CAPTIVI
THE CAPTIVES
* * * * *
ARGVMENTVM
ARGUMENT OF THE PLAY
Captust in pugna Hegionis filius;
Alium quadrimum fugiens servus vendidit.
Pater captivos commercatur Aleos,
Tantum studens ut natum captum recuperet;
Et inibi emit olim amissum filium.
Is suo cum domino veste versa ac nomine
Vt amittatur fecit: ipsus plectitur;
Et is reduxit captum, et fugitivum simul,
Indicio cuius alium agnoscit filium.
One of Hegio’s sons has been taken prisoner in a battle with
the Eleans; the other was stolen by a runaway slave and sold
when he was four years old. The father, in his great anxiety
to recover the captured boy, bought up Elean prisoners of
war; and among those that he purchased was the son he had
lost many years before. This son, having exchanged clothes
and names with his Elean master, secured the latter’s
release, taking the consequences himself. This master of his
returned, bringing Hegio’s captive son, and along with him
that runaway slave, whose disclosures led to the recognition
of the other son.
PERSONAE
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
ERGASILVS PARASITUS
HEGIO SENEX
LORARIVS
PHILOCRATES ADULESCENS
TYNDARVS SERVUS
ARISTOPHONTES ADULESCENS
PVER
PHILOPOLEMVS ADULESCENS
STALAGMVS SERVUS
ERGASILUS, _a parasite._
HEGIO, _an old gentleman._
SLAVE OVERSEER, _belonging to Hegio._
PHILOCRATES, _a young Elean captive._
TYNDARUS, _his slave, captured with him._
ARISTOPHONTES, _a young Elean captive._
A PAGE, _in the service of Hegio._
PHILOPOLEMUS, _Hegio’s son._
STALAGMUS, _Hegio’s slave._
_Scene:--A city in Aetolia. A street on which stands Hegio’s
house._
PROLOGVS
PROLOGUE
_Tyndarus_ AND _Philocrates_ ARE CHAINED, IN AN
UNCOMFORTABLE POSITION, TO A PILLAR IN FRONT OF
_Hegio’s_ HOUSE
Hos quos videtis stare his captives duos,
illi qui astant,[1] hi stant ambo, non sedent;
hoc vos mihi testes estis me verum loqui.
senex qui his habitat Hegio est huius pater.
These two prisoners you see standing here, well, both of
those bystanders are men who are--standing, not sitting
down. (_Prologue laughs uproariously at his pleasantry_)
I leave it to you if so much is not true. The old man that
lives yonder--(_pointing to Hegio’s house_) Hegio, by name--
is this man’s (_pointing to Tyndarus_) father.
sed is quo pacto serviat suo sibi patri,
id ego hic apud vos proloquar, si operam datis.
seni huic fuerunt filii nati duo;
alterum quadrimum puerum servos surpuit
eumque hinc profugiens vendidit in Alide
patri huius. iam hoc tenetis?[2] optume est. 10
But how it happens that he is the slave of his own father
I shall (_jauntily_) here in your midst proclaim, with your
kind attention. This old gentleman had two sons. One of
them, when he was four years old, was stolen by a slave who
took to his heels and sold the boy in Elis to the father of
this worthy (_pointing to Philocrates_) here. Now you take
me? Very good!
negat hercle ille ultimus. accedito.
si non ubi sedeas locus est, est ubi ambules,
quando histrionem cogis mendicarier.
ego me tua causa, ne erres, non rupturus sum.
vos qui potestis ope vestra censerier,
accipite relicuom: alieno uti nil moror.
Bless my soul! That gentleman at the back says he does not.
Let him step this way--. (_no move in audience_) In case
there is no opportunity to take a seat, sir, you can take a
(_pointing to an exit_) stroll, seeing you insist on making
an actor turn beggar. I have no intention of bursting
myself, merely to keep you from misunderstanding the plot.
(_to rest of audience_) As for you gentlemen who do own
enough property to pay taxes on, let me discharge my debt--
none of the credit system for me.
fugitivos ille, ut dixeram ante, huius patri
domo quem profugiens dominum abstulerat vendidit.
is postquam hunc emit, dedit eum huic gnato suo
peculiarem, quia quasi una aetas erat. 20
hic nunc domi servit suo patri, nec scit pater;
enim vero di nos quasi pilas homines habent.
That runaway slave, as I said before, stole his young
master when he decamped and sold him to this (_indicating
Philocrates_) man’s father. This gentleman, on buying the
boy, gave him to this son of his for his very own, the two
being of about the same age. Now here he is, back home, his
own father’s slave without his father knowing it. Ah yes,
the gods use us mortals as footballs!
rationem habetis, quo modo unum amiserit.
postquam belligerant Aetoli cum Aleis,
ut fit in bello, capitur alter filius:
medicus Menarchus emit ibidem in Alide.
coepit captivos commercari hic Aleos,
si quem reperire possit qui mutet suom,
illum captivom: hunc suom esse nescit, qui domist.
Well, you comprehend the way in which he lost one son.
Later, when war broke out between the Aetolians and Eleans,
the other son was taken prisoner--a common occurrence in
times of war--and a doctor, Menarchus, in that same Elis,
bought the young man. Hegio then began to buy up Elean
captives, hoping to get hold of one that he could exchange
for his son--the captive son, that is: for he has no idea
that this man at his home is his own child.
et quoniam heri indaudivit, de summo loco 30
summoque genere captum esse equitem Aleum,
nil pretio parsit, filio dum parceret:
reconciliare ut facilius posset domum,
emit hosce e praeda ambos de quaestoribus.
And inasmuch as he heard it rumoured yesterday that an Elean
knight of the very highest rank and family connections had
been captured, he had no thought of saving money if only he
could save his son. So in the hope of getting that son back
home more readily he bought both of these prisoners from the
commissioners who were disposing of the spoils.
hisce autem inter sese hunc confinxerunt dolum.
quo pacto hic servos suom erum hinc amittat domum.
itaque inter se commutant vestem et nomina;
illic vocatur Philocrates, hic Tyndarus:
huius illic, hic illius hodie fert imaginem.
These same prisoners, however, have got together and laid
a scheme, as you can see, to the end that the slave here
(_indicating Tyndarus_) may send his master off home.
Accordingly, they have exchanged clothes and names with each
other. That one (_indicating Tyndarus_) is calling himself
Philocrates, and this one (_indicating Philocrates_)
Tyndarus: each is posing as the other for the time being.
et hic hodie expediet hanc docte fallaciam, 40
et suom erum faciet libertatis compotem,
eodemque pacto fratrem servabit suom
reducemque faciet liberum in patriam ad patrem,
imprudens: itidem ut saepe iam in multis locis
plus insciens quis fecit quam prudens boni.
And Tyndarus here is going to work out this trick to-day
like an artist, and set his master at liberty. By so
doing he will rescue his own brother, too, and enable
him to return home to his father a free man, all quite
unwittingly,--as in so many cases before now a man has
often done more good unconsciously than wittingly.
sed inscientes sua sibi fallacia
ita compararunt et confinxerunt dolum
itaque hi commenti, de sua sententia
ut in servitute hic ad suom maneat patrem:
ita nunc ignorans suo sibi servit patri; 50
homunculi quanti sunt, quom recogito!
haec res agetur nobis, vobis fabula.
But all unconsciously, in their trickery, they have so
planned and contrived and schemed, acting upon their own
ideas, that Tyndarus will stay here as his own father’s
slave. So now it is his father he is serving unawares. What
helpless creatures we mortals be, when I stop to reflect!
All this will be fact on the boards, fiction for the
benches.
sed etiam est, paucis vos quod monitos voluerim.
profecto expediet fabulae huic operam dare.
non pertractate facta est neque item ut ceterae:
neque spurcidici insunt versus, immemorabiles;
hic neque periurus leno est nec meretrix mala
neque miles gloriosus; ne vereamini,
quia bellum Aetolis esse dixi cum Aleis:
foris illic extra scaenam fient proelia. 60
About one thing more, though, I should like to offer a word
or two of suggestion. It will undeniably be to your profit
to pay attention to this play. It is not composed in the
hackneyed style, is quite unlike other plays; nor does it
contain filthy lines that one must not repeat. In this
comedy you will meet no perjured pimp, or unprincipled
courtesan, or braggart captain. Let not my statement that
the Aetolians and Eleans are at war alarm you: engagements
will take place off the stage yonder.
nam hoc paene iniquomst, comico choragio
conari desubito agere nos tragoediam.
proin si quis pugnam expectat, litis contrahat:
valentiorem nactus adversarium
si erit, ego faciam ut pugnam inspectet non bonam,
adeo ut spectare postea omnis oderit.
It would almost amount to imposition, you know, for us,
in our comedy get-up, to try to present a tragedy all of a
sudden. So if anyone is looking for a battle scene, let him
pick a quarrel: if he gets a good strong opponent, I promise
him a glimpse of a battle scene so unpleasant that hereafter
he will hate the very sight of one.
abeo. valete, iudices iustissimi
domi duellique duellatores optumi.
(_turning to go_) And so good-bye to you, most just of
judges here at home and doughtiest of fighters in the field.
[EXEUNT _Prologue_ AND _Captives_.
ACTVS I
ACT I
ENTER _Ergasilus_ LOOKING HUNGRY AND FORLORN.
Erg.
Iuventus nomen indidit Scorto mihi,
eo quia invocatus soleo esse in convivio. 70
scio absurde dictum hoc derisores dicere,
at ego aio recte. nam scortum in convivio
sibi amator, talos quom iacit, scortum invocat.
The young fellows have dubbed me Missy, on the ground that
whenever they’re at their banquets I feel called upon to be
with ’em. To be sure, the professional wags say it is an
absurd nickname, but I protest it’s a good one. For at
banquets when the young sparks are playing dice they call
upon their missies, yes, their missies, to be with ’em as
they make a throw.
estne invocatum an non est? est planissume;
verum hercle vero nos parasiti planius,
quos numquam quisquam neque vocat neque invocat.
quasi mures semper edimus alienum cibum;
ubi res prolatae sunt, quom rus homines eunt,
simul prolatae res sunt nostris dentibus.
Does missy feel called upon to be with ’em, or not? Most
unmistakably. But by heaven, I tell you we parasites feel
the call more unmistakably still, for no one else ever
feels for us or calls us, either. Like mice, we’re forever
nibbling at some one else’s food. When the holidays come,
and men hie ’em to their country estates, our grinders take
a holiday, too.
quasi, cum caletur, cocleae in occulto latent, 80
suo sibi suco vivont, ros si non cadit,
item parasiti rebus prolatis latent
in occulto miseri victitant suco suo,
dum ruri rurant homines quos ligurriant.
It’s the same as snails hiding in their holes during the
dog days and living on their own juices when there’s no dew
falling: that’s the way with parasites during the holidays--
hide in their holes, poor devils, and subsist on their own
juices while the people they could get pickings from are in
the rural regions ruralizing.
prolatis rebus parasiti venatici
sumus, quando res redierunt, molossici
odiosicique et multum incommodestici.
et hic quidem hercle, nisi qui colaphos perpeti
potest parasitus frangique aulas in caput,
[3]ire extra portam Trigeminam ad saccum licet. 90
quod mihi ne eveniat, non nullum periculum est.
So long as the holidays last we parasites are greyhounds:
when they’re over we are wolf-hounds and dear-hounds and
bore- hounds, very much so. And, by gad, in this town, at
least, if a parasite objects to being banged about and
having crockery smashed on his cranium, he can betake
himself to the far side of Three Arch Gate and a porter’s
bag. (_ruefully_) Which is precious likely to be my own
fate.
nam postquam meus rex est potitus hostium--
ita nunc belligerant Aetoli cum Aleis;
nam Aetolia haec est, illic est captus in Alide,
Philopolemus, huius Hegionis filius
senis, qui hie habitat, quae aedes lamentariae
mihi sunt, quas quotienscumque conspicio fleo;
For after my patron fell in with the enemy--the Aetolians,
you see, are at war now with the Eleans; this is Aetolia,
you understand, and it’s there in Elis that Philopolemus
is a captive, Philopolemus being the son of Hegio here, the
old gentleman that lives in (_pointing_) that house (and a
lamentatious house it is! every time I look at it, it makes
me weep!)
nunc hic occepit quaestum hunc fili gratia
inhonestum et maxime alienum ingenio suo:
homines captives commercatur, si queat 100
aliquem invenire, suom qui mutet filium.
quod quidem ego nimis quam cupio[4] ut impetret:
nam ni illum recipit, nihil est quo me recipiam.
--well, now Hegio has taken up his present business, all for
his son’s sake, ungentlemanly business as it is, and quite
beneath a man of his type. He’s buying up prisoners of war,
to see if he can’t come across one to exchange for his boy.
And Lord! how I do yearn for him to succeed! You see, it’s
a matter of his coming home, or my going hungry.
nam nulla est spes iuventutis, sese omnis amant;
ille demum antiquis est adulescens moribus,
cuius numquam voltum tranquillavi gratiis.
condigne pater est eius moratus moribus.
nunc ad eum pergam. sed aperitur ostium,
unde saturitate saepe ego exii ebrius.
For our young fellows are absolutely unpromising--egoists,
the whole lot of ’em! But he is a young gentleman of the old
school, that lad: I never smoothed the wrinkles out of his
brow without getting more than a thankye for it. His father
is just such another perfect gentleman. Now for a call on
him. (_moves toward Hegio’s house_) But there goes his door,
out of which I’ve often come so full of food I was fairly
tipsy. (_withdraws_)
I. 2.
Scene 2.
ENTER _Hegio_ WITH _Slave Overseer_.
Hegio
Advorte animum sis tu: istos captives duos, 110
heri quos emi de praeda a quaestoribus,
eis indito catenas singularias
istas, maiores, quibus sunt iuncti, demito;
Attention, please, my man. Those two captives that I bought
yesterday from the commissioners in charge of the spoils--
put the light irons on them and take off the heavy ones
they’re coupled with.
sinito ambulare, si foris si intus volent,
sed uti adserventur magna diligentia.
liber captivos avis ferae consimilis est:
semel fugiendi si data est occasio,
satis est, numquam postilla possis prendere.
Let them walk out here or inside, whichever they please;
but look after them sharp, mind you. A captive free is a
regular wild bird: once given a chance to flit, that is
enough--you can never get hold of him again.
