit velim.
tu, mea Palaestra et Ampelisca, ibidem ilico
manete, dum ego huc redeo. LOR. Equidem suadeo,
ut ad nos abeant potius, dum recipis.

PLES. I hope it is true.
you, my Palaestra and Ampelisca, right there on the spot
stay, while I come back here. LOR. For my part, I advise,
that they come over to us rather, while you get yourself together.

PLES. Placet, 880
bene facitis. LABR. Fures mi estis. LOR. Quid, fures?

PLES. It pleases, 880
you do well. LABR. You are thieves to me. LOR. What, thieves?

rape.
LABR. Oro obsecro, Palaestra. PLES. Sequere, carnufex.

seize.
LABR. I beg, I beseech, Palaestra. PLES. Follow, executioner.

LABR. Hospes— CHARM. Non sum hospes, repudio hospitium tuom.
LABR. Sicine me spernis? CHARM. Sic ago: semel bibo.

LABR. Guest— CHARM. I am not a guest; I repudiate hospitality
of yours.
LABR. Do you spurn me so? CHARM. So I do: I drink once.

LABR. Di te infelicent.— CHARM. Isti capiti dicito. 885
credo alium in aliam beluam hominem vortier:
illic in columbum, credo, leno vortitur,
nam in collumbari collus haud multo post erit;
in nervom ille hodie nidamenta congeret.
verum tamen ibo, ei advocatus ut siem, 890
si qui mea opera citius addici potest.—

LABR. May the gods ill-fortune you.— CHARM. Say that to that head there. 885
I believe a man is being turned from one beast into another:
that pimp, I believe, is being turned into a pigeon,
for before long his neck will be in the columbary;
today he will be piling up nesting-material in the stocks.
but still I’ll go, to be his advocate, 890
if by my effort he can be adjudged the sooner.—

ACTVS IV

ACT 4

IV.i
DAEMONES Bene factum et volup est, me hodie his mulierculis
tetulisse auxilium. iam clientas repperi,
atque ambas forma scitula atque aetatula.
sed uxor scelesta me omnibus servat modis, 895
ne quid significem quippiam mulierculis.

4.i
DAEMONES It is a good deed and a delight, that I today have brought assistance to these womenfolk.
Now I have found clients,
and both of them pretty in form and of a tender age.
But my wicked wife keeps watch on me in all ways, 895
so that I may not signify anything whatsoever to the womenfolk.

sed Gripus servos noster quid rerum gerat
miror, de nocte qui abiit piscatum ad mare.
pol magis sapisset, si dormivisset domi,
nam nunc et operam ludos facit et retia, 900
ut tempestas est nunc atque ut noctu fuit.
in digitis hodie percoquam quod ceperit,
ita fluctuare video vehementer mare.

but I wonder what our slave Gripus is doing,
who went off by night to the sea to fish.
by Pollux, he would have been wiser if he had slept at home,
for now he makes a sport both of his effort and of his nets, 900
as the weather is now and as it was at night.
today I could cook on my fingertips what he has caught,
so violently I see the sea fluctuating.

sed ad prandium uxor me vocat. redeo domum.
iam meas opplebit aures ~ sua vaniloquentia.— 905

but my wife calls me to lunch. I return home.
now she will fill up my ears ~ with her vain-loquacity.— 905

IV.ii
GRIPVS Neptuno has ago gratias meo patrono,
qui salsis locis incolit pisculentis,
quom me ex suis locis pulchre ornatum expedivit
~templis reducem, plurima praeda onustum,
salute horiae, quae in mari fluctuoso                       910
piscatu novo me uberi compotivit;
miroque modo atque incredibili hic piscatus mihi lepide evenit,
neque piscium ullam unciam hodie pondo cepi, nisi hoc quod fero hic in rete.
nam ut de nocte multa impigreque exurrexi,                       914-915
lucrum praeposivi sopori et quieti:                          916
tempestate saeva experiri expetivi,
paupertatem eri qui et meam servitutem
tolerarem, opera haud fui parcus mea.
nimis homo nihilist quis piger est nimisque id genus odi ego male.   920
vigilare decet hominem qui volt sua temperi conficere officia.

IV.ii
GRIPUS I render these thanks to Neptune, my patron,
who inhabits salty, pisculent places,
since he has sent me forth from his own haunts, finely outfitted,
~as a returnee to the temples, laden with very great prey,
by the salvation of the skiff, which on the billowy sea                       910
with a new fishing has made me rich in abundance;
and in a wondrous and incredible manner this fishing has turned out neatly for me,
nor have I caught today any ounce by weight of fishes, except this which I carry here in the net.
for when in the deep night I sprang up energetically,                       914-915
I preferred profit to sleep and repose:                          916
I desired to try out the savage tempest,
that I might endure my master’s poverty and my own servitude;
I was by no means sparing of my work.
a man is an utter nullity who is slothful, and that kind I exceedingly hate, and ill.   920
it befits a man to keep vigil who wishes to complete his duties in timely fashion.

non enim illum expectare oportet, dum erus se ad suom suscitet officium.
nam qui dormiunt libenter, sine lucro et cum malo quiescunt.
nam ego nunc mihi, qui impiger fui,
repperi ut piger, si velim, siem:                                     925
hoc ego in mari [quidquid inest] repperi.                      925a
quidquid inest, grave quidem inest; aurum hic ego inesse reor;
nec mihi consciust ullus homo.                                     926a
nunc haec tibi occasio, Gripe optigit, ut liber s<it
nemo> ex populo praeter te.                                         927a
nunc sic faciam, sic consilium est: ad erum veniam docte atque astute.

for it is not proper to wait for him, until the master rouses himself to his own duty.
for they who sleep willingly, rest without profit and with harm.
for I now, who have been industrious, for myself,
have found how I, if I wish, may be slothful:                                     925
this I in the sea [whatever is inside] have found.                      925a
whatever is inside, indeed something heavy is inside; I think gold is inside here;
nor is any man conscious to me.                                     926a
now this opportunity has befallen you, Gripus, that you be free s no one> from the populace except you.                                         927a
now thus I shall do, thus the counsel is: I will come to the master cleverly and astutely.

pauxillatim pollicitabor pro capite argentum, ut sim liber.
iam ubi liber ero, igitur demum instruam agrum atque aedis, mancipia, 930
navibus magnis mercaturam faciam, apud reges rex perhibebor.
post animi causa mihi navem faciam atque imitabor Stratonicum,
oppida circumvectabor.

little by little I will promise silver for my head, so that I may be free.
now, when I am free, then at last I will equip an estate and buildings, slaves, 930
with great ships I will conduct commerce, among kings I shall be proclaimed a king.
afterward for pleasure I will make myself a ship and I will imitate Stratonicus,
I will be carried around the towns.

ubi nobilitas mea erit clara, 933a
oppidum magnum communibo, ei ego urbi Gripo indam nomen,
monimentum meae famae et factis, ibi qui regnum magnum instituam.
magnas res hic agito in mentem instruere. nunc hunc vidulum condam.

when my nobility will be illustrious, 933a
I will fortify a great town; to that city I will bestow the name Gripo,
a monument of my fame and deeds; there I will establish a great kingdom.
I am here revolving great matters in mind to instruct. now I will stow this valise away.

sed hic rex cum aceto pransurust et sale, sine bono pulmento.

but this king is going to dine on vinegar and salt, without a good relish.

IV.iii
TRACHALIO Heus, mane. GRIP. Quid maneam? TRACH. Dum hanc tibi, quam
trahis, rudentem complico.

IV.iii
TRACHALIO Hey, wait. GRIP. Why should I wait? TRACH. While I coil for you this rope, which
you are dragging.

GRIP. Mitte modo. TRACH. At pol ego te adiuvo nam bonis quod bene fit
haud perit.
GRIP. Turbida tempestas heri fuit, 940
nil habeo, adulescens, piscium, ne tu mihi esse postules;
non vides referre me uvidum rete, sine squamoso pecu?

GRIP. Just leave it. TRACH. But, by Pollux, I’m aiding you; for what is done well for the good
does not perish.
GRIP. A turbulent tempest was yesterday, 940
I’ve nothing, young man, of fish; do not demand that I have any;
do you not see me bringing back a sodden net, without a scaly herd?

TRACH. Non edepol piscis expeto quam tui sermonis sum indigens.
GRIP. Enicas iam me odio, quisquis es. TRACH. Non sinam ego abire hinc te.
mane.
GR. Cave sis malo.

TRACH. By Pollux, I do not seek fish so much as I am in need of your discourse.
GRIP. You are already wearing me out with annoyance, whoever you are. TRACH. I will not allow you to go away from here.
wait.
GR. Beware, please, of harm.

quid tu, malum, nam me retrahis? TR. Audi. 945
G. Non audio. T. At pol qui audies post.

what the mischief, why do you drag me back? TR. Listen. 945
G. I am not listening. T. But, by Pollux, you will listen later.

G. Quin loquere quid vis.
TR. Eho mane dum, est operae pretium quod tibi ego narrare volo.
GR. Eloquere quid id est?

G. Why not speak what you want.
TR. Hey, wait a moment; what I want to narrate to you is worth the trouble.
GR. Speak out—what is it?

TR. Vide num quispiam consequitur prope nos.
GRIP. Ecquid est quod mea referat? TRACH. Scilicet.