Lor.
Over.
Omnes profecto liberi lubentius
sumus quam servimus.
Well, of course sir, we’d all rather be free than slaves.
Hegio.
Non videre ita tu quidem. 120
That seems untrue of you at any rate.[A]
[Footnote A: Implying that he had not tried to save money
to buy his liberty.]
Lor.
Over.
Si non est quod dem, mene vis dem ipse--in pedes?
In case I haven’t anything else to give you, how about my
giving you--the slip?
Hegio
Si dederis, erit extemplo mihi quod dem tibi.
Give me that, and I shall shortly have something to give
you.
Lor.
Over.
Avis me ferae consimilem faciam, ut praedicas.
I’ll copy that wild bird you speak of.
Hegio
Ita ut dicis: nam si faxis, te in caveam dabo.
sed satis verborumst. cura quae iussi atque abi.
ego ibo ad fratrem ad alios captives meos,
visam ne nocte hac quippiam turbaverint.
inde me continuo recipiam rursum domum.
Exactly--for then I’ll cage you. But enough of this. Mind my
orders and be off with you. I’ll drop in at my brother’s for
a look at my other prisoners, and see if they made any
disturbance last night. Then I’ll return home again at once.
[EXIT _Overseer_ INTO HOUSE.
Erg.
Aegre est mi, hunc facere quaestum carcerarium
propter sui gnati miseriam miserum senem. 130
sed si ullo pacto ille huc conciliari potest,
vel carnificinam hunc facere possum perpeti.
(_with a loud sigh_) It does grieve me to see the poor old
gentleman at this gaoler’s job for his poor son’s sake. (_in
lower tone_) However, if he only manages to get the lad back
here somehow, let him turn hangman, too,--I can stand it.
Hegio
Quis hic loquitur?
(_looking round_) Who is that speaking here?
Erg.
Ego, qui tuo maerore maceror,
macesco, consenesco et tabesco miser;
ossa atque pellis sum miser a macritudine;
neque umquam quicquam me iuvat quod edo domi:
foris aliquantillum etiam quod gusto, id beat.
(_stepping forward_) I--a man that am all worn out by your
woe, that am getting thin, growing old, pining away in
sorrow; I’m nothing but skin and bones, I feel for you so.
Nothing I eat--at home--ever does me any good, (_aside_)
But how I do relish the merest morsel when I’m dining out!
Hegio
Ergasile, salve.
Ah, good day, Ergasilus.
Erg.
Di te bene ament, Hegio.
God bless you, Hegio, bless you bounteously! (_grasps
Hegio’s hand fervently and bursts into tears_)
Hegio
Ne fle.
Don’t cry.
Erg.
Egone illum non fleam? egon non defleam
talem adulescentem?
I not cry for him? I not cry my eyes out for such a youth?
Hegio
Semper sensi, filio 140
meo te esse amicum, et illum intellexi tibi.
(_somewhat moved_) I always did feel that you were a friend
to my son, and I realized that he regarded you as one.
Erg.
Tum denique homines nostra intellegimus bona,
quom quae in potestate habuimus, ea amisimus.
ego, postquam gnatus tuos potitust hostium,
expertus quanti fuerit nunc desidero.
Ah, we mortals realize the value of our blessings only when
we have lost them. Myself now--after your son fell in with
the enemy, I have come to understand how much he meant to
me, and now I long for him.
Hegio
Alienus cum eius incommodum tam aegre feras,
quid me patrem par facerest, cui ille est unicus?
When an outsider like you takes his misfortune so bitterly,
how must I feel, his father, and he my only son?
Erg.
Alienus ego? alienus illi? aha, Hegio,
numquam istuc dixis neque animum induxis tuom;
tibi ille unicust, mi etiam unico magis unicus. 150
(_choking_) An outsider? I? An outsider to that boy? Oh-h-h,
Hegio! don’t say a thing like that, don’t let such a thought
enter your mind, ever! Your only son, yes,--but he was even
more than that to me: he was my only only! (_sobs violently_)
Hegio
Laudo, malum cum amici tuom ducis malum,
nunc habe bonum animum.
I appreciate this, that you consider your friend’s disaster
your own. (_patting him on the back_) Come now, take heart.
Erg.
Eheu, huic illud dolet,
quia nunc remissus est edendi exercitus.
Oh, dear! oh, dear! here’s (_rubbing his stomach_) where it
hurts: my whole commissary department has been disbanded
now, you see.
Hegio
Nullumne interea nactu’s, qui posset tibi
remissum quem dixti imperare exercitum?
(_smiling_) And meantime haven’t you hit upon anyone that
could reorganize the department you say is disbanded?
Erg.
Quid credis? fugitant omnes hanc provinciam,
quoi optigerat postquam captust Philopolemus tuos.
Would you believe it? Every one keeps fighting shy of the
office ever since your Philopolemus, its duly elected
occupant, was captured.
Hegio
Non pol mirandum est fugitare hanc provinciam,
multis et multigeneribus opus est tibi
militibus: primumdum opus est Pistorensibus: 160
eorum sunt aliquot genera Pistorensium:
opus Paniceis est, opus Placentinis quoque;
opus Turdetanis, opust Ficedulensibus;
iam maritumi omnes milites opus sunt tibi.
Bless my soul! no wonder they fight shy of it. You need many
recruits, of many sorts, too: why, in the first place you
need Pad-u-ans;[B] and there are several kinds of Paduans:
you need the support of Bologna, and you need Frankfurters
too; you need Leghorners and you need Pis-ans, and
furthermore you need every fighter in fin land.
[Footnote B: Here, as in the lines 880-883, the translator
craves pardon for distorting the ages and spoiling the
climes in his efforts to secure something of the effect
of the original puns.]
Erg
Ut saepe summa ingenia in occulto latent;
hic qualis imperator nunc privatus est.
(_appreciatively_) How often it does happen that the
greatest talents are shrouded in obscurity! This man now--
what a generalissimo, and here he is only a private citizen!
Hegio
Habe modo bonum animum, nam illum confido domum
in his diebus me reconciliassere.
nam eccum hic captivom adulescentem intus Aleum,
prognatum genere summo et summis ditiis: 170
hoc illum me mutare confido pote.
Well, well, now, take heart. As a matter of fact, I trust we
shall have the boy back with us in a few days. For, look you
(_pointing to house_) I have a young Elean prisoner inside
here--splendid family, quantities of money: I count on being
able to exchange him for my son.
Erg
Ita di deaeque faxint. sed num quo foras
vocatus es ad cenam?
(_heartily_) The gods and goddesses be with you! I say,
though,--you haven’t been invited out to dinner anywhere?
Hegio
Nusquam quod sciam
sed quid tu id quaeris?
(_cautiously_) Nowhere, to my knowledge. But why do you ask?
Erg
Quia mi est natalis dies;
propterea te vocari ad te ad cenam volo
Well, to-day is my birthday: so consider yourself invited to
take dinner at--your house.
Hegio
Facete dictum. sed si pauxillo potes,
contentus esse.
(_laughing_) Well put! But only on condition you can be
content with very little.
Erg.
Ne perpauxillum modo,
nam istoc me assiduo victu delecto domi,
age sis, roga emptum. nisi qui meliorem adferet
quae mi atque amicis placeat condicio magis, 180
quasi fundum vendam, meis me addicam legibus
Yes, only don’t make it very, very, very little, for that is
what I regale myself on constantly at home. Come on, come
on, do please say “Done!” (_after a pause, formally_) In the
event of no party making a better offer, more satisfactory
to myself and associates, I’ll knock myself down to you--on
my own terms--just as if I was selling an estate by auction.
Hegio
Profundum vendis tu quidem, haud fundum, mihi
sed si venturu’s, temperi.
An estate indeed! You mean an empty state. But if you intend
to come, come in season.
Erg.
Em, vel iam otium est.
Oho! I’m at leisure this minute, for that matter.
Hegio
I modo, venare leporem: nunc irim tenes;
nam meus scruposam victus commetat viam.
No, no, go hunt your hare: you’ve got only a hedge-hog so
far. For it is a rocky road my table travels.
Erg.
Numquam istoc vinces me, Hegio, ne postules:
cum calceatis dentibus veniam tamen.
You’ll never down me that way, Hegio, and don’t you think to
do it: I’ll be with you just the same--with my teeth shod.
Hegio
Asper meus victus sane est.
My meals are perfect terrors, really.
Erg.
Sentisne essitas?
Tearers? Do you eat brambles?
Hegio
Terrestris cena est.
Well, things that root in the earth.
Erg.
Sus terrestris bestia est.
A porker does that.
Hegio
Multis holeribus.
Mostly vegetables, I mean.
Erg.
Curato aegrotos domi. 190
numquid vis?
Open a sanitarium, then. (_turning to go_) Anything else I
can do for you?
Hegio
Venias temperi.
Come in season.
Erg.
Memorem mones.
(_cheerfully_) The suggestion is superfluous. [EXIT.
Hegio
Ibo intro atque intus subducam ratiunculam,
quantillum argenti mi apud trapezitam siet.
ad fratrem, quo ire dixeram, mox ivero.
(_sighing as he looks at the back of his prospective guest_)
I must go in and reckon up my bit of a bank balance, and see
how low it is. Then to my brother’s, where I spoke of going
before. [EXIT INTO HOUSE.
ACTVS II
ACT II
ENTER FROM _Hegio’s_ HOUSE _Overseers_ AND _Slaves_ WITH
_Philocrates_ AND _Tyndarus_ IN FETTERS: THE TWO HAVE
EXCHANGED CLOTHES
Lor.
Over.
Si di immortales id voluerunt, vos hanc aerumnam exsequi,
decet id pati animo aequo: si id facietis, levior labos erit.
domi fuistis, credo, liberi:
nunc servitus si evenit, ei vos morigerari mos bonust
et erili imperio eamque ingeniis vostris lenem reddere.
indigna digna habenda sunt, erus quae facit.
(_to captives, patronizingly_) Seeing it’s the will of
Heaven you’re in this box, the thing for you to do is to
take it calmly: do that, and you won’t have such a hard time
of it. At home you were free men, I suppose: since you
happen to be slaves at present, it’s a good idea to accept
the situation and a master’s orders gracefully, and make
things easy to bear by taking ’em the proper way. Anything a
master does is right, no matter how wrong it is.
Captivi
Oh oh oh. 200
(_protestingly_) Oh-h-h-h!
Lor.
Over.
Eiulatione haud opus est, oculis haud[5] lacrimantibus:
in re mala animo si bono utare, adiuvat.
There’s no need of howling or crying. It helps to take bad
things well.
Tynd.
At nos pudet, quia cum catenis sumus.
But to be in chains--we feel disgraced!
Lor.
Over.
At pigeat postea
nostrum erum, si vos eximat vinculis,
aut solutos sinat, quos argento emerit.
But it’s disgusted our master would feel later on, if he
took the chains off, or let you loose, when he’s paid money
for you.
Tynd.
Quid a nobis metuit? scimus nos
nostrum officium quod est, si solutos sinat.
What has he to fear from us? We realise what our duty is, if
he should let us loose.
Lor.
Over.
At fugam fingitis: sentio quam rem agitis.
Ah yes, you’re planning to run for it! I see what’s afoot.
Philocr.
Nos fugiamus? quo fugiamus?
Run--we? Where should we run to?
Lor.
Over.
In patriam.
Home.
Philocr.
Apage, haud nos id deceat.
fugitivos imitari.
Get out! The idea of our acting like runaway slaves!
Lor.
Over.
Immo edepol, si erit occasio, haud dehortor. 210
Lord! why not? I’m not saying you shouldn’t, if you get the
chance.
Tynd.
Unum exorare vos sinite nos.
(_with dignity_) Be good enough to grant us one request.
Lor.
Over.
Quidnam id est?
Well, what is it?
Tynd.
Ut sine hisce arbitris
atque vobis nobis detis locum loquendi.
Merely this--give us an opportunity to talk together without
being overheard by these good fellows (_pointing to slaves_)
and yourselves.
Lor.
Over.
Fiat. abscedite hinc: nos concedamus huc.
sed brevem orationem incipisse.
All right. (_to slaves_) Away with you! (_to other overseer_)
Let’s drop back here. (_to captives_) Make it short, though.
Tynd.
Em istuc mihi certum erat. concede huc.
Oh yes, that was my intention. (_to Philocrates, drawing
him farther from slaves_) Come this way.
Lor.
Over.
Abite ab istis.
(_to slaves still hanging about_) Get out and leave ’em
alone. (_slaves obey_)
Tynd.
Obnoxii ambo
vobis sumus propter hanc rem, quom quae volumus nos
copia est; ea[6] facitis nos compotes.
(_to overseers_) We are much obliged to you, both of us, for
the privilege of doing as we wish; we owe it to you.
Philocr.
Secede huc nunciam, si videtur, procul.
ne arbitri dicta nostra arbitrari queant 220
neu permanet palam haec nostra fallacia.
nam doli non doli sunt, nisi astu colas,
sed malum maxumum, si id palam provenit.
(_to Tyndarus_) Step over here now, if you please, come
over, so that no one may catch what we say and leave us with
a scheme that has leaked out. (_they move still farther from
the overseers_) Shrewd management is what makes a trick a
trick, you know: once it gets out, it becomes an instrument
of torture.
nam si erus mihi es tu atque ego me tuom esse servom assimulo,
tamen viso opust, cauto est opus, ut hoc sobrie sineque arbitris
accurate agatur, docte et diligenter;
tanta incepta res est: haud somniculose hoc
agendum est.
No matter if you are passing as my master and I as your
slave, even so we’ve got to be wary, we’ve got to be
cautious, so that our plan may be worked out in a clear-
headed way, quietly and carefully, with discretion and
diligence. It’s a big job we’ve got in hand: we can’t go
to sleep over it.
Tynd.
Ero ut me voles esse.
I will be all you wish me to be, sir.
Philocr.
Spero.
I hope so.
Tynd.
Nam tu nunc vides pro tuo caro capite
carum offerre me meum caput vilitati. 230
For that matter, sir, you already see that to save a man I
love, I am holding my own life cheap, much as I love it.
Philocr.
Scio.
I realize it.
Tynd.
At scire memento, quando id quod voles habebis;
nam fere maxima pars morem hunc homines habent; quod sibi volunt,
dum id impetrant, boni sunt;
sed id ubi iam penes sese habent,
ex bonis pessimi et fraudulentissimi
fiunt: nunc ut mihi te volo esse autumo.[7] (236)
But remember to realize it when you get what you want. For,
generally speaking, men have a habit of being fine fellows
so long as they are seeking some favour; but when they have
obtained it there’s a change, and your fine fellows turn
into villainous cheats of the worst description. In all
this, sir, I’m telling you how I wish you to act toward me.
Philocr.
Pol ego si te audeam, meum patrem nominem: (238)
nam secundum patrem tu es pater proximus.
By heaven, I might call you my father, if I chose: for next
to my real father you are the best one I have.
Tynd.
Audio.
I know, I know.
Philocr.
Et propterea saepius te uti memineris moneo: 240
non ego erus tibi, sed servos sum; nunc obsecro te hoc unum--
quoniam nobis di immortales animum ostenderunt suom,
ut qui erum me tibi fuisse atque esse conservom velint,
quom antehac pro iure imperitabam meo, nunc te oro per precem--
And that’s just why I keep reminding you the oftener to
remember what the situation calls for: I’m not your master,
I’m a slave. Now I beg this one thing of you--since we have
unmistakable proof that it’s Heaven’s will I should
no longer be your master but your fellow slave, I, who used
to have the right to command you, now implore and entreat
you--
per fortunam incertam et per mei te erga bonitatem patris,
perque conservitium commune, quod hostica evenit manu,
ne me secus honore honestes quam quom servibas mihi,
atque ut qui fueris et qui nunc sis meminisse ut memineris.
by the common peril in which we stand and by my father’s
kindness to you and by the captivity which the chances of
war have brought upon us both, don’t feel less respect for
my wishes than you did when you were my slave, and remember,
remember carefully, both who you were and who you are now.
Tynd.
Scio quidem me te esse nunc et te esse me.
Yes, yes, I know that I am you for the time being and that
you are I.
Philocr.
Em istuc si potes
memoriter meminisse, inest spes nobis in hac astutia. 250
There! manage to remember to keep that in mind, and this
scheme of ours looks likely.
II. 2.
Scene 2.
ENTER _Hegio_ FROM HOUSE.
Hegio
Iam ego revertar intro, si ex his quae volo exquisivero.
ubi sunt isti quos ante aedis iussi huc produci foras?
(_to those within_) I shall be back directly, if I find out
what I want to know from these fellows. (_to overseers_)
Where are those prisoners I had brought out in front of the
house here?
Philocr.
Edepol tibi ne in quaestione essemus cautum intellego,
ita vinclis custodiisque circum moeniti sumus.
(_advancing, pertly_) Gad! You guarded against having to
look for us far, I perceive,--see how we’re barricaded with
chains and watchmen.
Hegio
Qui cavet ne decipiatur, vix cavet, cum etiam cavet;
etiam cum cavisse ratus est, saepe is cautor captus est.
an vero non iusta causa est, ut vos servem sedulo,
quos tam grandi sim mercatus praesenti pecunia?
The man on his guard against being deceived is hardly on his
guard even when he is on his guard, even when he supposed he
was on his guard, your guarder has often enough been gulled.
Really though, haven’t I good reason to take pains to keep
you, when I paid so high for you, cash down?
Philocr.
Neque pol tibi nos, quia nos servas, aequomst vitio vortere,
neque te nobis, si abeamus hinc, si fuat occasio. 260
Bless your heart, sir, we haven’t any right to find fault
with you for trying to keep us, or you with us, if we clear
out--if we get a chance.
Hegio
Ut vos hic, itidem illic apud vos meus servatur filius.
My son is kept prisoner there in your country just as you
are here.
Philocr.
Captus est?
Captured?
Hegio
Ita.
Yes.
Philocr.
Non igitur nos soli ignavi fuimus.
Then other folks besides us have been cowards.
Hegio
Secede huc. nam sunt quae ex te solo scitari volo.
quarum rerum te falsilocum mi esse nolo.
(_leading him farther from Tyndarus_) Step over here. There
are some matters I wish to ask you about in private. No
lying about them, mind.
Philocr.
Non ero
quod sciam. si quid nescibo, id nescium tradam tibi.
Not I, sir, not if I know. If I don’t know about a thing,
I’ll (_innocently_) tell you what I don’t know.
Tynd.
Nunc senex est in tostrina, nunc iam cultros attinet.
ne id quidem, involucrum inicere, voluit, vestem ut ne inquinet.
sed utrum strictimne adtonsurum dicam esse an per pectinem,
nescio; verum, si frugist, usque admutilabit probe.
(_aside, cheerfully_) Now the old fellow is in the barber’s
chair, yes, now we have the clippers on him. And master not
even willing to throw a towel over him to keep his clothes
clean! Is it going to be a close crop, I wonder, or just a
trim?--that’s the question. If he knows his business,
though, he’ll dock him handsomely.
Hegio
Quid tu? servosne esse an liber mavelis, memora mihi. 270
See here, would you prefer to be a slave or a free man, tell
me that?
Philocr.
Proxumum quod sit bono quodque a malo longissume,
id volo; quamquam non multum fuit molesta servitus,
nec mihi secus erat quam si essem familiaris filius.
The maximum of pleasure and the minimum of pain, that’s my
preference, sir; but being a slave hasn’t bothered me much,
though: I wasn’t treated any differently than if I’d been a
son of the house.
Tynd.
Eugepae, Thalem talento non emam Milesium,
nam ad sapientiam huius[8] nimius nugator fuit.
ut facete orationem ad servitutem contulit.
(_aside_) Well done my boy! I wouldn’t buy Milesian Thales
at a thousand thalers: why, he was nothing but the veriest
amateur of a wise man compared with master here. How
cleverly he’s dropped into the servant jargon!
Hegio.
Quo de genere natust illic Philocrates?
Who are Philocrates’ people there in Elis?
Philocr.
Polyplusio:
quod genus illi est unum pollens atque honoratissumum.
The Goldfields, sir,--the most influential and respected
family in those parts easily.
Hegio
Quid ipsus hic? quo honore est illic?
And the young man himself? How does he stand?
Philocr.
Summo, atque ab summis viris.[9] 279
Very high indeed, sir,--belongs to the highest circles.
Hegio
Quid divitiae, suntne opimae?
How about his property? Pretty fat one, eh?
Philocr.
Unde excoquat sebum senex. (281)
Fat? Old Goldfields could get dripping out of it.
Hegio
Quid pater, vivitne?
What about his father? Is he living?
Philocr.
Vivom, cum inde abimus, liquimus;
nunc vivatne necne, id Orcum scire oportet scilicet.
He was when we left home, whether he’s alive now or not, of
course you had better inquire below as to that, sir.
Tynd.
Salva res est, philosophatur quoque iam, non mendax modo est.
(_aside_) The situation is saved! Now he not only lies but
moralizes.
Hegio
Quid erat ei nomen?
What was his name?
Philocr.
Thensaurochrysonicochrysides.
Ducatsdoubloonsandpiecesofeightson.
Hegio
Videlicet propter divitias inditum id nomen quasi est.
A sort of name applied to him on account of his money,
I take it.
Philocr.
Immo edepol propter avaritiam ipsius atque audaciam.[10]
(_apparently struck by a new idea_) Lord, no! on account of
his being so greedy and grasping, sir.
Hegio
Quid tu ais? tenaxne pater est eius?
What’s that? His father’s rather close, is he?
Philocr.
Immo edepol pertinax;
quin etiam ut magis noscas: Genio suo ubi quando sacruficat, 290
ad rem divinam quibus est opus, Samiis vasis utitur,
ne ipse Genius surripiat: proinde aliis ut credat vide.
Close? My word, sir! he’s adhesive! Why, really,--just so as
to give you a better notion of him--whenever he sacrifices
to his own Guardian Spirit he won’t use any dishes needed in
the service except ones made of Samian earthenware, for fear
his very Guardian Spirit may steal ’em. You can see from
this what a confiding character he is in general.
Hegio
Sequere hac me igitur. eadem ego ex hoc quae volo exquaesivero.
Philocrates, hic fecit, hominem frugi ut facere oportuit.
nam ego ex hoc quo genere gnatus sis scio, hic fassust mihi;
haec tu eadem si confiteri vis, tua ex re feceris:
quae tamen scio scire me ex hoc.
Well, well, come this way with me. (_aside, as they join
Tyndarus_) I’ll soon get the information I want out of the
master here at the same time. (_to Tyndarus_) Philocrates,
your servant has acted as a worthy fellow ought to act.
Yes, I know from him about your family: he has admitted
everything. If you choose to be equally open with me, it
will be to your advantage: however, I have been completely
informed already by him.
Tynd.
Fecit officium hic suom,
cum tibi est confessus verum, quamquam volui sedulo
meam nobilitatem occultare et genus et divitias meas,
Hegio; nunc quando patriam et libertatem perdidi, 300
non ego istunc me potius quam te metuere aequom censeo.
vis hostilis cum istoc fecit meas opes aequabiles;
memini, cum dicto haud audebat: facto nunc laedat licet.
(_with dignified melancholy_) He has done his duty in
admitting the truth to you, much as I did wish to keep you
in the dark, Hegio, about my rank and birth and wealth; now
that I am a man without a country, a prisoner, I suppose it
is not to be expected that he should stand more in
awe of me than of you. The chances of war have put master
and man on an equal footing. I remember the time when he did
not venture to offend me by a word: now he is at liberty to
do me an actual injury.
sed viden? fortuna humana fingit artatque ut lubet:
me, qui liber fueram servom fecit, e summo infimum;
qui imperare insueram, nunc alterius imperio obsequor.
et quidem si, proinde ut ipse fui imperator familiae,
habeam dominum, non verear ne iniuste aut graviter mi imperet.
Hegio, hoc te monitum, nisi forte ipse non vis, voluerim.
But you see! fortune moulds us, pinches us, to suit her
whims: here am I, the one-time free man, a slave--tossed
from the heights to the depths. Accustomed to command,
I am now at another’s beck and call. And indeed, if I might
have such a master as I myself was when I was the head of a
household, I should have no fear of being treated unjustly
or harshly. There is one thing I should like to impress upon
you, Hegio,--unless you object, maybe.
Hegio
Loquere audacter.
No, no, speak out.
Tynd.
Tam ego fui ante liber quam gnatus tuos, 310
tam mihi quam illi libertatem hostilis eripuit manus.
tam ille apud nos servit, quam ego nunc his apud te servio.
est profecto deus, qui quae nos gerimus auditque et videt:
is, uti tu me his habueris, proinde illum illic curaverit;
bene merenti bene profuerit, male merenti par erit.
quam tu filium tuom, tam pater me meus desiderat.
Once I was free as your son; an enemy’s success deprived me
of my liberty as he was deprived of his; he is a slave in my
country as I am here with you. There surely is a God who
hears and sees what we do: and according to your treatment
of me here, so will he look after your son there. He will
reward the deserving and requite the undeserving. Just as
you long for your son, so does my father long for me.
Hegio
Memini ego istuc. sed faterin eadem quae hic fassust mihi?
I know all that--but do you admit the truth of what this
fellow has told me?
Tynd.
Ego patri meo esse fateor summas divitias domi
meque summo genere gnatum. sed te optestor, Hegio,
ne tuom animum avariorem faxint divitiae meae: 320
ne patri, tam etsi sum unicus, decere videatur magis,
me saturum servire apud te sumptu et vestitu tuo
potius quam illi,
ubi minime honestumst, mendicantem vivere.[11] (323)
I do admit that my father is a very wealthy man at home and
that I do come of very good family. But, Hegio, I beseech
you, don’t let my wealth make your demands too exorbitant:
for my father, even though I am his only son, might feel
that it was better for me to remain your slave, well fed and
clothed at your expense, than to come to beggary
there at home where it would disgrace us most.
Hegio
Non ego omnino lucrum omne esse utile homini existimo (325)
scio ego, multos iam lucrum lutulentos homines reddidit,
est etiam ubi profecto damnum praestet facere quam lucrum.
odi ego aurum: multa multis saepe suasit perperam.
I am not a man who regards each and every acquisition of
money as a blessing: plenty of people have been tainted
before now by this money getting, I know that. There are
even times when it certainly is more profitable to lose
money than to make it. Gold! I despise it: it has led many a
man into many a wrong course.
nunc hoc animum advorte, ut ea quae sentio pariter scias.
filius meus illic apud vos servit captus Alide: 330
eum si reddis mihi, praeterea unum nummum ne duis;
et te et hunc amittam hinc. alio pacto abire non potes.
Now give me your attention. I want you to understand
thoroughly what I have in mind. (_slowly and emphatically_)
My son is a prisoner in Elis, a slave there among your
countrymen: get him back to me, and without your giving me
a single penny in addition, I will let you go home, and your
servant, too. On no other terms can you get off.
Tynd
Optumum atque aequissumum oras optumusque hominum es homo.
sed is privatam servitutem servit illi an publicam?
A very fair and reasonable proposition, sir, and you are the
very fairest of men. Does he belong to some private person,
though, or to the state?
Hegio
Privatam medici Menarchi.
To a private person, a doctor named Menarchus.
Tynd
Pol is quidem huius est cliens.
tam hoc quidem tibi in proclivi quam amber est quando pluit.
(_aside_) Jove! why, he’s a client of master’s! (_aloud_)
Why, this will be just as easy for you as rain when it pours.
Hegio
Fac is homo ut redimatur.
Have him ransomed.
Tynd
Faciam. sed te id oro, Hegio--
I will. But thus much I beg of you Hegio,--
Hegio
Quid vis, dum ab re ne quid ores, faciam.
(_eagerly_) Anything you please, provided my interests don’t
suffer by it.
Tynd.
Ausculta, tum scies.
ego me amitti, donicum ille huc redierit, non postulo
verum quaeso ut aestumatum bunc mihi des, quem mittam ad patrem 340
ut is homo redimatur illi.
Listen, and you can see if they will. I don’t ask to be
released myself until my servant gets back. But I do urge
you to let me have him under a forfeit, to send to father so
that your son there can be ransomed.