TR. See whether anyone is following near us.
GRIP. Is there anything that concerns me? TRACH. Of course.

sed boni consili ecquid in te mihi est? 950
GRIP. Quid negoti est, modo dice. TRACH. Dicam, tace,
si fidem modo das mihi te non fore infidum.
GRIP. Do fidem tibi, fidus ero, quisquis es. TRACH. Audi.

but have you any good counsel for me? 950
GRIP. What business is it? just say. TRACH. I will tell; be silent,
if only you give me your pledge that you will not be unfaithful.
GRIP. I give you my pledge; I will be faithful, whoever you are. TRACH. Listen.

furtum ego vidi qui faciebat;
noram dominum, id cui fiebat, 955
post ad furem egomet devenio
feroque ei condicionem hoc pacto:
'ego istuc furtum scio cui factum est;
nunc mihi si vis dare dimidium,
indicium domino non faciam.'
is mihi nihil etiam respondit. 960
quid inde aequom est dari mihi? dimidium
volo ut dicas. GRIP. Immo hercle etiam amplius,
nam nisi dat, domino dicundum
censeo.

I saw who was committing the theft;
I knew the owner, the one for whom it was being done, 955
afterwards I myself come to the thief
and bring to him a condition on these terms:
'I know for whom that theft was done;
now, if you wish to give me half,
I will not give information to the owner.'
he still answered me nothing. 960
what from that is fair to be given to me? “half”
I want you to say. GRIP. Nay, by Hercules, even more,
for unless he gives, it must be told
to the master, I judge.

TRACH. Tuo consilio faciam.
nunc advorte animum; namque hoc omne
attinet ad te. GRIP. Quid factumst? 962a
TR. Vidulum istum cuiust novi ego hominem iam pridem. GR. Quid est?

TRACH. I will act on your counsel.
now turn your mind; for indeed this all
pertains to you. GRIP. What’s happened? 962a
TR. As for that valise, I have long known the man whose it is. GR. What is it?

TRACH. Et quo pacto periit. GRIP. At ego quo pacto inventust scio
et qui invenit hominem novi et dominus qui nunc est scio. 965
nihilo pol pluris tua hoc quam quanti illud refert mea:
ego illum novi cuius nunc est, tu illum cuius antehac fuit.
hunc homo feret a me nemo, ne tu te speres potis.

TRACH. And in what manner it was lost. GRIP. But I know in what manner it has been found
and I know the man who found it, and I know who the owner now is. 965
By Pollux, this concerns your matter no more than that concerns mine:
I know him whose it now is; you, him whose it was before.
No man will carry this away from me; do not hope yourself able.

TRACH. Non ferat si dominus veniat? GRIP. Dominus huic, ne frustra sis,
nisi ego nemo natust, hunc qui cepi in venatu meo. 970
TRACH. Itane vero? GRIP. Ecquem esse dices in mari piscem meum?

TRACH. Will he not carry it off if the master comes? GRIP. As for a master for this—so you may not be in vain—unless it is I, no one was ever born, I who seized this in my hunting. 970
TRACH. Really so? GRIP. Will you say that any fish in the sea is mine?

quos cum capio, siquidem cepi, mei sunt; habeo pro meis,
nec manu adseruntur neque illinc partem quisquam postulat.
in foro palam omnes vendo pro meis venalibus.
mare quidem commune certost omnibus.

those which, when I catch them—if indeed I have caught them—are mine; I hold them as my own,
nor are they claimed by hand-claim, nor does anyone from there demand a share.
in the forum openly I sell them all as my vendible goods.
the sea indeed is surely common to all.

TRACH. Adsentio: 975
qui minus hunc communem quaeso mi esse oportet vidulum?
in mari inventust communi. GRIP. Esne impudenter impudens?

TRACH. I assent: 975
why should this little travel-bag, I pray, be any the less common property for me? in the common sea it was found. GRIP. Are you impudently impudent?

nam si istuc ius sit quod memoras, piscatores perierint.
quippe quom extemplo in macellum pisces prolati sient,
nemo emat, suam quisque partem piscium poscant sibi, 980
dicant, in mari communi captos. TRACH. Quid ais, impudens?

for if that law be which you mention, the fishermen would be ruined.
for indeed, as soon as the fishes were brought out into the market,
no one would buy; each would demand his own share of the fishes for himself, 980
saying that they were caught in the common sea. TRACH. What are you saying, impudent man?

ausu's etiam comparare vidulum cum piscibus?
eadem tandem res videtur? GRIP. In manu non est mea:
ubi demisi rete atque hamum, quidquid haesit extraho.

Have you even dared to compare the valise with fishes?
does it then seem the same thing? GRIP. It is not in my hand:
when I have let down the net and the hook, whatever has stuck I extract.

meum quod rete atque hami nancti sunt, meum potissimumst. 985
TR. Immo hercle haud est, siquidem quod vas excepisti. GR. Philosophe.
TRACH. Sed tu enumquam piscatorem vidisti, venefice,
vidulum piscem cepisse aut protulisse ullum in forum?

what my net and hooks have gotten is mine, mine most of all. 985
TR. Nay, by Hercules, it is not, since what you took up you took up with a vessel. GR. Philosopher.
TRACH. But have you ever seen a fisherman, poisoner,
catch a wallet as a fish or bring out any such into the market?

non enim tu hic quidem occupabis omnis quaestus quos voles:
et vitorem et piscatorem te esse, impure, postulas. 990
vel te mihi monstrare oportet piscis qui sit vidulus,
vel quod in mari non natum est neque habet squamas ne feras.
GR. Quid, tu numquam audisti esse antehac vidulum piscem? TR. Scelus,
nullus est.

for you will not here, at any rate, preempt all the profits you please:
you claim to be both a victor and a fisherman, foul fellow. 990
either you must show me the fish that is a suitcase,
or do not bring what was not born in the sea and does not have scales. GR. What, have you never heard that before now there is a suitcase-fish? TR. Villain,
there is none.

GRIP. Immo est profecto; ego, qui sum piscator, scio;
verum raro capitur, nullus minus saepe ad terram venit. 995
TRACH. Nil agis, dare verba speras mihi te posse, furcifer.
GR. Quo colore est, hoc colore capiuntur pauxilluli;
sunt alii puniceo corio, magni item; atque atri. TRACH. Scio.

GRIP. Indeed there is, for certain; I, who am a fisherman, know it;
but it is rarely captured, none comes to land less often. 995
TRACH. It’s no use; you hope you can deceive me with verbiage, scoundrel.
GR. With whatever color it is, with this color very tiny ones are captured;
there are others with a purple-crimson hide, likewise large; and black ones. TRACH. I know.

tu hercle, opino, in vidulum te bis convertes, nisi caves:
fiet tibi puniceum corium, postea atrum denuo. 1000
GRIP. Quod scelus hodie hoc inveni. TRACH. Verba facimus, it dies.
vide sis, cuius arbitratu nos vis facere.

you, by Hercules, I think, will turn yourself into a satchel twice over, unless you beware:
your hide will become Tyrian-purple, and afterwards black again. 1000
GRIP. What villainy I have found today! TRACH. We are making words; the day goes.
look, please, by whose arbitration you want us to act.

GRIP. Viduli
arbitratu. *** ita enim vero. TRACH. Stultus es. GRIP. Salve, Thales.

GRIP. By the valise’s
arbitration. *** yes indeed. TRACH. You are a fool. GRIP. Hail, Thales.

TRACH. Tu istunc hodie non feres, nisi das sequestrum aut arbitrum,
quoius haec res arbitratu fiat. GRIP. Quaeso, sanus es? 1005
TRACH. Elleborosus sum. GRIP. At ego cerritus, hunc non amittam tamen.

TRACH. You will not carry that one off today, unless you provide a sequestrator or an arbitrator,
by whose arbitration this matter may be settled. GRIP. I beg, are you sane? 1005
TRACH. I am helleborated. GRIP. But I am crazed; this one I will not
let go, however.

TRACH. Verbum etiam adde unum, iam in cerebro colaphos apstrudam tuo;
iam ego te hic, itidem quasi peniculus novos exurgeri solet,
ni hunc amittis, exurgebo quidquid umoris tibist.
GRIP. Tange: adfligam ad terram te itidem ut piscem soleo polypum. 1010
vis pugnare? TRACH. Quid opust?

TRACH. Add even one more word, and I’ll drive blows into your brain;
right now I’ll wring you out here, just as a brand-new sponge is wont to be wrung,
if you don’t let this one go, I’ll wring out whatever humor you have.
GRIP. Touch (him): I’ll dash you to the ground just as I usually do the fish, the polypus (octopus). 1010
do you want to fight? TRACH. What’s the need?

quin tu potius praedam divide.
GRIP. Hinc tu nisi malum frunisci nil potes, ne postules.
abeo ego hinc.

why don’t you rather divide the prey.
GRIP. From here you can enjoy nothing except a beating; don’t demand it.
I’m going away from here.

TR. At ego hinc offlectam navem, ne quo abeas. mane.
GRIP. Si tu proreta isti navi es, ego gubernator ero.

TR. But I’ll sheer the ship off here, so you don’t go anywhere. Wait.
GRIP. If you’re the bow-pilot for that ship, I’ll be the helmsman.

mitte rudentem, sceleste. TRACH. Mittam: omitte vidulum. 1015
GRIP. Numquam hercle hinc hodie ramenta fies fortunatior.
TRACH. Non probare pernegando mihi potes, nisi pars datur
aut ad arbitrum reditur aut sequestro ponitur.

send the rope, scoundrel. TRACH. I will send it: drop the little travel-bag. 1015
GRIP. By Hercules, today you will never come off from here any better than filings.
TRACH. You cannot make it acceptable to me by denial, unless a share is given, or it is referred to an arbiter, or it is placed with a sequestrator.

GRIP. Quemne ego excepi in mari— TRACH. At ego inspectavi e litore.
GRIP. Mea opera, labore et rete et horia? TRACH. Numqui minus, 1020
si veniat nunc dominus cuiust, ego qui inspectavi procul
te hunc habere, fur sum quam tu? GRIP. Nihilo.

GRIP. Whom did I take up at sea— TRACH. But I inspected him from the shore.
GRIP. By my effort, labor, and net and skiff? TRACH. Any the less, 1020
if the master to whom he belongs should come now, I, who inspected from afar that you have him—am I more a thief than you? GRIP. Not at all.