Hegio
Immo alium potius misero
hunc, ubi erant indutiae, illuc, tuom qui conveniat patrem,
qui tua quae tu iusseris mandata ita ut velis perferat.
Oh no, I’ll send some one else instead when we have an
armistice; that will be preferable: he shall confer
with your father and carry out your orders to your
satisfaction.
Tynd.
At nihil est ignotum ad illum mittere: operam luseris.
hunc mitte, hic transactum reddet omne, si illuc venerit.
nec quemquam fideliorem neque cui plus credat potes
mittere ad eum nec qui magis sit servos ex sententia,
neque adeo cui suom concredat filium hodie audacius.
ne vereare, meo periclo huius ego experiar fidem,
fretus ingenio eius, quod me esse scit erga se benevolum. 350
But it’s no good sending a stranger to him: you’ll have
frittered away your time. Send him: (_pointing to
Philocrates_) he will transact the whole affair, once he
gets there. You can’t send him a more reliable man, one he
would trust more, a servant that’s more to his mind; I may
go so far as to say there is no one he would be readier to
entrust his own son to. Never fear: I will be responsible
for his fidelity. I can depend on his goodness of heart; he
appreciates my kindness to him.
Hegio
Mittam equidem istunc aestumatum tua fide, si vis.
Very well, I’ll send him under a forfeit, on your guarantee,
if you wish.
Tynd.
Volo;
quam citissime potest, tam hoc cedere ad factum volo.
I do wish it. And I wish to have all this an accomplished
fact just as quickly as possible.
Hegio
Num quae causa est quin, si ille huc non redeat, viginti minas
mihi des pro illo?
Have you any objection to paying me eighty pounds for him in
case he doesn’t return?
Tynd.
Optuma immo.
Not the slightest--fair as can be.
Hegio
Solvite istum nunciam,
atque utrumque.
(_to overseers_) Take the chains off that fellow at once,
off both of them, in fact.
Tynd.
Di tibi omnis omnia optata offerant,
cum me tanto honore honestas cumque ex vinclis eximis.
hoc quidem haud molestumst, iam quod collus collari caret.
(_as slaves obey_) God grant your every wish, sir, for your
highly considerate conduct toward me and for releasing me.
(_aside, stretching himself_) I tell you what, it’s no
unpleasant sensation, having that necklet off one’s neck.
Hegio
Quod bonis bene fit beneficium, gratia ea gravida est bonis.
nunc tu illum si illo es missurus, dice monstra praecipe
quae ad patrem vis nuntiari. vin vocem huc ad te?
“A good deed done a good man yields a large return of good.”
Now if you intend to send that fellow home, inform him,
instruct him, give him full particulars as to the message
he’s to carry your father. Shall I call him over here to
you?
Tynd.
Voca. 360
Do.
II. 3.
Scene 3.
Hegio
Quae res bene vortat mihi meoque filio
vobisque, volt te novos erus operam dare
tuo veteri domino, quod is velit, fideliter.
nam ego te aestumatum huic dedi viginti minis,
his autem te ait mittere hinc velle ad patrem,
meum ut illic redimat filium, mutatio
inter me atque illum ut nostris fiat filiis.
(_going to Philocrates_) God bless us all in this, me,
and my son, and yourselves! My man, your new master
wishes you to do something your old master wishes, and to do
it faithfully. The fact is, I have given you over to him,
under an eighty pound forfeit, he saying he desires to send
you off to his father and let him ransom my son there in
Elis, so that he may exchange my boy for his own.
Philocr.
Utroque vorsum rectumst ingenium meum,
ad te atque ad illum; pro rota me uti licet:
vel ego huc vel illic vortar, quo imperabitis. 370
I’m quite disposed to do both of you a good turn, sirs, you
and him both; you can use me like a wheel, I’ll turn your
way or his, either way, wherever you like.
Hegio
Tute tibi tuopte ingenio prodes plurumum,
cum servitutem ita fers ut ferri decet.
sequere. em tibi hominem.
And you are acting very much to your own advantage in being
so disposed, and in accepting your slavery as you should.
Follow me. (_leading way to Tyndarus_) There’s your man.
Tynd.
Gratiam habeo tibi,
quom copiam istam mi et potestatem facis,
ut ego ad parentes hunc remittam nuntium,
qui me quid rerum his agitem et quid fieri velim
patri meo, ordine omnem rem, illuc perferat.
(_sedately_) I thank you, sir, for affording me this
opportunity, of making him my messenger to my parents, so
that he may carry to my father a full account of me and my
situation here, and what I wish him to see to.
nunc ita convenit inter me atque hunc, Tyndare.
ut te aestumatum in Alidem mittam ad patrem,
si non rebitas huc, ut viginti minas 380
dem pro te.
(_turning to Philocrates_) Tyndarus, this gentleman and I
have just arranged that I send you to Elis to father, under
a forfeit: if you fail to return, I am to pay him eighty
pounds for you.
Philocr.
Recte convenisse sentio.
nam pater expectat aut me aut aliquem nuntium,
qui hinc ad se veniat.
And a good arrangement, too, in my opinion. For the old
gentleman’s expecting either me or some messenger to come to
him from here.
Tynd.
Ergo animum advortas volo
quae nuntiare hinc te volo in patriam ad patrem.
Well then, I wish you to pay attention to the message I wish
you to take home to him.
Philocr.
Philocrates, ut adhuc locorum feci, faciam sedulo,
ut potissimum quod in rem recte conducat tuam,
id petam idque persequar corde et animo atque viribus.
I’ll do the best I can for you, sir, just as I always have:
anything that makes for your good, sir, I’ll work my hardest
for, and follow up with all my heart and soul and strength.
Tynd.
Facis ita ut te facere oportet. nunc animum advortas volo:
omnium primum salutem dicito matri et patri
et cognatis et si quem alium benevolentem videris; 390
me hic valere et servitutem servire huic homini optumo,
qui me honore honestiorem semper fecit et facit.
The proper spirit. Now I wish you to pay attention. First of
all, remember me to my father and mother and my relatives
and anyone else you may see who is interested in my welfare;
tell them I am in good health here and a slave of this most
estimable gentleman who has always accorded me the (_with
emphasis_) very extraordinary consideration which I still
enjoy.
Philocr.
Istuc ne praecipias, facile memoria memini tamen.
No instructions needed along that line, sir: I can remember
to mind that easily enough, without.
Tynd.
Nam equidem, nisi quod custodem habeo, liberum me esse arbitror.
dicito patri, quo pacto mihi cum hoc convenerit de huius filio.
For really, aside from the fact that I have a guard, I feel
that I am a free man. Tell my father what arrangement this
gentleman and I have made regarding his son.
Philocr.
Quae memini, mora mera est monerier.
Mere waste of time, sir, to remind me of what I remember.
Tynd.
Ut eum redimat et remittat nostrum huc amborum vicem.
That he is to ransom him and send him back here in exchange
for us both.
Philocr.
Meminero.
I’ll remember.
Hegio
At quamprimum pote: istuc in rem utriquest maxime.
Yes, but just as quickly as possible: that’s of the highest
importance to each of us.
Philocr.
Non tuom tu magis videre quam ille suom gnatum cupit.
You don’t long to see your son any more than he does his,
sir.
Hegio
Meus mihi, suos cuique est carus.
My son is dear to me, as his own son is to every father.
Philocr.
Numquid aliud vis patri 400
nuntiari?
No further message for him, eh?
Tynd.
Me hic valere et--tute audacter dicito,
Tyndare--inter nos fuisse ingenio haud discordabili,
neque te commeruisse culpam--neque me adversatum tibi--
beneque ero gessisse morem in tantis aerumnis tamen;
(_somewhat at a loss_) Say I am in good health here, and--
(_earnestly_) Tyndarus, speak up boldly to him, yourself,--
say that we have never been at variance, that I have never
had reason to find fault with you (nor you to think me
obstinate) and that you have served your master to the
full even in such adversity.
neque med umquam deseruisse te neque factis neque fide,
rebus in dubiis egenis. haec pater quando sciet,
Tyndare, ut fueris animatus erga suom gnatum atque se,
numquam erit tam avarus, quin te gratiis emittat manu[12];
et mea opera, si hinc rebito, faciam ut faciat facilius.
Say that a treacherous act, a disloyal thought were things
undreamed of even in the dark hours of distress. When my
father knows of this, Tyndarus, knows what your spirit
toward his son and himself has been, he will never be so
niggardly as not to set you free at his own expense; and
if I return, I will put forth my own efforts to make him
the more ready to do it.
nam tua opera et comitate et virtute et sapientia 410
fecisti ut redire liceat ad parentis denuo,
cum apud hunc confessus es et genus et divitias meas:
quo pacto emisisti e vinclis tuom erum tua sapientia.
For it is through your efforts and good will and devotion
and wisdom that I have a chance to go back to my parents
once more, inasmuch as you informed this gentleman of my
family and wealth: thanks to your wisdom in doing so, your
master’s fetters have been removed.
Philocr.
Feci ego ista ut commemoras, et te meminisse id gratum est mihi.
merito tibi ea venerunt a me; nam nunc, Philocrates,
si ego item memorem quae me erga multa fecisti bene,
nox diem adimat; nam quasi servos meus esses, nihilo setius
tu mihi obsequiosus semper fuisti.
Right you are, sir, so I did, and I’m glad you remember it.
You deserve anything I’ve done for you, too; why, sir, if I
was to go on like that now and mention how many good turns
you’ve done me, it would take all day and more; why, it was
just as if you had been my slave, not a bit different, the
deferential way you’ve always treated me.
Hegio
Di vostram fidem,
hominum ingenium liberale. ut lacrumas excutiunt mihi.
videas corde amare inter se. quantis lautus laudibus 420
suom erum servos collaudavit.
(_half aside_) Bless my soul, what noble natures! Dear,
dear, it brings the tears to my eyes! You can see they are
simply devoted to each other. The way that splendid slave
praised his own master--a perfect panegyric!
Tynd.
Pol istic me haud centesimam
partem laudat quam ipse meritust ut laudetur laudibus.
Heavens, sir, he doesn’t praise me a hundredth part as much
as he deserves to be praised himself.
Hegio
Ergo cum optume fecisti, nunc adest occasio
bene facta cumulare, ut erga hunc rem geras fideliter.
(_to Philocrates_) Well then, having been such an excellent
servant, here is an opportunity to crown your services by
carrying through this business for him faithfully.
Philocr.
Magis non factum possum velle, quam opera experiar persequi;
id ut scias, Iovem supremum testem laudo, Hegio.
me infidelem non futurum Philocrati.
I’ll be just as keen in actually trying to do it as I can be
for wanting it done, sir; and to prove it, sir, I swear by
God Almighty that I’ll never be unfaithful to Philocrates--
Hegio
Probus es homo.
(_heartily_) Worthy fellow!
Philocr.
Nec me secus umquam ei facturum quicquam quam memet mihi.
--or ever act any differently by him than I would by my own
self.
Tynd.
Istaec dicta te experiri et operis et factis volo;
et, quo minus dixi quam volui de te, animum advortas volo, 430
atque horunc verborum causa caveto mi iratus fuas;
sed, te quaeso, cogitato hinc mea fide mitti domum
te aestimatum, et meam esse vitam hic pro te positam pignori,
(_with increased earnestness_) It is the actual performance,
the deed, I wish to test those words by; and inasmuch as I
said less than I wished about your conduct, I wish you to
pay particular attention,--yes, and be sure not to take
offence at what I say. But I beg you, do bear in mind the
fact that you are being sent off home, sent home at my risk
and under a forfeit, and that I am staking my life for you
here:
ne tu me ignores, quom extemplo meo e conspectu abscesseris,
quom me servom in servitute pro ted hic reliqueris,
tuque te pro libero esse ducas, pignus deseras
neque des operam pro me ut huius reducem facias filium.[13] (437)
fac fidelis sis fideli, cave fidem fluxam geras: (439)
nam pater, scio, faciet quae illum facere oportet omnia; 440
serva tibi in perpetuom amicum me, atque hunc inventum inveni.
so don’t forget me the moment you are out of sight, when you
have left me here in servitude, a slave, in your stead; and
don’t consider yourself a free man and let your promise go
and fail to save me by bringing back this gentleman’s son.
Be faithful, I entreat you, to one who has shown his faith,
and don’t falter in that faithfulness. As for my father, I
am sure he will do everything he should do. For your part,
keep me your friend for ever, and do not lose this friend
(_indicating Hegio_) you have found.
haec per dexteram tuam te dextera retinens manu
opsecro, infidelior mihi ne fuas quam ego sum tibi.
tu hoc age. tu mihi erus nunc es, tu patronus, tu pater,
tibi commendo spes opesque meas.
This I beseech you by this hand (_grasping Philocrates’
right hand_), this hand I hold in mine: don’t be less true
to me than I am to you. (_after a pause_) Well, to the work!
You are my master now, my protector, my father, you and you
only: to you I commend my hopes and my welfare.
Philocr.
Mandavisti satis
satin habes, mandata quae sunt facta si refero?
Enough commands, sir. Will you be satisfied, if I turn your
commands to accomplished facts?
Tynd.
Satis.
Yes.
Philocr.
Et tua et tua huc ornatus reveniam ex sententia. numquid aliud?
I’ll come back here equipped to suit you (_to Hegio_) sir,
and you, (_to Tyndarus_) too. Nothing else?
Tynd.
Ut quam primum possis redeas.
Return as soon as you can.
Philocr.
Res monet.
Naturally, sir.
Hegio
Sequere me, viaticum ut dem a trapezita tibi,
eadem opera a praetore sumam syngraphum.
(_to Philocrates_) Follow me. I must go to the banker’s
and give you some money for travelling expenses: I’ll get a
passport from the praetor at the same time.
Tynd.
Quem syngraphum? 450
What passport?
Hegio
Quem hic ferat secum ad legionem, hinc ire huic ut liceat domum.
tu intro abi.
One to take to the army with him so that he’ll he allowed to
go off home. As for yourself, you go inside.
Tynd.
Ben ambulato.
(_to Philocrates_) A good journey to you.
Philocr.
Bene vale.
Good-bye, sir, good-bye!
[EXIT _Tyndarus_ INTO _Hegio’s_ HOUSE.
Hegio
Edepol rem meam
constabilivi, quom illos emi de praeda a quaestoribus;
expedivi ex servitute filium, si dis placet,
at etiam dubitavi, hos homines emerem an non emerem, diu.
(_aside, in high spirits_) Well, well, well, it was the
making of me when I bought those two from the commissioners!
I’ve set my son at Liberty, God willing! And to think I
hesitated for a long time whether to buy them or not!
servate istum sultis intus, servi, ne quoquam pedem
ecferat sine custodela. iam ego apparebo domi;
ad fratrem modo captivos alios inviso meos,
eadem percontabor, ecquis hunc adulescentem noverit.
sequere tu, te ut amittam; ei rei primum praevorti volo. 460
(_to overseers_) Please keep an eye on that prisoner
inside there, my lads, and don’t let him set a foot out
here anywhere without a guard. I shall soon be home myself.
I’ll just step over to my brother’s for a look at my other
captives: at the same time I’ll inquire if any one of them
knows this young gentleman. (_to Philocrates_) Come, my man,
so that I may send you off; I want to attend to that first.
[EXEUNT _Hegio_ AND _Philocrates_.
ACTVS III
ACT III
(_An hour has elapsed._)
ENTER _Ergasilus_, MUCH DEPRESSED
Erg.
Miser homo est, qui ipse sibi quod edit quaerit et id aegre invenit,
sed ille est miserior, qui et aegre quaerit et nihil invenit;
ille miserrimust, qui cum esse cupit, tum quod edit non habet.
nam hercle ego huic die, si liceat, oculos effodiam libens,
ita malignitate oneravit omnis mortalis mihi;
It’s sad when a man has to spend his time looking for his
food and has hard work finding it. It’s sadder, though, when
he has hard work looking for it and doesn’t find it. But
it’s saddest of all when a man is pining to eat, and no food
in range. By gad, if I only could, I’d like to dig the eyes
out of this day, it’s made every living soul so damnably
mean to me!
neque ieiuniosiorem neque magis ecfertum fame
vidi nec quoi minus procedat quidquid facere occeperit,
ita venter gutturque resident esurialis ferias.
ilicet parasiticae arti maximam malam crucem,
ita iuventus iam ridicules inopesque ab se segregat. 470
A more hungriful day, a more bulged-out- with-starvation
day, a more unprogressive day for every undertaking, I never
did see! Such a famine feast as my inside is having! Devil
take the parasitical profession! How the young fellows
nowadays do sheer off from impecunious wits!
nil morantur iam Lacones unisubselli viros,
plagipatidas, quibus sunt verba sine penu et pecunia
eos requirunt, qui libenter, quom ederint, reddant domi;
ipsi obsonant, quae parasitorum ante erat provincia,
ipsi de foro tam aperto capite ad lenones eunt
quam in tribu aperto capite sontes condemnant reos;
neque ridiculos iam terrunci faciunt, sese omnes amant.
Not a bit of use have they nowadays for us Spartans, us
valiant benchenders, us descendants of old Takesacuff, whose
capital is talk without cash and comestibles. The guests
they’re after are the ones that enjoy a dinner and then
like to return the compliment. They do their marketing
themselves, too,--that used to be the parasites’ province--
and away they go from the forum themselves to interview the
pimps, just as barefaced as they are in court when they
condemn guilty defendants. They don’t care a farthing for
wits these days: they’re egoists, every one.
nam uti dudum hinc abii, accessi ad adulescentes in foro.
“salvete” inquam. “quo imus una” inquam “ad prandium?”
atque illi tacent.
“quid ait ‘hoc’ aut quis profitetur?”
inquam. quasi muti silent, 480
neque me rident. “ubi cenamus?” inquam. atque illi abnuont.
Why, when I left here a little while ago, I went up to some
young fellows in the forum. “Good day,” says I. “Where are
we going to lunch together?” says I. Sudden silence. “Who
says: ‘This way’? Who makes a bid?” says I. Dumb as mutes,
didn’t even give me a smile. “Where do we dine?” says I.
A shaking of heads.
dico unum ridiculum dictum de dictis melioribus,
quibus solebam menstruales epulas ante adipiscier:
nemo ridet; scivi extemplo rem de compecto geri;
ne canem quidem irritatam voluit quisquam imitarier,
saltem, si non arriderent, dentes ut restringerent.
I told ’em a funny story--one of my best, that used to find
me free board for a month. Nobody smiled. I saw in a moment
it was a put-up job; not a one of ’em was even willing to
act like a cross dog and at least show their teeth, no
matter if they wouldn’t laugh.
abeo ab illis, postquam video me sic ludificarier;
pergo ad alios, venio ad alios, deinde ad alios: una res.
omnes de compecto rem agunt, quasi in Velabro olearii.
nunc redeo inde, quoniam me ibi video ludificarier. 490
item alii parasiti frustra obambulabant in foro.
I left ’em after I saw I was being made a fool of this way,
up I went to some others, and then to others, and to others
still,--same story. They re all in a combination, just like
the oil dealers in the Velabrum.[C] So here I am back again,
seeing I was trifled with there. Some more parasites were
prowling round the forum all for nothing, too.
[Footnote C: A market district in Rome.]
nunc barbarica lege certumst ius meum omne persequi:
qui consilium iniere, quo nos victu et vita prohibeant,
is diem dicam, inrogabo multam. ut mihi cenas decem
meo arbitratu dent, cum cara annona sit. sic egero.
nunc ibo ad portum hinc: est illic mi una spes cenatica;
si ea decolabit, redibo huc ad senem ad cenam asperam.
Now I’m going to have the foreign law on those chaps and
demand my full rights, I certainly am: it’s conspiracy,
conspiracy to deprive us of sustenance and life, and I’m
going to summon ’em, fine ’em-- make ’em give me ten
dinners, at my discretion, and that will be when food
is dear. That’s how I’ll catch them. (_turning to go_)
Well, now for the harbour. That’s where my one hope is,
gastronomically speaking, if that oozes away, I’ll come
back here to the old man’s terror of a meal.
[EXIT _Ergasilus_, LOOKING IN ALL DIRECTIONS FOR A POSSIBLE
HOST.
III. 2.
Scene 2.
ENTER _Hegio_ WITH _Aristophontes_ AND _Slaves_.
Hegio
Quid est suavius, quam bene rem gerere,
bono publico, sic ut ego feci heri,
cum emi hosce homines: ubi quisque vident, 500
eunt obviam gratulanturque eam rem,
ita me miserum restitando
retinendoque lassum reddiderunt:
vix ex gratulando miser iam eminebam.
(_highly pleased with himself_) Now what makes you feel
better than managing your affairs properly and contributing
to the common good, just as I did yesterday in buying
these prisoners? Whenever anyone sees me up he comes and
congratulates me on it! Dear, dear! I was so worn out
with all their stopping and detaining me, it got to be
frightfully hard work emerging from the flood of
felicitations.
tandem abii ad praetorem; ibi vix requievi:
rogo syngraphum, datur mi ilico; dedi Tyndaro: ille abiit domum.
inde ilico praevortor domum, postquam id actum est;
eo protinus ad fratrem, mei ubi sunt alii captivi.
At last I escaped to the praetor’s. Barely waiting to catch
my breath, I asked for a passport, got it on the spot, gave
it to Tyndarus: he’s off for home. After seeing to that, I
first start straight for home. Then I go on to my brother’s
where the rest of my prisoners are.
rogo, Philocratem ex Alide ecquis hominum
noverit: tandem his exclamat, eum sibi esse sodalem; 510
dico eum esse apud me; hic extemplo orat obsecratque,
eum sibi ut liceat videre:
iussi ilico hunc exsolvi. nunc tu sequere me,
ut quod me oravisti impetres, eum hominem uti convenias.
Inquire if any one of ’em knows Philocrates of Elis. Finally
this fellow (_pointing to Aristophontes_) calls out that
Philocrates is a particular friend of his. I tell him he’s
at my house; the next instant he’s begging and beseeching me
for a chance to see him. I had him unfettered at once. (_to
Aristophontes_) Now, sir, come this way, so as to obtain
your request and meet your friend.
[EXEUNT INTO HOUSE: AS THEY GO IN _Tyndarus_ RUSHES OUT.
III. 3.
Scene 3.
Tynd.
Nunc illud est, cum me fuisse quam esse nimio mavelim:
nunc spes opes auxiliaque a me segregant spernuntque se.
hic illest dies, cum nulla vitae meae salus sperabilest,
neque exitium[14] exitio est neque adeo spes, quae mi hunc
aspellat metum,
nec subdolis mendaciis mihi usquam mantellum est meis,[15] 520
(_grimly_) Now’s the time when I should infinitely prefer
to be underground than on it! Hope, resources, help--all
deserting, all leaving me in the lurch now! My day has come:
I can never hope to get out of this alive. Done for, and
nothing to be done for it! There’s no prospect of staving
off the danger, either, and not a thing to drape my crafty
lies with.
neque deprecatio perfidiis meis nec male factis fuga est. (522)
nec confidentiae usquam hospitium est nec deverticulum dolis:
operta quae fuere aperta sunt, patent praestigiae,
omnis res palam est, neque de hac re negotium est,
quin male occidam oppetamque pestem eri vicem meamque.
My falsehoods can’t beg themselves off, or my transgressions
take to their heels: no lodgings anywhere for brass: guile
can’t find accommodations. The covert’s uncovered, our
plot’s apparent, everything’s out. There’s nothing to do
about it: I must drop off disagreeably, and come to a
painful end for master--also for myself.
perdidit me Aristophontes hic qui venit modo intro:[16]
is me novit, is sodalis Philocrati et cognatus est.
neque iam Salus servare, si volt, me potest, nec copia est,
nisi si aliquam corde machinor astutiam. 530
quam, malum? quid machiner? quid comminiscar? maxumas
nugas ineptus incipisso. haereo.
He’s been the ruin of me, this Aristophontes that just
went inside: he knows me: he’s a particular friend of
Philocrates, related to him, too. Salvation herself can’t
save me now, if she so desires: there’s no chance unless I
can invent some clever scheme. But what, curse it? What can
I invent? What can I devise? (_reflecting, then doubtfully_)
Oh, this is awful nonsense I’m at, poor simpleton!
(_disgustedly_) Stuck!
III. 4.
Scene 4.
ENTER _Hegio_, _Aristophontes_, AND _Slaves_.
Hegio
Quo illum nunc hominem proripuisse foras se dicam ex aedibus?
Where did that fellow bolt for out of the house just now,
I wonder?
Tynd.
Nunc enim vero ego occidi: eunt ad te hostes, Tyndare.
quid loquar? quid fabulabor? quid negabo aut quid fatebor?
mihi res omnis in incerto sita est. quid rebus confidam meis?
utinam te di prius perderent, quam periisti e patria tua,
Aristophontes, qui ex parata re imparatam omnem facis.
occisa est haec res, nisi reperio atrocem mi aliquam astutiam.
(_aside_) It’s all over with me, all over with me now: the
enemy are upon you, Tyndarus! What shall I say? What story
shall I tell? What shall I deny--or what admit? It’s a shaky
business for me on every side! What faith can I put in my
luck? Oh, I wish the gods had made away with you before you
made away from home, Aristophontes,--upsetting my settled
plan completely! The game is up, unless I hit upon some
awfully clever scheme.
Hegio
Sequere. em tibi hominem. adi, atque adloquere.
(_to Aristophontes, on seeing Tyndarus_) Come along! There’s
your man! Go up and speak to him!
Tynd.
Quis homo est me hominum miserior? 540
(_aside, as Aristophontes approaches_) What mortal man
is in a more confounded hole than this? (_pretends not to
recognize him_)
Arist.
Quid istuc est quod meos te dicam fugitare oculos, Tyndare,
proque ignoto me aspernari, quasi me numquam noveris?
equidem tam sum servos quam tu, etsi ego domi liber fui,
tu usque a puero servitutem servivisti in Alide.
I wonder what you mean by this, Tyndarus,--avoiding my eye
and snubbing me as a stranger, quite as if you never knew
me? I’m just as much of a slave as you are, to be sure, but
at home I was free: as for you, you’ve been slaving it in
Elis from your boyhood up.
Hegio
Edepol minime miror, si te fugitat aut oculos tuos,
aut si te odit, qui istum appelles Tyndarum pro Philocrate.
Bless my soul! I’m not a bit surprised if he avoids you, or
your eye, no, nor if he detests you, when you call him
Tyndarus instead of Philocrates.
Tynd.
Hegio, hic homo rabiosus habitus est in Alide,
ne tu quod istic fabuletur auris immittas tuas.
nam istis hastis insectatus est domi matrem et patrem,
et illic isti qui insputatur morbus interdum venit. 550
proin tu ab istoc procul recedas.
(_dragging Hegio aside_) Hegio, this fellow was looked upon
as a raving maniac in Elis, so don’t you let him fill your
ears with his babble. Why, at home he chased his father and
mother about with a spear, and every once in a while he has
an attack of the disease that people spit on.[D] So get out
of his reach, then,--well away.
[Footnote D: Epilepsy.]
Hegio
Ultro istum a me.
(to slaves) Keep him off! Keep him off!
Arist.
Ain, verbero?
me rabiosum atque insectatum esse hastis meum memoras patrem,
et eum morbum mi esse, ut qui me opus sit insputarier?
What’s that, you rascal? I’m a raving maniac and chased my
own father with a spear, you say? I have the disease that
calls for my being spat upon?
Hegio
Ne verere, multos iste morbus homines macerat,
quibus insputari saluti fuit atque is profuit.
(_cheeringly_) Never you mind! Many a man’s consumed by that
disease of yours, who’s been helped by being spat on, and
it’s brought him through.
Arist.
Quid tu autem? etiam huic credis?
(_to Hegio, hotly_) How’s this? You, too? Do you actually
believe him?
Hegio
Quid ego credam huic?
Believe him in what?
Arist.
Insanum esse me?
That I’m insane?
Tynd.
Viden tu hunc, quam inimico voltu intuetur? concedi optumumst,
Hegio: fit quod tibi ego dixi, gliscit rabies, cave tibi.
(_to Hegio_) Do you see him--that angry glare of his? You’d
better leave, Hegio. It’s just as I said: a fit’s coming on.
Look out for yourself!
Hegio
Credidi esse insanum extemplo, ubi te appellavit Tyndarum.