TRACH. Mane, mastigia:
quo argumento socius non sum, et fur sum? fac dum ex te sciam.
GRIP. Nescio, neque ego istas vestras leges urbanas scio,
nisi quia hunc meum esse dico.

TRACH. Wait, you whip-fodder:
on what argument am I not a partner, and am a thief? pray, let me learn it from you.
GRIP. I don’t know, nor do I know those urban laws of yours,
except that I say this is mine.

TRACH. Et ego item esse aio meum. 1025
GRIP. Mane, iam repperi quo pacto nec fur nec socius sies.
TRACH. Quo pacto? GRIP. Sine me hinc abire, tu abi tacitus tuam viam;
nec tu me cuiquam indicassis neque ego tibi quicquam dabo;
tu taceto, ego mussitabo: hoc optimum atque aequissimum est.

TRACH. And I likewise say that it is mine. 1025
GRIP. Wait, now I’ve found by what method you may be neither thief nor partner.
TRACH. By what method? GRIP. Let me go away from here, you go your way in silence;
and do not you indicate me to anyone, nor will I give you anything;
you shall keep quiet, I will keep mum: this is the best and most equitable.

TRACH. Ecquid condicionis audes ferre? GRIP. Iam dudum fero: 1030
ut abeas, rudentem amittas, mihi molestus ne sies.
TR. Mane, dum refero condicionem.

TRACH. Do you dare to accept any condition? GRIP. I have long been bearing it: 1030
that you go away, let the rope go, and not be troublesome to me. TR. Wait, while I restate the condition.

GR. Te, opsecro hercle, aufer modo.
TRACH. Ecquem in his locis novisti? GRIP. Oportet vicinos meos.

GR. I beseech you, by Hercules, just take yourself away.
TRACH. Do you know anyone in these places? GRIP. One ought to know one's neighbors.

TR. Vbi tu hic habitas? GR. Porro illic longe usque in campis ultimis.
TRACH. Vin qui in hac villa habitat, eius arbitratu fieri? 1035
GRIP. Paulisper remitte restem, dum concedo et consulo.

TR. Where do you live here? GR. Off there, far away, all the way out in the farthest fields.
TRACH. Do you want it to be done at the discretion of the man who lives in this villa? 1035
GRIP. Loosen the rope a little, while I step aside and take counsel.

TRACH. Fiat. GRIP. Euge, salva res est, praeda haec perpetua est mea;
ad meum erum arbitrum vocat me hic intra praesepis meas:
numquam hercle hodie abiudicabit ab suo triobolum.
ne iste haud scit quam condicionem tetulerit.

TRACH. Let it be done. GRIP. Bravo, the affair is safe; this booty is mine in perpetuity;
to my master’s arbitration he summons me here within my own stalls:
by Hercules, today he will never adjudge a triobolus away from what is his own.
indeed, that fellow does not know what condition he has taken upon himself.

ibo ad arbitrum. 1040
TR. Quid igitur? GR. Quamquam istuc esse ius meum certo scio,
fiat istuc potius, quam nunc pugnem tecum. TRACH. Nunc places.

I will go to the arbiter. 1040
TR. What then? GR. Although I certainly know that that is my right,
let that rather be done than that I fight with you now. TRACH. Now you please me.

GRIP. Quamquam ad ignotum arbitrum me appellis, si adhibebit fidem,
etsist ignotus, notus: si non, notus ignotissimust.

GRIP. Although you appeal me to an unknown arbiter, if he will exhibit good faith,
even if he is unknown, he is known; if not, the known man is most unknown.

IV.iv
DAEMONES Serio edepol, quamquam vobis <volo> quae voltis, mulieres, 1045
metuo, propter vos ne uxor mea med extrudat aedibus,
quae me paelices adduxe dicet ante oculos suos.
vos confugite in aram potius quam ego. PVELLAE Miserae periimus.

4.4
DAEMONES Seriously, by Pollux, although I want for you, women, what you want, 1045
I fear, on account of you, lest my wife extrude me from the house,
who will say that I have brought concubines before her eyes.
you take refuge at the altar rather than I. PVELLAE Poor wretches, we are undone.

DAEM. Ego vos salvas sistam, ne timete. sed quid vos foras
prosequimini? quoniam ego adsum, faciet nemo iniuriam; 1050
ite, inquam, domum ambo nunciam ex praesidio praesides.

DAEM. I will set you safe, do not fear. But why are you proceeding out of doors?
since I am present, no one will do injury; 1050
go, I say, home, both of you, straightaway, with guardians from the guard.

GRIP. O ere, salve. DAEM. Salve, Gripe. quid fit?

GRIP. O master, hail. DAEM. Hail, Gripus. What is happening?

TRACH. Tuosne hic servos est?
GRIP. Haud pudet. TRACH. Nil ago tecum.

TRACH. Is this your slave here?
GRIP. I am not ashamed. TRACH. I have nothing to do with you.

GRIP. Ergo abi hinc sis.
TRACH. Quaeso responde, senex:
tuos hic servost? DA. Meus est.

GRIP. So go away from here, please.
TRACH. Please respond, old man:
is this your slave? DA. He is mine.

TR. Em istuc optime, quando tuost.
iterum te saluto. DAEM. Et ego te. tune es qui haud multo prius 1055
abiisti hinc erum accersitum?

TR. There, that’s excellent, since he’s yours.
I salute you again. DAEM. And I you. Are you the one who not much earlier 1055
went away from here to fetch the master?

TR. Ego is sum. DA. Quid nunc vis tibi?
TR. Nempe hic tuos est?

TR. I am he. DA. What do you want now?
TR. Surely this is yours?

DA. Meus est. TR. Istuc optime, quando tuost.
DA. Quid negotist?

DA. He is mine. TR. That’s excellent, since he is yours.
DA. What’s the business?

TR. Vir scelestus illic est. DA. Quid fecit tibi
vir scelestus? TRACH. Homini ego isti talos subfringi volo.

TR. That wicked man is there. DA. What has the wicked man done to you?
TRACH. I want that fellow’s ankle-bones to be broken.

DAEM. Quid est? qua de re litigatis nunc inter vos? TRACH. Eloquar. 1060
GR. Immo ego eloquar.

DAEM. What is it? About what matter do you litigate now among yourselves? TRACH. I will speak. 1060
GR. Nay, I will speak.

TR. Ego, opinor, rem facesso. GR. Si quidem
sis pudicus, hinc facessas. DAEM. Gripe, animum advorte ac tace.

TR. I, I suppose, will be off. GR. If indeed
you are modest, make off from here. DAEM. Gripe, advert your mind and be silent.

GR. Vtin istic prius dicat? DA. Audi. loquere tu. GR. Alienon prius
quam tuo dabis orationem?

GR. What, shall that fellow there speak first? DA. Listen. Speak, you. GR. Will you give the oration to another’s
before to your own?

TRACH. Vt nequitur comprimi.
ita ut occepi dicere, illum quem dudum <e fano foras> 1065
lenonem extrusisti, hic eius vidulum eccillum <tenet>.
GR. Non habeo. TR. Negas quod oculis video?

TRACH. Since it cannot be suppressed.
so, as I began to say, that pimp whom a short while ago you drove <out of the shrine> 1065
out, here he is—he <holds> his valise there.
GR. I do not have it. TR. Do you deny what I see with my eyes?

GR. At ne videas velim.
habeo, non habeo: quid tu me curas quid rerum geram?
TRACH. Quo modo habeas, id refert, iurene anne iniuria.

GR.
But I would prefer you not see.
I have, I do not have: why do you concern yourself with what affairs I conduct?
TRACH. The way you have it—that is what matters—whether by right or by injustice.

GRIP. Ni istum cepi, nulla causa est quin me condones cruci; 1070
si in mari reti prehendi, qui tuom potiust quam meum?
TR. Verba dat. hoc modo res gesta est ut ego dico.

GRIP. Unless I seized that fellow, there is no cause why you should not consign me to the cross; 1070
if I caught him in the sea with a net, how is he more yours than mine?
TR. He gives words. In this way the affair was done as I say.

GR. Quid tu ais?
TRACH. Quod primarius vir dicat: comprime hunc sis, si tuost.
GRIP. Quid?

GR. What do you say?
TRACH. What a man of the first rank would say: restrain this fellow, please, if he is yours.
GRIP. What?

tu idem mihi vis fieri quod erus consuevit tibi?
si ille te comprimere solitust, hic noster nos non solet. 1075
DAEM. Verbo illo modo ille vicit. quid nunc tu vis?

Do you want the same to happen to me as the master is accustomed to with you?
If that fellow has been accustomed to restrain you, this master of ours is not accustomed to restrain us. 1075
DAEM. By that word just now he won. What do you want now?

dic mihi.
TRACH. Equidem ego neque partem posco mi istinc de istoc vidulo
neque meum esse hodie umquam dixi; sed isti inest cistellula
huius mulieris, quam dudum dixi fuisse liberam.
DAEM. Nempe tu hanc dicis quam esse aiebas dudum popularem meam? 1080
TRACH. Admodum; et ea quae olim parva gestavit crepundia
istic in ista cistula insunt, quae isti inest in vidulo.

Tell me.
TRACH. For my part I neither demand any share for myself from that little valise there,
nor did I at any time today say it was mine; but in that there is a little casket
belonging to this woman, whom a short while ago I said had been free.
DAEM. You mean this one whom you were saying a moment ago was my fellow‑countrywoman? 1080
TRACH. Exactly; and the crepundia, the childhood trinkets, which once, when small, she wore
are there in that little casket, which is in that valise.

hoc neque isti usust, et illi miserae suppetias feret,
si id dederit, qui suos parentis quaerat. DAEM. Faciam ut det. tace.

this is of no use to that one, and it will bring succor to that wretched woman,
if he gives it to him who seeks his parents. DAEM. I will see to it that he gives it. be silent.