(_hastily moving farther off_) I thought so, I thought he
was crazy, from the moment he called you Tyndarus.
Tynd.
Quin suom ipse interdum ignorat nomen neque scit qui siet. 560
Why, at times he positively forgets his own name and doesn’t
know who he is.
Hegio
At etiam te suom sodalem esse aibat.
But he was even saying you were an intimate friend of his.
Tynd.
Haud vidi magis.
et quidem Alcumeus atque Orestes et Lycurgus postea
una opera mihi sunt sodales qua iste.
(_dryly_) Quite so! And the fact is that Alcumeus,[E] in
that case, and Orestes,[E] and Lycurgus[E] too are intimate
friends of mine, just exactly as much.
[Footnote E: Madmen, celebrated in Greek mythology.
Alcumeus = Alcmaeon.]
Arist.
At etiam, furcifer,
male loqui mi audes? non ego te novi?
Ha! You scoundrel, do you dare go on maligning me? Don’t I
know you?
Hegio
Pol planum id quidem est,
non novisse, qui istum appelles Tyndarum pro Philocrate.
quem vides, eum ignoras: illum nominas quem non vides.
Good heavens! It’s quite plain you don’t know him--calling
him Tyndarus instead of Philocrates! The man you see you
don’t know: you name the man you don’t see.
Arist.
Immo iste eum sese ait, qui non est, esse, et qui vero est, negat.
No, sir! This fellow says he’s the man he isn’t, and says he
isn’t the man he really is.
Tynd.
Tu enim repertu’s, Philocratem qui superes veriverbio.
(_to Aristophontes, meaningly_) So you have turned up to
beat Philocrates in stating facts!
Arist.
Pol ego ut rem video, tu inventu’s, vera vanitudine
qui convincas. sed quaeso hercle, agedum aspice ad me.
Good Lord! As I look at it, you have been unearthed to
browbeat facts by stating falsehoods. But come now, confound
it, look me in the eye!
Tynd.
Em.
(_doing so coolly_) Well?
Arist.
Dic modo: 570
tun negas te Tyndarum esse?
Now tell me: do you deny that you are Tyndarus?
Tynd.
Nego, inquam.
I do, certainly.
Arist.
Tun te Philocratem
esse ais?
You claim to be Philocrates, you?
Tynd.
Ego, inquam.
I certainly do.
Arist.
Tune huic credis?
(_to Hegio, exasperated_) Do you believe him?
Hegio
Plus quidem quam tibi aut mihi.
nam ille quidem, quem tu hunc memoras esse, hodie hinc abiit Alidem
ad patrem huius.
More than I do you, surely,--or myself. For you see, the
fellow you tell me this man is--he went away to Elis to-day
to this man’s father.
Arist.
Quem patrem, qui servos est?
(_contemptuously_) Father! What do you mean, when he’s a
slave?
Tynd.
Et tu quidem
servos es, liber fuisti, et ego me confido fore,
si huius huc reconciliasso in libertatem filium.
Well, you, too, are a slave and once were free: and (_with
emphasis_) I hope to be so myself, when I have restored
this gentleman’s son to home and liberty.
Arist.
Quid ais, furcifer? tun te gnatum esse memoras liberum?
What’s that, you villain? You tell me you were born a
freeman?
Tynd.
Non equidem me Liberum, sed Philocratem esse aio.
No indeed, my name is not Freeman, but Philocrates, that’s
what I say.
Arist.
Quid est?
ut scelestus, Hegio, nunc iste te ludos facit.
nam is est servos ipse, neque praeter se umquam ei servos fuit. 580
What’s all this? How the rascal’s making game of you,
Hegio! Why he’s a slave himself--the only one he ever had.
Tynd.
Quia tute ipse eges in patria nec tibi qui vivas domist,
omnis inveniri similis tui vis; non mirum facis:
est miserorum, ut malevolentes sint atque invideant bonis.
(_superior_) Just because you yourself are poverty-stricken
in your own country, with nothing at home to live on, you
want to have every one else put in the same list. There is
nothing strange in that: it is characteristic of poor
beggars to be ill-natured, and envy the well-to-do.
Arist.
Hegio, vide sis, ne quid tu huic temere insistas credere.
atque, ut perspicio, profecto iam aliquid pugnae edidit.
filium tuom quod redimere se ait, id ne utiquam mini placet.
Hegio, I beg you take care not to go on with your rash
confidence in this fellow. And for that matter, he’s
certainly given you a fall or two already, I take it. This
talk of his about rescuing your son doesn’t please me at
all.
Tynd.
Scio te id nolle fieri; efficiam tamen ego id, si di adiuvant.
illum restituam huic, hic autem in Alidem me meo patri.
propterea ad patrem hinc amisi Tyndarum.
(_with an appealing look_) I know you don’t want it done;
but I’ll bring it about, God helping me. (_slowly_) I will
restore his son to this gentleman, and then this gentleman
will send me back to Elis to my father. That was why I sent
Tyndarus off to my father.
Arist.
Quin tute is es:
neque praeter te in Alide ullus servos istoc nominest. 590
Why, you’re Tyndarus yourself: and besides you there’s not a
slave in Elis of that name.
Tynd.
Pergin servom me exprobrare esse, id quod vi hostili optigit?
Still taunting me with being a slave, eh? A slave as it
happens, because the enemy were too much for us!
Arist.
Enim iam nequeo contineri.
(_angrily_) I positively can’t control myself any longer!
Tynd.
Heus, audin quid ait? quin fugis?
iam illic his nos insectabit lapidibus, nisi illunc iubes
comprehendi.
(_apparently alarmed, to Hegio_) Aha! Hear what he’s saying?
Run, why don’t you? He’ll be after us with stones in a
minute, if you don’t have him seized.
Arist.
Crucior.
Oh, this is driving me wild!
Tynd.
Ardent oculi: fit opus, Hegio;
viden tu illi maculari corpus totum maculis luridis?
atra bilis agitat hominem.
His eyes are blazing! He’s having one, Hegio! See how his
whole body is covered with lurid spots? It’s black fury
that’s tormenting the fellow!
Arist.
At pol te, si hic sapiat senex,
pix atra agitet apud carnificem tuoque capiti inluceat.
Now, by the Lord, if this old gentleman did the wise thing,
it’s black pitch that would torment you at the
executioner’s, and light up that head of yours!
Tynd.
Iam deliramenta loquitur, laruae stimulant virum.
hercle qui, si hunc comprehendi iusseris, sapias magis.
Now he’s got to the raving point! Evil spirits are hounding
the man, Hegio. Heavens! You’d do more wisely to have him
seized!
Arist.
Crucior, lapidem non habere me, ut illi mastigiae 600
cerebrum excutiam, qui me insanum verbis concinnat suis.
Oh, damnation! not to have a stone to knock out the brains
of this blackguard that’s driving me mad with his talk!
Tynd.
Audin lapidem quaeritare?
Hear that--looking for a stone!
Arist.
Solus te solum volo,
Hegio.
(_struggling to contain himself_) Hegio, I want a word with
you all alone.
Hegio
Instinc loquere, si quid vis, procul tamen audiam.
(_timorously_) Say it from there, if there’s anything you
want--from away off there. I shall hear it all the same.
Tynd.
Namque edepol si adbites propius, os denasabit tibi
mordicus.
That’s right, by Jove! for if you go any nearer, he’ll bite
your nose off.
Arist.
Neque pol me insanum, Hegio, esse creduis
neque fuisse umquam, neque esse morbum quem istic autumat.
verum si quid metuis a me, iube me vinciri: volo,
dum istic itidem vinciatur.
Heavens and earth, Hegio! don’t believe I’m insane, or that
I have, or ever had, the disease he’s talking about.
However, if you’re at all afraid of me, have me tied up. I
am willing, provided that fellow is tied up too.
Tynd.
Immo enim vero, Hegio,
istic, qui volt, vinciatur.
No indeed, Hegio, certainly not, tie up the fellow that
wants it.
Arist.
Tace modo. ego te, Philocrates
false, faciam ut verus hodie reperiare Tyndarus. 610
quid mi abnutas?
You keep still, now! I’ll soon show you up, you false
Philocrates, for the real Tyndarus. (_Tyndarus makes signs
to him behind Hegio’s back_) What, are you shaking your
head at me for?
Tynd.
Tibi ego abnuto?
I shaking my head at you?
Arist.
Quid agat, si absis longius?
(_to Hegio_) What would he do, if you were farther off?
Hegio
Quid ais? quid si adeam hunc insanum?
See here, what if I should step up to this lunatic?
Tynd.
Nugas. ludificabitur,
garriet quoi neque pes umquam neque caput compareat.
ornamenta absunt: Aiacem, hunc cum vides, ipsum vides.
Ridiculous! He’ll make a fool of you, jabbering something
without head or tail to it. Look at this fellow, and you’re
looking at a regular Ajax[F]--all but the make-up.
[Footnote F: Another madman of Greek mythology.]
Hegio
Nihili facio. tamen adibo.
I don’t care. I’m going to step up to him just the same.
(_approaches Aristophontes hesitantly_)
Tynd.
Nunc ego omnino occidi,
nunc ego inter sacrum saxumque sto, nec quid faciam scio.
(_aside_) Now I’m done for entirely. Now I’m between the
axe and the altar, and what to do I don’t know.
Hegio
Do tibi operam, Aristophontes, si quid est quod me velis.
I’m at your service, Aristophontes, if there’s anything you
want of me.
Arist.
Ex me audibis vera quae nunc falsa opinare, Hegio.
sed hoc primum, me expurigare tibi volo. me insaniam 620
neque tenere neque mi esse ullum morbum, nisi quod servio.
at ita me rex deorum atque hominum faxit patriae compotem,
ut istic Philocrates non magis est quam aut ego aut tu.
I’ll show you, Hegio, that all this you take for a lie is
the truth. But first I want to clear myself with you, and
assure you that I am not insane, and have no affliction
except captivity. And now,--(_solemnly_) so may the King of
heaven and earth restore me to my native land,--that fellow
is no more Philocrates than you or I.
Hegio
Eho dic mihi,
quis illic igitur est?
(_impressed_) Hey? Tell me, who is he then?
Arist.
Quem dudum dixi a principio tibi.
hoc si secus reperies, nullam causam dico quin mihi
et parentum et libertatis apud te deliquio siet.
The man I told you he was to begin with, a while ago. If you
find it otherwise, I make no objection to forfeiting my
parents and my liberty and staying here with you.
Hegio
Quid tu ais?
(_to Tyndarus_) And you--what have you to say?
Tynd.
Me tuom esse servom et te meum erum.
(_urbanely_) That I am your servant, and that you are my
master.
Hegio
Haud istuc rogo.
fuistin liber?
(_impatiently_) That isn’t what I’m asking about. Were you a
freeman?
Tynd.
Fui.
I was.
Arist.
Enim vero non fuit, nugas agit.
He certainly was not. Absurd!
Tynd.
Qui tu scis? an tu fortasse fuisti meae matri obstetrix,
qui id tam audacter dicere audes?
(_superciliously_) How do you know? Or were you my mother’s
midwife, perhaps, that you venture to speak with such
assurance on this point?
Arist.
Puerum te vidi puer. 630
I saw you when we were both boys.
Tynd.
At ego te video maior maiorem: em rursum tibi.
meam rem non cures, si recte facis. num ego curo tuam?
Well, I see you now we are both grown-ups. There’s one for
you! You wouldn’t meddle with my business, if you behaved
decently. I don’t meddle with yours, do I?
Hegio
Fuitne huic pater Thensaurochrysonicochrysides?
Wasn’t his father called Ducatsdoubloonsandpiecesofeightson?
Arist.
Non fuit, neque ego istuc nomen umquam audivi ante hunc diem
Philocrati Theodoromedes fuit pater.
No sir, he was not, and I never heard that name before
to-day. The father of Philocrates was Theodoromedes.
Tynd.
Pereo probe
quin quiescis? idie rectum cor meum, ac suspende te.
tu sussultas, ego miser vix asto prae formidine.
(_aside, dryly_) I’m jolly well done for. Stop your noise,
will you, heart? Go to the deuce, and be hanged to you!
Jumping up and down, while I, poor devil, can hardly stand
for fear!
Hegio
Satin istuc mihi exquisitum est, fuisse hunc servom in Alide
neque esse hunc Philocratem?
Am I to take it as absolutely clear that this fellow was a
slave in Elis, that he is not Philocrates?
Arist
Tam satis quam numquam hoc invenies secus.
sed ubi is nunc est?
So absolutely that you’ll never find it to be anything
different. But where is Philocrates at present?
Hegio
Ubi ego mimime atque ipsus se volt maxume 640
sed vide sis.
(_savagely_) Where I least want him, and he most wants to
be. Do, do, see if there’s not some mistake, though.
Arist.
Quin exploratum dico et provisum hoc tibi.
No, I’m sure of my ground and fully informed in what I tell
you.
Hegio
Certon?
You’re certain?
Arist.
Quin nihil, inquam, invenies magis hoc certo certus.
Philocrates iam inde usque amicus fuit mihi a puero puer.
You’ll never find a deader certainty than this, I assure
you. Philocrates has been a friend of mine ever since he was
a boy.
Hegio
Tum igitur ego deruncinatus, deartuatus sum miser
huius scelesti techinis, qui me ut lubitum est ductavit dolis
sed qua faciest tuos sodalis Philocrates?
So then, I’ve been trimmed, torn limb from limb, poor fool,
by the arts of this rogue, who’s taken me in with his tricks
to suit his taste! But what does your friend Philocrates
look like?
Arist.
Dicam tibi
macilento ore, naso acuto, corpore albo, oculis nigris,
subrufus aliquantum, crispus, cincinnatus.
I’ll tell you--thin face, sharp nose, complexion fair, black
eyes, hair a little reddish, waving, and curled.
Hegio
Convenit.
That agrees!
Tynd.
Ut quidem hercle in medium ego hodie pessume processerim.
vae illis virgis miseris, quae hodie in tergo morientur meo. 650
(_aside ruefully_) Gad! Indeed it does--with my coming into
damned unpleasant prominence this day. Alas for those poor
whips that are doomed this day to die upon my back!
Hegio
Verba mihi data esse video.
I see I’ve been duped!
Tynd.