GRIP. Nil hercle ego sum isti daturus. TRACH. Nil peto nisi cistulam 1085
et crepundia. GRIP. Quid si ea sunt aurea?

GRIP. By Hercules, I will give that one nothing. TRACH. I ask for nothing except the little chest 1085
and the rattles. GRIP. What if they are gold?

TRACH. Quid istuc tua?
aurum auro expendetur, argentum argento exaequabitur.
GRIP. Fac sis aurum ut videam, post ego faciam ut videas cistulam.

TRACH. What is that to you?
gold will be weighed against gold, silver will be equated with silver.
GRIP. See to it, please, that I may see the gold; afterward I will see to it that you may see the little chest.

DAEM. Cave malo ac tace tu. tu perge ut occepisti dicere.
TRACH. Vnum te obsecro, ut ted huius commiserescat mulieris, 1090
si quidem hic lenonis eiust vidulus, quem suspicor;
hic, nisi de opinione, certum nil dico tibi.
GRIP. Viden?

DAEM. Beware trouble and you be silent. You go on to speak as you have begun.
TRACH. One thing I beseech you: that you take pity—commiserate—on this woman, 1090
if indeed this travel-bag is that pander’s, as I suspect;
here, apart from opinion, I say nothing certain to you.
GRIP. Do you see?

scelestus aucupatur. TRACH. Sine me ut occepi loqui.
si scelesti illius est hic, cuius dico, vidulus,
haec poterunt novisse: ostendere his iube.

the villain is angling for it. TRACH. Allow me to speak as I began.
if this valise is that wicked fellow’s, the one I say,
these will be able to recognize it: order it to be shown to them.

GRIP. Ain? ostendere? 1095
DAEM. Haud iniquom dicit, Gripe, ut ostendatur vidulus.
G. Immo hercle insignite inique.

GRIP. What? show it? 1095
DAEM. He says nothing iniquitous, Gripus, that the valise be shown.
G. Nay rather, by Hercules, signally iniquitous.

D. Quidum? G. Quia, si ostendero,
continuo hunc novisse dicent scilicet. TRACH. Scelerum caput,
ut tute es, item omnis censes esse, periuri caput?

D. Why so? G. Because, if I show it,
immediately they will say, of course, that I know this fellow. TRACH. Head of crimes,
as you yourself are, you suppose likewise that all are, head of perjury?

GRIP. Omnia istaec ego facile patior, dum hic hinc a me sentiat. 1100
TRACH. At qui nunc abs te stat, verum hinc * ibi testimonium.
DAEM. Gripe, advorte animum. tu paucis expedi, quid postulas.

GRIP. I easily suffer all those things, so long as this fellow from here sense it from me. 1100
TRACH. But the one who now stands away from you will give true testimony here * there.
DAEM. Gripe, turn your mind. You, in few words, set forth what you demand.

TRACH. Dixi equidem, sed si parum intellexti, dicam denuo.
hasce ambas, ut dudum dixi, ita esse oportet liberas:
haec Athenis parva fuit virgo surpta. GRIP. Dic mihi, 1105
quid id ad vidulum [pertinet], servae sint istae an <fuerint> liberae?

TRACH. I have indeed said so, but if you understood too little, I will say again.
both of these, as I said a little while ago, ought to be free:
this one at Athens, as a little maiden, was stolen. GRIP. Tell me, 1105
what does that [pertain] to the suitcase, whether these are slaves or <have been> free?

TRACH. Omnia iterum vis memorari, scelus, ut defiat dies.
DAEM. Apstine maledictis et mihi quod rogavi dilue.
TRACH. Cistellam isti inesse oportet caudeam in isto vidulo,
ubi sunt signa qui parentes noscere haec possit suos, 1110
quibuscum periit parva Athenis, sicuti dixi prius.

TRACH. You want everything to be remembered again, scoundrel, until the day is spent.
DAEM. Abstain from slanders and clear up for me what I asked.
TRACH. There ought to be inside that valise a little casket with a tail (handle),
wherein are the tokens by which she can know her own parents, 1110
with which she was lost, a little girl, at Athens, just as I said before.

GRIP. Iuppiter te dique perdant. quid ais, vir venefice?
quid, istae mutae sunt, quae pro se fabulari non queant?

GRIP. May Jupiter and the gods destroy you. What say you, sorcerer?
What, are these mute, who cannot speak for themselves?

TRACH. Eo tacent, quia tacitast <melior> mulier semper quam loquens.
GRIP. Tum pol tu pro portione nec vir nec mulier mihi es. 1115
T. Quidum? G. Quia enim neque loquens es neque tacens umquam bonus.

TRACH. For that they are silent, because a woman silent is always better than speaking.
GRIP. Then, by Pollux, you, by proportion, are neither man nor woman to me. 1115
T. Why so? G. Because indeed you are never good, whether speaking or silent.

quaeso, enumquam hodie licebit mihi loqui? DAEM. Si praeterhac
<unum> verbum faxis hodie, ego tibi comminuam caput.
TRACH. Vt id occepi dicere, senex, eam te quaeso cistulam
ut iubeas hunc reddere illis; ob eam si quid postulat 1120
sibi mercedis, dabitur: aliud quidquid ibi est habeat sibi.

I beg, will it ever today be permitted me to speak? DAEM. If beyond this you make word today, I will shatter your head.
TRACH. As I began to say that, old man, I beg you to order this man to give back that little casket to them; for that, if he asks anything for himself as a fee, 1120
it shall be given: whatever else is there, let him keep for himself.

GRIP. Nunc demum istuc dicis, quoniam ius meum esse intellegis:
dudum dimidiam petebas partem. TRACH. Immo etiam nunc peto.
GRIP. Vidi petere miluom, etiam cum nihil auferret tamen.

GRIP. Now at last you say that, since you understand it to be my right:
a while ago you were asking for the half part. TRACH. Nay, even now I ask.
GRIP. I’ve seen a kite go after it, even when nevertheless it carried off nothing.

DAEM. Non ego te comprimere possum sine malo? GRIP. Si istic tacet, 1125
ego tacebo; si iste loquitur, sine me pro parte loqui.
DAEM. Cedo modo mihi vidulum istum, Gripe.

DAEM. Can I not restrain you without harm? GRIP. If that fellow keeps silent, 1125
I will be silent; if that one speaks, allow me to speak on my part.
DAEM. Just hand over that valise to me, Gripe.

GRIP. Concedam tibi,
ac, si istorum nil sit, ut mihi reddas. DAEM. Reddetur. GRIP. Tene.

GRIP. I will concede
to you,
and, if there is nothing of those men’s, that you return it to me. DAEM. It will be returned. GRIP.
Hold it.

DAEM. Audi nunciam, Palaestra atque Ampelisca, hoc quod loquor.
estne hic vidulus ubi cistellam tuam inesse aiebas? PAL. Is est. 1130
GRIP. Perii hercle ego miser, uti, prius quam plane aspexit, ilico
eum esse dixit.

DAEM. Listen now, Palaestra and Ampelisca, to this that I say.
is this the valise in which you said your little casket was inside? PAL. It is. 1130
GRIP. I am undone, by Hercules, poor wretch that I am, that, before he plainly looked, she straightway
said it was it.

PAL. Faciam ego hanc rem <ex procliva pla>nam tibi.
cistellam isti inesse oportet caudeam in isto vidulo.
ibi ego dicam quidquid inerit nominatim: tu mihi
nullum ostenderis; si falsa dicam, frustra dixero, 1135
vos tamen istaec, quidquid istic inerit, vobis habebitis;
sed si erunt vera, tum opsecro te, ut mea mi reddantur.

PAL. I will make this matter <ex procliva pla>in for you.
the little casket ought to be inside that valise.
there I will tell whatever shall be inside, by name: you will have shown me none; if I speak falsely, I shall have spoken in vain, 1135
you nevertheless will have those things, whatever shall be in there, for yourselves;
but if they shall be true, then I beseech you, that my things be rendered back to me.

DAEM. Placet.
ius merum oras meo quidem animo. GRIP. At meo hercle <iniuriam>.
quid si ista aut superstitiosa aut hariolast atque omnia,
quidquid insit, vera dicet?

DAEM. It pleases me.
You plead mere right, at least to my mind. GRIP. But by Hercules, to my mind, injustice.
What if that woman is either superstitious or a soothsayer, and will say everything—whatever is in it—truly?

anne habebit hariola? 1140
DAEM. Non feret, nisi vera dicet: nequiquam hariolabitur.
solve vidulum ergo, ut quid sit verum quam primum sciam.
GRIP. Hoc habet, solutust.

or will the soothsayer have her way? 1140
DAEM. She will not get away with it, unless she speaks the truth: she will soothsay in vain.
unfasten the portmanteau then, so that I may know what is true as soon as possible.
GRIP. That does it; it’s unfastened.

DAEM. Aperi. video cistellam. haecinest?

DAEM. Open. I see a small chest. Is this it?

PAL. Istaec est. o mei parentes, hic vos conclusos gero,
huc opesque spesque vestrum cognoscendum condidi. 1145
GRIP. Tum tibi hercle deos iratos esse oportet, quisquis es,
quae parentis tam in angustum tuos locum compegeris.
DAEM. Gripe, accede huc; tua res agitur.

PAL. This is it. O my parents, here I carry you shut up; here I have stored your wealth and your hope of being recognized. 1145
GRIP. Then surely the gods ought to be angry with you, whoever you are, you who have packed your parents into so narrow a place.
DAEM. Gripus, come here; the matter concerns you.

tu, puella, istinc procul
dicito quid insit et qua facie, memorato omnia.
si hercle tantillum peccassis, quod posterius postules 1150
te ad verum convorti, nugas, mulier, magnas egeris.
GRIP. Ius bonum oras.

you, girl, from there, at a distance,
say what is inside and of what appearance; recount everything.
if, by Hercules, you should err ever so little, and afterwards you should ask 1150
to be set straight to the truth, woman, you will have talked great nonsense.
GRIP. You ask for fair right.

TRACH. Edepol haud te orat, nam tu iniuriu's.
DAEM. Loquere nunciam, puella. Gripe, animum advorte ac tace.
PAL. Sunt crepundia.

TRACH. By Pollux, he does not beseech you, for you are unjust.
DAEM. Speak right now, girl. Gripe, pay attention and be silent.
PAL. They are infant tokens.

DAEM. Ecca video. GRIP. Perii in primo proelio.
mane, ne ostenderis.

DAEM. Look, I see. GRIP. I’m done for in the first battle.
wait, don’t show yourself.

DAEM. Qua facie sunt? responde ex ordine. 1155
PAL. Ensiculust aureolus primum litteratus. DAEM. Dice dum,
in eo ensiculo litterarum quid est?

DAEM. Of what fashion are they? answer in order. 1155
PAL. There is, first, a little golden sword, lettered. DAEM. Say
on,
on that little sword, what letters are there?

PAL. Mei nomen patris.
post altrinsecust securicula ancipes, itidem aurea
litterata: ibi matris nomen in securiculast. DAEM. Mane.

PAL. The name of my father.
next, on the other side, little double‑headed axes, likewise golden,
lettered: there the name of my mother is on the little axe. DAEM. Wait.

dic, in ensiculo quid nomen est paternum? PAL. Daemones. 1160
DAEM. Di immortales, ubi loci sunt spes meae? GRIP. Immo edepol meae?

say, on the little sword, what is the paternal name? PAL. Daemones. 1160
DAEM. Immortal gods, where on earth are my hopes? GRIP. Nay, by Pollux, mine?

TRACH. Pergite, opsecro, continuo. GRIP. Placide, aut i in malam crucem.
DAEM. Loquere matris nomen hic quid in securicula siet.

TRACH. Proceed, I beseech, immediately. GRIP. Gently, or go to the gallows.
DAEM. Speak what the mother's name is here on the little hatchet.

PAL. Daedalis. DAEM. Di me servatum cupiunt. GRIP. At me perditum.

PAL. Daedalis. DAEM. The gods desire me preserved. GRIP. But me destroyed.

DAEM. Filiam meam esse hanc oportet, Gripe. GRIP. Sit per me quidem. 1165
qui te di omnes perdant, qui me hodie oculis vidisti tuis,
meque adeo scelestum, qui non circumspexi centiens,
prius me ne quis inspectaret quam rete extraxi ex aqua.
PAL. Post sicilicula argenteola et duae conexae maniculae et
sucula.

DAEM. This must be my daughter, Gripus. GRIP. Let it be so, for my part. with me indeed. 1165
may all the gods destroy you, you who today saw me with your own eyes,
and me, such a villain, who did not look around a hundred times,
before anyone might inspect me, before I extracted the net out of the water.
PAL. Next, a little silver sickle and two linked little manacles and
a piglet.

GRIP. Quin tu i dierecta, cum sucula et cum porculis. 1170
PAL. Et bulla aurea est, pater quam dedit mi natali die.
DAEM. Ea est profecto. contineri quin complectar non queo.

GRIP. Why don’t you go straightaway, with the little sow and with the piglets. 1170
PAL. And there is a golden bulla, which father gave me on my natal day.
DAEM. That is she indeed. cannot restrain myself from embracing her.

filia mea, salve. ego is sum qui te produxi pater,
ego sum Daemones, et mater tua eccam hic intus Daedalis.
PAL. Salve, mi pater insperate.

my daughter, greetings. I am he who brought you into the world, your father,
I am Daemones, and—look—here inside is your mother Daedalis.
PAL. Greetings, my unhoped-for father.

DAEM. Salve. ut te amplector libens. 1175
TRACH. Volup est cum istuc ex pietate vestra vobis contigit.
DAEM. Cape dum, hunc si potes fer intro vidulum, age, Trachalio.

DAEM. Greetings. how gladly I embrace you. 1175
TRACH. It is a delight when that has come to you from your piety.
DAEM. Here, take this—if you can, carry this small travel-bag inside; come on, Trachalio.

TRACH. Ecce Gripi scelera. cum istaec res male evenit tibi,
Gripe, gratulor. DAEM. Age eamus, mea gnata, ad matrem tuam,
quae ex te poterit argumentis hanc rem magis exquirere, 1180
quae te magis tractavit magisque signa pernovit tua.—
TRACH. Eamus intro omnes, quando operam promiscam damus.—
P. Sequere me, Ampelisca.— A. Cum te di amant, voluptati est mihi.—
GRIP. Sumne ego scelestus, qui illunc hodie excepi vidulum?

TRACH. Behold Gripus’s crimes. Since that matter has turned out badly for you, Gripus, I congratulate you. DAEM. Come, let us go, my daughter, to your mother, who from you will be able by arguments to inquire more into this matter, 1180
who has handled you more and more thoroughly has known your signs.—
TRACH. Let us all go inside, since we are giving common service.—
P. Follow me, Ampelisca.— A. Since the gods love you, it is a pleasure to me.—
GRIP. Am I a scoundrel, I who today took up that valise?

aut cum excepi, qui non alicubi in solo abstrusi loco? 1185
credebam edepol turbulentam praedam eventuram mihi,
quia illa mihi tam turbulenta tempestate evenerat.
credo edepol ego illic inesse argenti et auri largiter.
quid meliust, quam ut hinc intro abeam et me suspendam clanculum,
saltem tantisper dum abscedat haec a me aegrimonia?— 1190

or when I picked it up, why did I not stash it somewhere in some hidden place on the ground? 1185
by Pollux, I believed a turbulent booty would befall me,
because it had come to me in so turbulent a tempest.
by Pollux, I believe there is silver and gold in there in plenty.
what is better, than that I go inside from here and hang myself secretly,
at least for just so long until this sickness-of-mind withdraws from me?— 1190

IV.v
DAEMONES Pro di immortales, quis me est fortunatior,
qui ex improviso filiam inveni meam?
satin si cui homini dei esse bene factum volunt,
aliquo illud pacto optingit optatum piis?
ego hodie neque speravi neque <illud> credidi: 1195
is improviso filiam inveni tamen;
et eam de genere summo adulescenti dabo
ingenuo, Atheniensi et cognato meo.

4.5
DAEMONES By the immortal gods, who is more fortunate than I,
who unexpectedly found my daughter? Surely, if to any man the gods wish well to be done,
does the wished-for thing somehow befall the pious? I today neither hoped nor <that> believed it: 1195
yet unexpectedly I found my daughter;
and I will give her to a young man of the highest lineage,
freeborn, an Athenian and my kinsman.

ego eum adeo arcessi huc ad me quam primum volo,
iussique exire huc servom eius, ut ad forum 1200
iret; nondum egressum esse eum, id miror tamen.
accedam, opinor, ad fores. quid conspicor?

I, indeed, want to have him summoned here to me as soon as possible,
and I have ordered his servant to come out here, to go to the Forum 1200
to go; that he has not yet gone out—I marvel at that, however.
I will approach, I suppose, to the doors. What do I see?

uxor complexa collo retinet filiam.
nimis paene inepta atque odiosa eius amatiost.

The wife, having embraced her by the neck, holds back the daughter.
His beloved is almost excessively inept and odious.

IV.vi
Aliquando osculando meliust, uxor, pausam fieri; 1205
atque adorna, ut rem divinam faciam, cum intro advenero,
Laribus familiaribus, cum auxerunt nostram familiam.
sunt domi agni et porci sacres. sed quid istum remoramini,
mulieres, Trachalionem?

4.6
Sometimes in kissing it is better, wife, that a pause be made; 1205
and get things ready, that I may perform the divine rite, when I come in,
for the household Lares, since they have augmented our family.
there are at home lambs and pigs for sacrifice. But why are you delaying that fellow,
women, Trachalio?

atque optime eccum exit foras.
TRACHALIO Vbi ubi erit, iam investigabo et mecum ad te adducam simul 1210
Plesidippum. DAEM. Eloquere ut haec res optigit de filia;
eum roga, ut relinquat alias res et huc veniat.

and very good—look, here he comes out.
TRACHALIO Wherever he is, I will now investigate and bring along with me to you at the same time 1210
Plesidippus. DAEM. Tell how this matter befell concerning the daughter;
ask him to relinquish other affairs and come here.

TRACH. Licet.
DAEM. Dicito daturum meam illi filiam uxorem. TRACH. Licet.

TRACH. It is permitted.
DAEM. Say that I will give my daughter to him as a wife. TRACH. It is permitted.

DAEM. Et patrem eius me novisse et mi esse cognatum. TRACH. Licet.
D. Sed propera.

DAEM. And that I know his father and that he is my kinsman. TRACH. Very well.
D. But hurry.

T. Licet. D. Iam hic fac sit, cena ut curetur. T. Licet. 1215
DAEM. Omnian licet?

T. It is permitted. D. Now see to it here, that dinner be cared for. T. It is permitted. 1215
DAEM. Is everything permitted?

TRACH. Licet. sed scin quid est quod te volo?
quod promisisti ut memineris, hodie ut liber sim.

TRACH. It is permitted. but do you know what it is that I want of you?
that you remember what you promised: that today I may be free.

DAEM. Licet.
TRACH. Fac ut exores Plesidippum, ut me <manu> emittat. DAEM. Licet.

DAEM. It is permitted.
TRACH. See to it that you prevail upon Plesidippus to manumit me. DAEM. It is permitted.

TRACH. Et tua filia facito oret: facile exorabit. DAEM. Licet.
TRACH. Atque ut mi Ampelisca nubat, ubi ego sim liber.