Quid cessatis, compedes,
currere ad me meaque amplecti crura, ut vos custodiam?
(_aside_) Come on, ye shackles, run up and embrace my
shanks, so that I may keep you safe!
Hegio
Satin med illi hodie scelesti capti ceperunt dolo?
illic servom se assimulabat, hic sese autem liberum.
nuculeum amisi, retinui pignori putamina.
ita mihi stolido sursum versum os sublevere offuciis.
his quidem me numquam irridebit. Colaphe, Cordalio, Corax,
ite istinc, ecferte lora.
Well, haven’t those rascal captives taken me in with this
day’s trickery? The other one pretended he was the slave,
while this fellow here played the freeman. I’ve lost the
kernel and kept the shell for surety. That’s the way they’ve
daubed my face up for me, ass that I am! (_grimly_) This one
shall never have the laugh on me, at any rate. (_stepping to
door and calling_) Box! Buffum! Bangs! Come! Out with you!
Bring your straps!
III. 5.
Scene 5.
ENTER OVERSEERS, CARRYING HEAVY RAWHIDES.
Cola.
Box
Num lignatum mittimur?
(_merrily cracking a whip_) You don’t want us to go and
tie up faggots, do you, sir?
Hegio
Inicite huic manicas[17] mastigiae.
Clap handcuffs on this rogue. (_pointing to Tyndarus_)
Tynd.
Quid hoc est negoti? quid ego deliqui?
(_as they obey_) What does this mean? What have I done?
Hegio
Rogas. 660
sator sartorque scelerum, et messor maxume?
Done! You sower and hoer of sin--(_more savagely_) and
reaper, especially!
Tynd.
Non occatorem dicere audebas prius?
nam semper occant prius quam sariunt rustici.
(_politely_) Couldn’t you manage to slip in “harrower”?
Why, farmers always harrow before they hoe.
Hegio
At tu confidenter[18] mihi contra astitit.
(_angrily_) Now look at that! the bold way he stands up to
me!
Tynd.
Decet innocentem servom atque innoxium
confidentem esse, suom apud erum potissimum.
A guiltless, harmless slave ought to face his own master
boldly, his own master, of all men.
Hegio
Adstringite isti sultis vehementer manus.
(_to overseers_) Fasten his hands, tight, mind you!
Tynd.
Tuos sum, tu has quidem vel praecidi iube.
sed quid negoti est, quam ob rem suscenses mihi?
I am yours. Have them cut off, even, for that matter. But
what does this mean? Why this rage at me?
Hegio
Quia me meamque rem, quod in te uno fuit, 670
tuis scelestis falsidicis fallaciis
deartuasti dilaceravisti atque opes
confecisti omnes, res ac rationes meas:
ita mi exemisti Philocratem fallaciis.
illum esse servom credidi, te liberum:
ita vosmet aiebatis itaque nomina
inter vos permutastis.
Because as far as in you lay you’ve sent me and my hopes to
smash, demolished me, with your rascally deceitful dodges,
and spoiled all my chances, all my prospects and plans.
That’s the way you, got Philocrates off--by swindling me!
I supposed he was the slave and you the freeman; that’s
what you said yourselves; that’s how you exchanged names.
Tynd.
Fateor, omnia
facta esse ita ut tu dicis, et fallaciis
abiisse eum abs te mea opera atque astutia;
an, obsecro hercle te, id nunc suscenses mihi? 680
(_coolly_) I admit it: it is all as you say--yes, you were
swindled out of him, and it was my support and my scheming
that did it. But heavens and earth, that isn’t what sets you
raging at me, is it?
Hegio
At cum cruciatu maxumo id factumst tuo.
You shall pay for doing it, though, pay for it with your own
best blood!
Tynd.
Dum ne ob male facta, peream, parvi aestumo.
si ego hic peribo, ast ille ut dixit non redit,
at erit mi hoc factum mortuo memorabile,
me meum erum captum ex servitute atque hostibus
reducem fecisse liberum in patriam ad patrem,
meumque potius me caput periculo
praeoptavisse, quam is periret, ponere.
(_simply_) Provided it is not for wrongdoing, let me die--it
matters little. If I myself do die here, and if he does fail
to return, as he said he would, what I have done, at least,
will be remembered when I am gone--men will tell how I
saved my captured master from slavery and from his enemies,
restored him, a free man, to his home and his father, and
how I chose to put my own life in peril rather than let him
die.
Hegio
Facito ergo ut Acherunti clueas gloria.
Well then, you can look in the next world for that glorious
name of yours.
Tynd.
Qui per virtutem, periit, at non interit. 690
The man that dies in a worthy cause does not perish utterly.
Hegio
Quando ego te exemplis pessumis cruciavero
atque ob sutelas tuas te morti misero,
vel te interiisse vel periisse praedicent;
dum pereas, nihil intererit: dicant vivere.
After I’ve tortured you in the most excruciating ways
possible, and sent you to perdition for the lies you’ve
patched up, let ’em announce that you’ve perished utterly,
or that you’ve merely died; so long as you’re dead, no
matter--they can say you’re living, for all I care.
Tynd.
Pol si istuc faxis, haud sine poena feceris,
si ille hue rebitet, sicut confido affore.
You do that, sir, and I swear it will cost you dear, if my
master comes back, as I expect him to do.
Arist.
Pro di immortales, nunc ego teneo, nunc scio
quid hoc sit negoti. meus sodalis Philocrates
in libertate est ad patrem in patria. bene est,
nec quisquam est mihi, aeque melius cui velim. 700
sed hoc mihi aegre est, me huic dedisse operam malam,
qui nunc propter me meaque verba vinctus est.
(_aside_) Great God! Now I see it! Now I understand what it
all means! My chum Philocrates is free, has gone home to his
father. Good! And not a friend have I got that I wish better
luck to, either. But I do feel bad about the cursed way I’ve
treated Tyndarus here! He’s got me and my tongue to thank
for being strapped up at this moment.
Hegio
Votuin te quicquam mi hodie falsum proloqui?
Didn’t I tell you not to deceive me in the slightest
particular?
Tynd.
Votuisti.
Yes.
Hegio
Cur es ausus mentiri mihi?
Then why did you dare lie to me?
Tynd.
Quia vera obessent illi quoi operam dabam:
nunc falsa prosunt.
Because the truth would have harmed the person I was trying
to help: as it is, deceit has served his turn.
Hegio
At tibi oberunt.
It won’t serve yours, however.
Tynd.
Optumest.
at erum servavi, quem servatum gaudeo.
cui me custodem addiderat erus maior meus.
sed malene id factum arbitrare?
Very well, sir. I saved my master, at any rate, and I’m
happy in having saved the man that my older master put in my
care. Really now, do you think this was a wrong act?
Hegio
Pessume.
Atrocious!
Tynd.
At ego aio recte. qui abs te sorsum sentio. 710
nam cogitato, si quis hoc gnato tuo
tuos servos faxit, qualem haberes gratiam?
emitteresne necne eum servom manu?
essetne apud te is servos aceeptissimus?
responde.
Well, sir, I differ with you--I say it was right. Why, just
think! if a slave of yours did the same thing for your own
son, what would be your feeling toward him? Would you set
this slave free, or not? Wouldn’t this slave be your
favourite? Answer me that.
Hegio
Opinor.
(_reluctantly_) I suppose so.
Tynd.
Cur ergo iratus mihi es?
Why are you angry at me, then?
Hegio
Quia illi fuisti quam mihi fidelior.
Because you have been more faithful to him than to me.
Tynd.
Quid? tu una nocte postulavisti et die
recens captum hominem, nuperum novicium,
te perdocere ut melius consulerem tibi,
quam illi, quicum una a puero aetatem exegeram? 720
What? Did you expect in a single night and day to teach a
man just recently captured, a slave you had hardly bought,
to consult your interests more than those of the master I
grew up from boyhood with?
Hegio
Ergo ab eo petito gratiam istam. ducite,
ubi ponderosas crassas capiat compedes.
inde ibis porro in latomias lapidarias.
ibi quom alii octonos lapides effodiunt, nisi
cotidiano sesquiopus confeceris,
Sescentoplago nomen indetur tibi.
Well then, look to him for your thanks for it. (_to
overseers_) Off with him and have him shackled--heavy ones,
solid ones! (_to Tyndarus_) After that you shall go straight
to the stone quarries. There, while the rest of them are
digging out their eight blocks a day, you’re to do half as
much again, or you’ll be dubbed The Cracks-collector.
Arist.
Per deos atque homines ego te obtestor, Hegio,
ne tu istunc hominem perduis.
Hegio! for God’s sake don’t let the man be utterly lost!
Hegio
Curabitur;
nam noctu nervo vinctus custodibitur,
interdius sub terra lapides eximet: 730
diu ego hunc cruciabo, non uno absolvam die.
Lost? We’ll see to that! Why, at night he’ll be chained up
in a cell and guarded, and in the daytime he’ll be under
ground hewing out stone. It’s agony long drawn out he’ll get
from me; I won’t end it for him all in one day.
Arist.
Certumne est tibi istuc?
(_distressed_) Is this your fixed intention, sir?
Hegio
Non moriri certius.
abducite istum actutum ad Hippolytum fabrum,
iubete huic crassas compedes impingier;
inde extra portam ad meum libertum Cordalum
in lapicidinas facite deductus siet:
atque hunc me velle dicite ita curarier,
ne qui deterius huic sit quam cui pessume est.
Fixed as death! (_to overseers_) Quick! March him off to
Hippolytus the blacksmith and have some solid irons forged
on him; then he’s to be escorted outside the city to my
freedman Cordalus and the quarries. Yes, and tell Cordalus
I want it seen to that he be treated quite as well as the
man that’s treated (_ferociously_) worst.
Tynd.
Cur ego te invito me esse salvom postulem?
periclum vitae meae tuo stat periculo. 740
post mortem in morte nihil est quod metuam mali.
etsi pervivo usque ad summam aetatem, tamen
breve spatium est perferundi quae minitas mihi.
Why should I ask for mercy when you refuse it? My life is
risked at risk to you. After death, there is no evil in
death for me to fear. And even if I live on and on to the
very limits of human life, it’s still only for a short time
I shall have to endure what you threaten me with.
vale atque salve, etsi aliter ut dicam meres.
tu, Aristophontes, de me ut meruisti, ita vale;
nam mihi propter te hoc optigit.
Farewell, sir, and God bless you, no matter if you do
deserve to have me wish you something else. As for you,
Aristophontes, fare you well--as well as you deserve of me;
for it is all on account of you that this has happened to
me.
Hegio
Abducite.
(_to overseers_) Off with him.
Tynd.
At unum hoc quaeso, si huc rebitet Philocrates,
ut mi eius facias conveniundi copiam.
But I do ask this one thing of you, sir: if Philocrates
comes back, give me a chance to meet him.
Hegio
Periistis, nisi hunc iam e conspectu abducitis.
(_to overseers_) Out of my sight with him this instant, or
I’ll murder you! (_they seize Tyndarus and hurry him off
roughly_)
Tynd.
Vis haec quidem hercle est, et trahi et trudi simul. 750
(_dryly_) Well, well! This is positive violence, being
pushed and pulled at the same time. [EXEUNT.
Hegio
Illic est abductus recta in phylacam, ut dignus est.
ego illis captivis aliis documentum dabo,
ne tale quisquam facinus incipere audeat.
quod absque hoc esset, qui mihi hoc fecit palam,
usque offrenatum suis me ductarent dolis.
That rascal is bound straight for the prison cell he’s
entitled to. I’ll make an example of him for the benefit of
those other prisoners, so that none of them will dare engage
in such deviltry. If it hadn’t been for this fellow here who
disclosed it all, they’d have bitted me and led me along
with their tricks till the end of time.
nunc certum est nulli posthac quicquam credere.
satis sum semel deceptus. speravi miser
ex servitute me exemisse filium:
ea spes elapsa est. perdidi unum filium,
puerum quadrimum quem mihi servos surpuit, 760
neque eum servom umquam repperi neque filium;
Never again do I trust a soul in anything, that’s settled.
Once cheated is enough. (_pauses, then gloomily_) I hoped,
poor fool, that I had ransomed my son from slavery--a hope
that’s slipped away! I lost one son, a four-year-old boy
that a slave kidnapped, and never a trace of slave or son
since.
maior potitus hostium est. quod hoc est scelus?
quasi in orbitatem liberos produxerim.
sequere hac. reducam te ubi fuisti. neminis
miserere certum est, quia mei miseret neminem.
And my older boy in the hands of enemies! What curse am
I under? As if I’d begotten children so as to be left
childless! (_to Aristophontes_) This way, you. (_going
toward brother’s house_) Back you go where you were before.
I am determined to pity no one, since no one pities me.
Arist.
Exauspicavi ex vinclis. nunc intellego
redauspicandum esse in catenas denuo.
(_wryly_) It seemed a good omen, my getting out of irons.
Now I perceive I must omen myself back to chains again.
[EXEUNT.
ACTVS IV
ACT IV
(_It is to be assumed that several hours only have elapsed._)
ENTER _Ergasilus_, ELATED.
Erg.
Iuppiter supreme, servas me measque auges opes,
maximas opimitates opiparasque offers mihi,
laudem lucrum, ludum iocum, festivitatem ferias, 770
pompam penum, potationis saturitatem, gaudium,
nec cuiquam homini supplicare[19] nunc certum est mihi;
nam vel prodesse amico possum vel inimicum perdere,
ita hic me amoenitate amoena amoenus oneravit dies,
sine sacris hereditatem sum aptus effertissimam.
Great God on high, thou dost preserve me and prosper me with
fatness! Boundless abundance, yea, sublime abundance dost
thou bring me! Praise, profit, pleasure, jollity, festivity,
feasting, trains of victuals, eatables, drinkables, satiety,
joy! Never will I toady to human being more, I now resolve
it. Why, I can bless my friend or blast my foe, now that
this delightful day has loaded me down with its delightful
delightfulness! I’ve landed a legacy stuffed fit to burst,
and not a single encumbrance attached!
nunc ad senem cursum capessam hunc Hegionem, cui boni
tantum affero quantum ipsus a dis optat, atque etiam amplius.
nunc certa res est, eodem pacto ut comici servi solent.
coniciam in collum pallium, primo ex med hanc rem ut audiat:
speroque me ob hunc nuntium aeternum adepturum cibum. 780
Now for a race up to old Hegio here. I’m bringing him
all the happiness he craves of Heaven, yes, and more, too.