TRACH. And see to it that your daughter entreat as well: she will easily prevail upon him. DAEM. Granted.
TRACH. And that Ampelisca marry me, when I am free.

DAEM. Licet. 1220
TRACH. Atque ut gratum mi beneficium factis experiar. DAEM. Licet.
TRACH. Omnian licet?

DAEM. Granted. 1220
TRACH. And that I may by deeds experience the benefit as welcome to me. DAEM. Granted.
TRACH. Is everything granted?

DAEM. Licet: tibi rursum refero gratiam.
sed propera ire in urbem actutum et recipe te huc rursum. T. Licet.

DAEM. It is permitted: I in turn return gratitude to you.
But hasten to go into the city immediately and take yourself back here again. T. It is permitted.

iam hic ero. tu interibi adorna ceterum quod opust.— DAEM. Licet.
Hercules istum infelicet cum sua licentia; 1225
ita meas replevit auris, quidquid memorabam, licet.

now I will be here. you meanwhile prepare the rest that is needful.— DAEM. It is permitted.
May Hercules make that fellow unlucky along with his license; 1225
so he has filled my ears with “it is permitted,” whatever I mentioned.

IV.vii
GRIPVS Quam mox licet te compellare, Daemones?
DAEM. Quid est negoti, Gripe? GRIP. De illo vidulo:
si sapias, sapias; habeas quod di dant boni.

4.7
GRIPVS How soon may I address you, Daemones?
DAEM. What is the business, Gripus? GRIP. About that travel-bag:
if you’d be wise, be wise; have what the good gods give.

DAEM. Aequom videtur tibi, ut ego, alienum quod est, 1230
meum esse dicam? GRIP. Quodne ego inveni in mari?
DAEM. Tanto illi melius optigit qui perdidit;
tuom esse nihilo magis oportet vidulum.

DAEM. Does it seem equitable to you that I should say that what is another’s is mine, 1230
GRIP. What? That which I found in the sea?
DAEM. So much the better it has turned out for the one who lost it;
the satchel ought not a whit more to be yours.

GRIP. Isto tu pauper es, quom nimis sancte pius.
DAEM. O Gripe, Gripe, in aetate hominum plurimae 1235
fiunt trasennae, ubi decipiuntur dolis.
atque edepol in eas plerumque esca imponitur:
quam si quis avidus poscit escam avariter,
decipitur in trasenna avaritia sua.

GRIP. On that account you are poor, since you are too sanctimoniously pious.
DAEM. O Gripus, Gripus, in the age of men very many snares come to be, where they are deceived by wiles; 1235
and indeed, by Pollux, on them for the most part bait is set:
which, if someone avid demands the bait avariciously,
he is deceived into the snare by his own avarice.

ille qui consulte, docte atque astute cavet, 1240
diutine uti bene licet partum bene.
mihi istaec videtur praeda praedatum irier,
ut cum maiore dote abeat quam advenerit.
egone ut quod ad me allatum esse alienum sciam,
celem?

He who cautiously, learnedly, and astutely takes heed, 1240
is allowed for a long time to use well what has been well gotten.
to me this seems prey to go a-preying,
so that he may depart with a greater dowry than he arrived with.
I—should I conceal a thing which I know to have been brought to me belonging to another,
conceal?

minime istuc faciet noster Daemones. 1245
semper cavere hoc sapientis aequissimumst,
ne conscii sint ipsi malefici suis.
ego mihi cum ~ lusi nil moror ullum lucrum.
GRIP. Spectavi ego pridem comicos ad istunc modum
sapienter dicta dicere atque eis plaudier, 1250
cum illos sapientis mores monstrabant poplo:
sed cum inde suam quisque ibant divorsi domum,
nullus erat illo pacto ut illi iusserant.

by no means will our Daemones do that. 1245
it is most just for a wise man always to beware of this,
that the evil-doers themselves not be privy to their own misdeeds.
as for me, when I have played a trick on myself, I care nothing for any profit.
GRIP. I have long since seen comic actors, in just that fashion,
speak wise sayings and be applauded for them, 1250
when they were showing the people the manners of the wise:
but when from there each went home his separate way,
no one was in the condition they had enjoined.

DAEM. Abi intro, ne molestu's, linguae tempera.
ego tibi daturus nil sum, ne tu frustra sis. 1255
GRIP. At ego deos quaeso, ut quidquid in illo vidulost,
si aurum si argentum est, omne id ut fiat cinis.—
DAEM. Illuc est quod nos nequam servis utimur.
nam illic cum ~ servo si quo congressus foret,
et ipsum sese et illum furti adstringeret; 1260
dum praedam habere se censeret, interim
praeda ipsus esset, praeda praedam duceret.

DAEM. Go inside, don’t be a nuisance; temper your tongue.
I am going to give you nothing, so you won’t be wasting your time. 1255
GRIP. But I pray the gods that whatever is in that portmanteau—
if it is gold, if it is silver—let all of it become cinders.—
DAEM. That is the reason that we make use of worthless slaves.
For that fellow, if he had had an encounter with ~ a slave,
he would bind both himself and the other on a theft charge; 1260
while he supposed he had booty, in the meantime
he himself would be the booty—prey would lead prey.

nunc hinc intro ibo et sacrificabo, postibi
iubebo nobis cenam continuo coqui.—

now from here I will go inside and sacrifice; afterwards there
I will order a dinner to be cooked for us immediately.—

IV.viii
PLESIDIPPVS Iterum mihi istaec omnia itera, mi anime, mi Trachalio, 1265
mi liberte, mi patrone potius, immo mi pater.
repperit patrem Palaestra suom atque matrem? TRACHALIO Repperit.

4.8
PLESIDIPPVS Repeat for me all those things again, my soul, my Trachalio, 1265
my freedman, my patron rather—nay, my father.
Has Palaestra found her own father and mother? TRACHALIO She has found them.

PLES. Et popularis est? TRACH. Opino. PLES. Et mihi nuptura est?

PLES. And is she a compatriot? TRACH. I opine. PLES. And is she to wed me?

TRACH. Suspicor.
PLES. Censen hodie despondebit eam mihi, quaeso? TRACH. Censeo.

TRACH. I suspect it.
PLES. Do you think today he will betroth her to me, please? TRACH. I think so.

PLES. Quid? patri etiam gratulabor cum illam invenit? TRACH. Censeo. 1270
P. Quid matri eius?

PLES. What? Shall I also congratulate her father when he finds her? TRACH. I think so. 1270
P. What about her mother?

T. Censeo. P. Quid ergo censes? T. Quod rogas,
censeo.

T. I think so. P. What then do you think? T. What you ask,
I think.

PLES. Dic ergo quanti censes? TRACH. Egone? censeo.

PLES. So tell then, at how much do you assess it? TRACH. Me? I assess.

PLES. Adsum equidem, ne censionem semper facias. TRACH. Censeo.
P. Quid si curram?

PLES. I am present indeed, so that you may not always be making an assessment. TRACH. I assess.
P. What if I run?

T. Censeo. P. An sic potius placide? T. Censeo.

T. I assess. P. Or rather like this, calmly? T. I assess.

P. Etiamne eam adveniens salutem? T. Censeo. P. Etiam patrem? 1275
T. Censeo.

P. Even that salutation on arriving? T. I think so. P. Even the father? 1275
T. I think so.

P. Post eius matrem? T. Censeo. P. Quid postea?

P. After his mother? T. I think so. P. What next?

etiamne adveniens complectar eius patrem? TRACH. Non censeo.
P. Quid matrem?

even on arriving shall I embrace his father? TRACH. I do not think so.
P. What about the mother?

T. Non censeo. P. Quid eampse illam? T. Non censeo.

T. I do not advise it. P. What about that very woman herself? T. I do not advise it.

PLES. Perii, dilectum dimisit. nunc non censet, cum volo.
T. Sanus non es. sequere.— P. Duc me, mi patrone, quo libet.— 1280

PLES. I’m undone, he has dismissed the levy. Now he does not give his opinion, when I want.
T. You’re not sane. Follow.— P. Lead me, my patron, wherever it pleases.— 1280

ACTVS V

ACT 5

V.i
LABRAX Quis me est mortalis miserior qui vivat alter hodie,
quem ad recuperatores modo damnavit Plesidippus?
abiudicata a me modo est Palaestra. perditus sum.

5.1
LABRAX What other mortal alive today is more miserable than I,
whom Plesidippus has just now condemned before the recuperators?
Palaestra has just now been adjudicated away from me. I am ruined.

nam lenones ex Gaudio credo esse procreatos,
ita omnes mortales, si quid est mali lenoni, gaudent. 1285
nunc alteram illam quae mea est visam huc in Veneris fanum,
saltem ut eam abducam, de bonis quod restat reliquiarum.

for I believe pimps were procreated from Joy,
so all mortals, if there is any evil to a pimp, rejoice. 1285
now I’ll go to see that other one who is mine here to the temple of Venus,
at least so that I may lead her away, from my goods whatever of the relics remains.

V.ii
GRIPVS Numquam edepol hodie ad vesperum Gripum inspicietis vivom,
nisi vidulus mihi redditur. LABR. Perii, cum mentionem
fieri audio usquam viduli *** quasi palo pectus tundat. 1290
GRIP. Istic scelestus liber est: ego qui in mari prehendi
reti atque excepi vidulum, ei dare negatis quicquam.
LABR. Pro di immortales, suo mihi hic sermone arrexit aures.

V.ii
GRIPVS Never, by Pollux, today by evening will you see Gripus alive,
unless the valise is returned to me. LABR. I am ruined, when I hear mention
made anywhere of the valise *** as if with a stake he were pounding my breast. 1290
GRIP. That scoundrel there is free at large: I, who on the sea seized
and with a net took up the valise, to me you refuse to give anything.
LABR. O immortal gods, by his very speech here he has pricked up my ears.

GRIP. Cubitum hercle longis litteris signabo iam usquequaque,
si quis perdiderit vidulum cum auro atque argento multo, 1295
ad Gripum ut veniat. non feretis istum, ut postulatis.
LABR. Meum hercle illic homo vidulum scit qui habet, ut ego opinor.

GRIP. By Hercules, I will inscribe in long letters everywhere,
if anyone has lost a valise with much gold and silver, 1295
let him come to Gripus. You will not carry that off, as you demand.
LABR. By Hercules, that fellow knows my valise—the one who has it, as I suppose.

adeundus mihi illic est homo. di, quaeso, subvenite.
GRIP. Quid me intro revocas?

I must approach that man there. Gods, I beg, come to my aid.
GRIP. Why do you call me back inside?

hoc volo hic ante ostium extergere.
nam hoc quidem pol e robigine, non est e ferro factum, 1300
ita quanto magis extergeo, rutilum atque tenuius fit.
~ nam quidem hoc venenatumst verum: ita in manibus consenescit.

I want to wipe this here before the doorway.
for this indeed, by Pollux, is made from rust, not from iron, 1300
thus the more I wipe it, the redder and thinner it becomes.
~ for indeed this is truly venomous: thus it senesces in the hands.

L. Adulescens, salve. G. Di te ament cum inraso capite. L. Quid fit?

L. Adolescent, greetings. G. May the gods love you, with your unshaven head. L. What’s going on?

G. Verum extergetur. L. Vt vales? G. Quid tu? num medicus, quaeso, es?
LABR. Immo edepol una littera plus sum quam medicus.

G. But indeed it will be wiped off. L. How are you? G. What about you? Are you a medic, please?
LABR. On the contrary, by Pollux, I am by one letter more than a medic.

GRIP. Tum tu 1305
mendicus es? LABR. Tetigisti acu. GRIP. Videtur digna forma.
sed quid tibi est?

GRIP. Then you 1305
are a beggar? LABR. You’ve hit it with the needle. GRIP. It looks the part.
but what is the matter with you?

LABR. Hac proxima nocte in mari elavi.
confracta est navis, perdidi quidquid erat miser ibi omne.
GRIP. Quid perdidisti?

LABR. Last night I slipped away in the sea.
the ship was broken; I lost whatever there was there—poor wretch that I am, all of it.
GRIP. What did you lose?

LABR. Vidulum cum auro atque argento multo.
GRIP. Ecquid meministi, in vidulo qui periit quid ibi infuerit? 1310
LABR. Quid refert, qui periit tamen? sine hoc, aliud fabulemur.

LABR. A valise with much gold and silver.
GRIP. Do you remember anything, what had been inside in the valise that was lost? 1310
LABR. What does it matter, since it perished anyway? leave this; let us talk of something else.

GRIP. Quid si ego sciam qui invenerit? volo ex te scire signa.
LABR. Nummi octingenti aurei in marsuppio infuerunt,
praeterea centum minaria Philippa in pasceolo sorsus.

GRIP. What if I should know who found it? I want to know from you the identifying marks.
LABR. Eight hundred golden coins were inside the purse,
besides a hundred Philippan minas in a little pouch, separately.

GRIP. Magna hercle praedast, largiter mercedis indipiscar; 1315
di homines respiciunt: bene ego hinc praedatus ibo.
profecto huius est vidulus. perge alia tu expedire.

GRIP. By Hercules, it’s great prey; I shall obtain a large portion of reward; 1315
the gods regard men: I will go away from here well-plundered.
surely this valise is his. You go on to get the other things in order.

LABR. Talentum argenti commodum magnum inerat in crumina,
praeterea sinus, cantharus, epichysis, gaulus, cyathus.
GRIP. Papae, divitias tu quidem habuisti luculentas. 1320
LABR. Miserum istuc verbum et pessimum est, habuisse, et nihil habere.
GRIP. Quid dare velis, qui istaec tibi investiget indicetque?

LABR. A downright large talent of silver was in the purse,
besides a bowl, a cantharus-goblet, an epichysis (pouring-flask), a gaulus (jug), a cyathus (ladle).
GRIP. Papae! you indeed had splendid riches. 1320
LABR. That word is wretched and worst—“to have had,” and to have nothing.
GRIP. What would you be willing to give to someone who should track out and point these things out to you?

eloquere propere celeriter. LABR. Nummos trecentos. GRIP. Tricas.

speak out promptly, swiftly. LABR. Three hundred coins. GRIP. Nonsense.

L. Quadringentos. G. Tramas putidas. L. Quingentos.

L. Four hundred. G. Putrid cobwebs. L. Five hundred.

G. Cassam glandem.
LABR. Sescentos. GRIP. Curculiunculos minutos fabulare. 1325
LABR. Dabo septingentos.

G. A hollow acorn.
LABR. Six hundred. GRIP. You prattle of wee little weevils. 1325
LABR. I will give seven hundred.

GRIP. Os calet tibi, nunc id frigefactas.
LABR. Mille dabo nummum. GRIP. Somnias.

GRIP. Your mouth is hot; now you cool it.
LABR. I will give 1,000 coins. GRIP. You are dreaming.

LABR. Nihil addo. GRIP. Abi
igitur. LABR. Audi:
si hercle abiero hinc, hic non ero.

LABR. I add nothing. GRIP. Be off
then. LABR. Listen:
if, by Hercules, I shall have gone away from here, I shall not be here.

vin centum et mille? GRIP. Dormis.
LABR. Eloquere quantum postules.

Do you want a hundred and a thousand? GRIP. You're asleep.
LABR. Speak out how much you demand.

GRIP. Quo nihil invitus addas:
talentum magnum. non potest triobolum hinc abesse. 1330
proin tu vel aias vel neges. LABR. Quid istic?

GRIP. So that you add nothing unwillingly:
a great talent. Not a triobolus can be missing from this. 1330
therefore either affirm or deny. LABR. What of it?

necessum est, video:
dabitur talentum. GRIP. Accede dum huc: Venus haec volo adroget te.
LABR. Quod tibi libet id mi impera. GRIP. Tange aram hanc Veneris.

it is necessary, I see:
a talent will be given. GRIP. Come over here a moment: I want this Venus to adrogate
you.
LABR. What you please, command that to me. GRIP. Touch this altar
of Venus.

LABR. Tango.
G. Per Venerem hanc iurandum est tibi. L. Quid iurem?

LABR. I touch.
G. You must swear by this Venus. L. What shall I swear?

G. Quod iubebo.
LABR. Praei verbis quidvis. id quod domi est, numquam ulli supplicabo. 1335
G. Tene aram hanc.

G. What I shall command.
LABR. Prescribe whatever words you please. As for that which is at home, I will never supplicate anyone. 1335
G. Hold this altar.

L. Teneo. C. Deiera te mi argentum daturum
eodem die, <tui> viduli ubi sis potitus. LABR. Fiat.

L. I hold it. C. Swear that you will give me the silver
on the same day, when you have gotten possession of your satchel. LABR. Let it be done.

GRIP. Venus Cyrenensis, testem te testor mihi,
si vidulum illum, quem ego in navi perdidi,
cum auro atque argento salvom investigavero 1340
isque in potestatem meam pervenerit,
tum ego huic Gripo, inquito, et me tangito—
LABR. Tum ego huic Gripo— dico, Venus, ut tu audias—
talentum argenti magnum continuo dabo.
GRIP. Si <quid> fraudassis, dic ut te in quaestu tuo 1345
Venus eradicet, caput atque aetatem tuam.
tecum hoc habeto tamen, ubi iuraveris.

GRIP. Venus of Cyrene, I call you as witness for me,
if that portmanteau, which I lost on the ship,
with gold and silver safe I shall track down, 1340
and it shall have come into my power,
then say to this Gripo—mark me—and lay hand on me—
LABR. Then I to this Gripo—I say, Venus, so that you may hear—
I will straightway give a great talent of silver.
GRIP. If you shall have defrauded in anything, say that in your business 1345
Venus eradicate both your head and your life.
Keep this with you, however, when you have sworn.

LABR. Illaec advorsum si quid peccasso, Venus,
veneror te ut omnes miseri lenones sient.
GRIP. Tamen fiet, etsi tu fidem servaveris. 1350
tu hic opperire, iam ego faxo exibit senex;
eum tu continuo vidulum reposcito.—
LABR. Si maxime mi illum reddiderit vidulum,
non ego illi hodie debeo triobolum.
meus arbitratust, lingua quod iuret mea. 1355
sed conticiscam: eccum exit et ducit senem.

LABR. If against you in this matter I shall have sinned, Venus,
I venerate you, that all pimps may be wretched.
GRIP. Nevertheless it shall be done, even if you have kept faith. 1350
You wait here; I’ll see to it the old man comes out now;
you at once demand back the little travel-bag from him.—
LABR. Even if he has most certainly returned that little bag to me,
I do not today owe him a triobolus.
it is my own arbitrament, what my tongue swears. 1355
But I’ll fall silent: look, here he comes out and leads the old man.

V.iii
GRIPVS Sequere hac. DAEMONES Vbi istic lenost? GRIP. Heus tu. em tibi,
hic habet vidulum.

5.3
GRIPVS Follow this way. DAEMONES Where is that pimp? GRIP. Hey, you. there you are,
he has the valise.

DAEM. Habeo et fateor esse apud me, et, si tuos est, habeas tibi.
omnia, ut quidquid infuit, ita salva sistentur tibi.
tene, si tuost.

DAEM. I have it and I confess it is with me, and, if it is yours, have it for yourself.
all things, just as whatever was inside, will be rendered to you intact.
hold it, if it is yours.

LABR. O di immortales, meus est. salve, vidule. 1360
D. Tuosne est? L. Rogitas?

LABR. O immortal gods, it’s mine. Hail, little valise. 1360
D. Is it yours? L. You ask?

si quidem hercle Iovis fuit, meus est tamen.
DAEM. Omnia insunt salva; una istinc cistella excepta est modo
cum crepundiis, quibuscum hodie filiam inveni meam.
LABR. Quam?

even if, by Hercules, it was Jove’s, it is mine nevertheless.
DAEM. Everything is inside safe; only one little chest was just taken out from there, with the tokens with which today I found my daughter.
LABR. Which?

DAEM. Tua quae fuit Palaestra, ea filia inventast mea.
LABR. Bene mehercle factum est. cum istaec res tibi ex sententia 1365
pulchre evenit, gaudeo.

DAEM. Palaestra, who was yours, has been found to be my daughter.
LABR. Well, by Hercules, it has been well done. Since this matter has turned out beautifully according to your wish, 1365
I rejoice.

DAEM. Istuc facile non credo tibi.
LABR. Immo hercle, ut scias gaudere me, mihi triobolum
ob eam ne duis, condono te. DAEM. Benigne edepol facis.
L. Immo tu quidem hercle vero.

DAEM. I don’t easily believe you in that.
LABR. Nay indeed, by Hercules, so that you may know I’m glad, don’t give me the triobolus on that account; I remit it to you. DAEM. You are generous, by Pollux.
L. Nay, indeed—by Hercules—rather you are, truly.

G. Heus tu, iam habes vidulum.
L. Habeo. G. Propera.

G. Hey, you, have you got the valise now?
L. I have it. G. Hurry.

L. Quid properabo? G. Reddere argentum mihi. 1370
L. Neque edepol tibi do, neque quicquam debeo. G. Quae haec factio est?

L. Why should I make haste? G. To return the money to me. 1370
L. By Pollux, I neither give it to you nor do I owe anything. G. What is this business?

non debes? LABR. Non hercle vero. GRIP. Non tu iuratus mihi es?
LABR. Iuratus sum, et nunc iurabo, si quid voluptati est mihi:
ius iurandum rei servandae, non perdendae conditum est.

Do you not owe? LABR. By Hercules, truly not. GRIP. Have you not sworn to me?
LABR. I have sworn, and now I will swear, if it is any pleasure to me:
an oath has been constituted for preserving a thing, not for losing it.

GRIP. Cedo sis mihi talentum magnum argenti, periurissime. 1375
DAEM. Gripe, quod tu istum talentum poscis? GRIP. Iuratust mihi
dare. LABR. Libet iurare.

GRIP. Hand over, please, to me a great talent of silver, most perjured man. 1375
DAEM. Gripe, why do you demand that talent? GRIP. He has sworn to me
to give. LABR. I feel like swearing.

tun meo pontifex peiurio es?
DAEM. Qua pro re argentum promisit hic tibi? GRIP. Si vidulum
hunc redegissem in potestatem eius, iuratust dare
mihi talentum magnum argenti. LABR. Cedo quicum habeam iudicem, 1380
ni dolo malo instipulatus sis nive etiamdum <haud> siem
quinque et viginti annos natus.

are you then the pontiff of my perjury?
DAEM. For what matter did he promise you silver? GRIP. If I
had brought this valise back into his power, he had sworn to give
me a great talent of silver. LABR. Come, name me with whom I am to have a judge, 1380
unless you were bound in the stipulation by malicious fraud, nor yet if I am
not yet twenty-five years old.

G. Habe cum hoc. L. Aliost opus.
DAEM. Iam ab isto auferre haud <potis> sim, si istunc condemnavero.

G. Have it out with him. L. There is need of another.
DAEM. Now I shall not be able to take it away from that fellow, if I have condemned this one.

promisistin huic argentum? LABR. Fateor. DAEM. Quod servo <meo>
promisisti, meum esse oportet, ne tu, leno, postules 1385
te hic fide lenonia uti: non potes.

did you promise this man silver? LABR. I admit it. DAEM. What you promised to my slave
ought to be mine, lest you, pander, demand to use here lenonian good faith: 1385
you cannot.

GRIP. Iam te ratu's
nactum hominem quem defraudares? dandum huc argentum est probum:
id ego continuo huic dabo adeo, me ut hic emittat manu.
DAEM. Quando ergo erga te benignus <ego> fui atque opera mea
haec tibi sunt servata— GRIP. Immo hercle mea, ne tu dicas tua. 1390
DAEM. Si sapies, tacebis— tum te mihi benigne itidem addecet
bene merenti bene referre gratiam.

GRIP. Already did you think you had gotten hold of a man to defraud? Honest silver must be given here: I will give it to this man straightway, to such an extent that he may release me from his hand. DAEM. Since therefore toward you I have been benign, and by my efforts these things have been preserved for you— GRIP. Nay, by Hercules, mine, so that you may not say yours. 1390
DAEM. If you are wise, you will be silent— then it likewise befits you to return gratitude well to me, well-deserving.

LABR. Nempe pro meo
iure oras? DAEM. Mirum quin tuom ius meo periclo aps te expetam.
GRIP. Salvos sum, leno labascit, libertas portenditur.

LABR. Surely you plead for my
right? DAEM. A marvel, indeed—that I should seek your right from you at my own peril.
GRIP. I am safe; the pimp is wavering; liberty is portended.

DAEM. Vidulum istunc ille invenit, illud mancipium meum est; 1395
ego tibi hunc porro servavi cum magna pecunia.
LABR. Gratiam habeo, et de talento nulla causa est quin feras,
quod isti sum iuratus. GRIP. Heus tu, mihi dato ergo, si sapis.

DAEM. That little valise he found; that chattel is mine; 1395
I, moreover, have preserved this fellow for you along with a great sum of money.
LABR. I give thanks, and as to the talent there is no cause why you should not receive it,
since I am sworn to that man. GRIP. Hey, you—then give it to me, if you are wise.

DAEM. Tacen an non? GRIP. Tu meam rem simulas agere, tibi mu *** .
non hercle istoc me intervortes, si aliam praedam perdidi. 1400
DAEM. Vapulabis, verbum si addis istuc unum. GRIP. Vel hercle enica,
non tacebo umquam alio pacto, nisi talento comprimor.

DAEM. Are you silent or not? GRIP. You pretend to be managing my affair; to you mu *** .
by Hercules, you won’t twist me up with that, even if I’ve lost other booty. 1400
DAEM. You’ll get a beating, if you add that one word. GRIP. Kill me if you like, by Hercules,
I will never be silent otherwise, unless I am silenced by a talent.

LABR. Tibi operam hic quidem dat. tace. DAEM. Concede hoc tu, leno.

LABR. He indeed is giving service to you. Be silent. DAEM. Concede this, you pimp.

LABR. Licet.
GRIP. Palam age, nolo ego murmurillum neque susurrum fieri.
DAEM. Dic mihi, quanti illam emisti tuam alteram mulierculam, 1405
Ampeliscam?

LABR. It is permitted.
GRIP. Do it openly; I do not want a little murmur nor a whisper to be made.
DAEM. Tell me, for how much did you buy that other little woman of yours, 1405
Ampelisca?

LABR. Mille nummum denumeravi. DAEM. Vin tibi
condicionem luculentam ferre me? LABR. Sane volo.
D. Dividuom talentum faciam.

LABR. I counted out a thousand coins. DAEM. Do you want me
to bring you splendid terms? LABR. Certainly I do.
D. I’ll make the talent split in two.

L. Bene facis. D. Pro illa altera,
libera ut sit, dimidium tibi sume, dimidium huc cedo.
LABR. Maxime.

L. You do well. D.
For that other one,
that she may be free, take a half for yourself, hand a half over here. LABR. Most certainly.

DAEM. Pro illo dimidio ego Gripum emittam manu, 1410
quem propter tu vidulum et ego gnatam inveni. LABR. Bene facis,
gratiam habeo magnam. GRIP. Quam mox mi argentum ergo redditur?

DAEM. For that half-share I will manumit Grippus, 1410
on whose account you found the trunk and I found my daughter. LABR. You do well,
I am very grateful. GRIP. How soon then is my money paid back to me?

DAEM. Res soluta est, Gripe. ego habeo. GRIP. At ego me hercle mavolo.

DAEM. The matter is resolved, Gripus. I have it. GRIP. But I, by Hercules, prefer myself.

DAEM. Nihil hercle hic tibi est, ne tu speres. iuris iurandi volo
gratiam facias. GRIP. Perii hercle.

DAEM. Nothing here for you, by Hercules; don’t you hope. As for the oath, I want
you to grant me grace. GRIP. I’m ruined, by Hercules.

nisi me suspendo, occidi. 1415
numquam hercle iterum defraudabis me quidem post hunc diem.
DAEM. Hic hodie cenato, leno. LABR. Fiat, condicio placet.

Unless I hang myself, I’m dead. 1415
By Hercules, you will never defraud me again, at least as for me, after this day.
DAEM. Dine here today, pimp. LABR. Let it be done; the condition pleases.

DAEM. Sequimini intro. spectatores, vos quoque ad cenam vocem,
ni daturus nil sim neque sit quicquam pollucti domi,
nive adeo vocatos credam vos esse ad cenam foras. 1420
verum si voletis plausum fabulae huic clarum dare,
comissatum omnes venitote ad me ad annos sedecim.
vos hic hodie cenatote ambo.

DAEM. Follow me inside. Spectators, I invite you also to dinner,
unless I should be about to give nothing and there be nothing prepared for service at home,
nor indeed would I think you to have been invited to dinner out-of-doors. 1420
But if you wish to give this play loud applause,
come all to me for a comissation for sixteen years.
you two dine here today, both of you.

LABR. Fiat. DAEM. Plausum date.

LABR. Let it be done. DAEM. Give applause.