I know what I’ll do now: like slaves in the comedies, I’ll
bundle my cloak round my neck and run, so that I’ll be the
first man he hears this news from; and I hope to get food
for ever and ever for my information.
IV. 2.
Scene 2.
ENTER _Hegio_.
Hegio
Quanto in pectore hanc rem meo magis volato,
tanto mi aegritudo auctior est in animo.
ad illum modum sublitum os esse mi hodie!
neque id perspicere quivi.
quod cum scibitur, tum per urbem inridebor.
(_soliloquizing moodily_) The more I think it over, the
sourer I feel. The idea of their playing upon me in that
style to-day! And I couldn’t see through it. When it gets
known, I shall be the joke of the town.
cum extemplo ad forum advenero, omnes loquentur:
“hic illest senex doctus, quoi verba data sunt.”
sed Ergasilus estne his, procul quem video?
conlecto quidem est pallio. quidnam acturust?
The moment I appear at the forum they’ll all be saying,
“Here comes that smart old fellow that got humbugged.”
(_observing Ergasilus_) But isn’t that Ergasilus I see
over there? With his cloak all tucked up, too! Now what
in the world is he going to do? (_steps aside_)
Erg.
Move aps te moram atque, Ergasile, age hanc rem. 790
eminor interminorque, ne mi obstiterit obviam
nisi quis satis diu vixisse sese homo arbitrabitur.
nam qui obstiterit, ore sistet.
(_with burlesque importance and bustle_) No dawdling now,
Ergasilus! At it, my boy, at it! I give you to wit by all
the law’s pains and penalties that no man stand in my way,
unless he thinks he has lived long enough. For the man that
does stand in my way shall stand on his head. (_squares off
and delivers lusty blows at imaginary passers-by_)
Hegio
Hic homo pugilatum incipit.
(_aside_) The fellow is going in for a boxing match!
Erg.
Facere certumst. proinde ita omnes itinera insistant sua,
ne quis in hanc plateam negoti conferat quicquam sui.
nam meus est ballista pugnus, cubitus catapultast mihi,
umerus aries, tum genu quemque icero ad terram dabo,
dentilegos omnes mortales faciam, quemque offendero.
I’ll do it, I’m resolved. So everybody keep where they
belong, and don’t anyone bring his business into this
street! I tell you what, my fist is a siege-gun, and this
forearm is my catapult, and my shoulder is a battering ram,
yes, and every man I lay my knee into will bite the earth.
I’ll make every man I meet a tooth-collector.
Hegio
Quae illaec eminatiost nam? nequeo mirari satis.
(_aside_) What on earth does all this bluster mean? Quite
unaccountable!
Erg
Faciam ut huius diei locique meique semper meminerit.[20] 800
I’ll make him remember this day and this place and me for
ever.
Hegio
Quid hic homo tantum incipissit facere cum tantis minis? (802)
(_aside_) What giant undertaking is the fellow at, with all
this big talk?
Erg.
Prius edico, ne quis propter culpam capiatur suam:
continete vos domi, prohibete a vobis vim meam.
I give you due notice, that no one may come to grief through
his own ignorance of the law: stay at home: keep away from
me--I am a violent man.
Hegio
Mira edepol sunt, ni hic in ventrem sumpsit confidentiam.
vae misero illi, cuius cibo iste factust imperiosior.
(_aside_) Bless my soul! I’ll be sworn he’s got some
assurance put into his inside. Heaven help the poor wretch
whose larder has set him up so!
Erg.
Tum pistores scrofipasci, qui alunt furfuribus sues,
quarum odore praeterire nemo pistrinum potest:
eorum si quoiusquam scrofam in publico conspexero,
ex ipsis dominis meis pugnis exculcabo furfures. 810
And as for the millers that keep sows, and feed waste stuff
to their swine, that raise such a stench nobody can go by
the mill,--if I spy a sow of any one of ’em on the public
highway, I’ll up with my fists and stamp the stuffing out of
those sows’--owners.
Hegio
Basilicas edictiones atque imperiosas habet:
satur homost, habet profecto in ventre confidentiam.
(_aside_) Right royal and imperious pronunciamentos. The man
is gorged: he certainly has got some assurance stowed away
inside.
Erg.
Tum piscatores, qui praebent populo pisces foetidos,
qui advehuntur quadrupedanti crucianti cantherio,
quorum odos subbasilicanos omnes abigit in forum,
eis ego ora verberabo surpiculis piscariis,
ut sciant, alieno naso quam exhibeant molestiam.
Then the fishmongers that travel around on a jogging,
jolting gelding, and offer folk stale fish so strong it
drives every last lounger in the arcade out into the forum--
I’ll whack their faces with their own fish baskets, just to
teach ’em what an abomination they are to the public nose.
tum lanii autem, qui concinnant liberis orbas oves,
qui locant caedundos agnos et duplam agninam danunt,
qui petroni nomen indunt verveci sectario, 820
eum ego si in via petronem publica conspexero
et petronem et dominum reddam mortales miserrumos.
Yes, and the butchers, too, that bereave sheep of their
little ones, that engage to sell you lambs fit for slaughter,
and then give you lamb as old as two lambs, and pass off a
tough old ram as a prime wether--if I spy that ram on a city
thoroughfare, I’ll make ram and owner the saddest men alive!
Hegio
Eugepae, edictiones aedilicias hic quidem habet,
mirumque adeost ni hunc fecere sibi Aetoli agoranomum.
(_aside_) Splendid! Why, he is issuing edicts like a
Comptroller of the Victualling: I shouldn’t be surprised if
the Aetolians have made him market inspector.
Erg.
Non ego nunc parasitus sum, sed regum rex regalior,
tantus ventri commeatus meo adest in portu cibus
sed ego cesso hunc Hegionem onerare laetitia senem,
quo homine hominum adaeque nemo vivit fortunatior?
I’m no parasite now, not I! I’m a precious potent potentate
of potentates, with all that invoice at the harbour for my
belly--food, food! But I must hurry and load old Hegio here
with ecstasy. There’s not a luckier man alive than he!
Hegio
Quae illaec est laetitia, quam illic laetus largitur mihi?
(_aside_) What ecstasy is it this ecstatic creature is going
to lavish on me?
Erg.
Heus ubi estis? ecquis hic est? ecquis hoc aperit ostium? 830
(_pounding on Hegio’s door_) Hi! Where are you? Anybody
here? Anybody going to open this door?
Hegio
Hic homo ad cenam recipit se ad me.
(_aside_) The fellow is coming to dine with me.
Erg.
Aperite hasce ambas fores
prius quam pultando assulatim foribus exitium adfero.
Open this door--both doors--before I knock ’em to flinders
and finish ’em for good and all!
Hegio
Perlubet hunc hominem colloqui. Ergasile.
(_aside_) I should quite enjoy a word with him. (_aloud_)
Ergasilus!
Erg.
Ergasilum qui vocat?
(_still pounding_) Who calls Ergasilus?
Hegio
Respice.
Vouchsafe me a look, sir.
Erg.
Fortuna quod tibi nec facit nec faciet, me iubes.
sed quis est?
(_without turning his head_) Vouchsafe you a look, eh!
That is more than Good Luck does for you, or ever will do,
either! Who is it, though?
Hegio
Respice ad me, Hegio sum.
Look around this way. It’s Hegio.
Erg.
Oh mihi,
quantum est hominum optumorum optume, in
tempore advenis.
(_rushing up_) Oh! oh! You best of all the best men that
tread the earth, you come just in time!
Hegio
Nescio quem ad portum nactus es ubi cenes, eo fastidis.
You have hit upon some one or other at the harbour to dine
with: that’s why you are so haughty.
Erg.
Cedo manum.
(_rapturously_) Give me your hand!
Hegio
Manum?
My hand?
Erg.
Manum, inquam, cedo tuam actutum.
Your hand, I say--give me your hand this instant!
Hegio
Tene.
(_doing so_) Take it. (_Ergasilus shakes it vigorously_)
Erg.
Gaude.
Rejoice!
Hegio
Quid ego gaudeam?
Rejoice--I? What for?
Erg.
Quia ego impero, age gaude modo.
Because I bid you to. Come now, rejoice!
Hegio
Pol maerores mi antevortunt gaudiis.[21] 840
Good Lord, man! grief takes precedence of joy in my case.
Erg.
Iam ego ex corpore exigam omnis maculas maerorum tibi.
gaude audacter.
I will remove every grief spot from off your person for you
this minute. Rejoice, rejoice boldly!
Hegio
Gaudeo, etsi nil scio quod gaudeam.
Well, I am rejoicing, although I haven’t the least idea why
I should.
Erg.
Bene facis. iube--
Much obliged! Order--
Hegio
Quid iubeam?
(_suspiciously_) Order what?
Erg.
Ignem ingentem fieri.
--a fire to be built, an enormous fire.
Hegio
Ignem ingentem?
An enormous fire?
Erg.
Ita dico, magnus ut sit.
That’s what I say--make it a big one.
Hegio
Quid? me, volturi,
tuan causa aedis incensurum censes?
(_angry_) How’s that? Do you think I’m going to burn my
house down for your benefit, you vulture?
Erg.
Noli irascier.
iuben an non iubes astitui aulas, patinas elui,
[22]laridum atque epulas foveri foculis ferventibus?
alium pisces praestinatum abire?
Calm yourself, sir. Will you order the pots to be set near
the oven, or won’t you--and the platters washed--and bacon
and lovely things to eat to be warmed up in fire-pans piping
hot? And some one to go and lay in fish?
Hegio
Hic vigilans somniat.
Day dreams, poor fellow!
Erg.
Alium porcinam atque agninam et pullos gallinaceos?
And some one else to get pork and lamb and spring chicken?
Hegio
Scis bene esse, si sit unde.
You know how to enjoy yourself--given the wherewithal.
Erg.
[23]Pernam atque ophthalmiam, 850
horaeum, scombrum et trygonum et cetum, et mollem caseum?
And ham and river-lamprey and pickled fish, mackerel and
sting ray and tunny, and nice soft cheese?
Hegio
Nominandi istorum tibi erit magis quam edundi copia
his apud me, Ergasile.
You will have more of an opportunity to mention those
viands, Ergasilus, than to masticate them here at my house.
Erg.
Mean me causa hoc censes dicere?
Do you suppose I’m saying this on my own account?
Hegio
Nec nihil hodie nec multo plus tu hic edes, ne frustra sis.
proin tu tui cottidiani victi ventrem ad me afferas.
What you get here to-day will be a cross between nothing and
next to nothing; make no mistake about that. So bring me a
stomach that is ready for your ordinary fare.
Erg.
Quin ita faciam. ut tute cupias facere sumptum, etsi ego vetem.
Why, I’ll make you long to squander money, you yourself,
even though I should forbid it.
Hegio
Egone?
Me?
Erg.
Tune.
Yes, sir, you!
Hegio
Tum tu mi igitur erus es.
Then you are my master, I take it.
Erg.
Immo benevolens.
vin te faciam fortunatum?
No, no, your whole-souled friend. Do you want me to make you
a fortunate man?
Hegio
Malim quam miserum quidem.
Rather than unfortunate, why, yes.
Erg.
Cedo manum.
Give me your hand.
Hegio
Em manum.
Here it is. (_Ergasilus again shakes it fervently_)
Erg.
Di te omnes adiuvant.
The gods are with you!
Hegio
Nil sentio.
I wouldn’t know it.
Erg.
Non enim es in senticeto, eo non sentis. sed iube 860
vasa tibi pura apparari ad rem divinam cito,
atque agnum afferri proprium pinguem.
You wouldn’t? Well, you’re out of the wood; that’s why you
don’t twig it. But see they get the holy vessels ready for
worship--quick! Yes, and have a special lamb brought in, a
fat one.
Hegio
Cur?
Why?
Erg.
Ut sacrufices.
So that you may offer sacrifice.
Hegio
Cui deorum?
To what deity?
Erg.
Mi hercle, nam ego nunc tibi sum summus Iuppiter,
idem ego sum Salus, Fortuna, Lux, Laetitia, Gaudium.
proin tu deum hunc saturitate facias tranquillum tibi.
To me, by gad! For I’m your Jupiter Most High now, myself;
and Salvation, Fortune, Light, Gladness, Joy--they’re all
this identical I! So mind you placate this divinity by
stuffing him full.
Hegio
Esurire mihi videre.
You need food, I fancy.
Erg.
Mi quidem esurio, non tibi.
No sir, I need food I fancy, not food you fancy.
Hegio
Tuo arbitratu, facile patior.
(_smiling_) Have it your own way: I’m perfectly willing
to--crawl.
Erg.
Credo, consuetu’s puer.
Crawl? I believe you: it’s a habit you--fell into--as a
child.
Hegio
Iuppiter te dique perdant.
(_disgusted_) Oh, you be damned, sir!
Erg.
Te hercle--mi aequom est gratias
agere ob nuntium; tantum ego nunc porto a portu tibi boni:
nunc tu mihi places.
And by Jove, you be--grateful to me, as you ought, for my
news. The glorious news from the port I’m just reporting!
Now your dinner begins to tempt me.
Hegio
Abi, stultu’s, sero post tempus venis. 870
Be off, you idiot: you’re behind time, you have come too
late.
Erg.
Igitur olim si advenissem, magis tu tum istuc diceres;
nunc hanc laetitiam accipe a me, quam fero. nam filium
tuom modo in portu Philopolemum vivom, salvom et sospitem
vidi in publica celoce, ibidemque illum adulescentulum
Aleum una et tuom Stalagmum servom, qui aufugit domo,
qui tibi surripuit quadrimum puerum filiolum tuom.
Well, if I had come before, then you’d have had more reason
to say that. (_slowly and portentously_) Now, sir,
prepare for the ecstasy of which I am the vehicle. A few
minutes ago at the harbour your son, your son Philopolemus,
alive, safe and sound,--I saw him, saw him in a despatch
boat, and along with him that young Elean and your slave
Stalagmus that stole your little four year old boy.
Hegio
Abi in malam rem, ludis me.
To the devil with you! You’re making fun of me.
Erg.
Ita me amabit sancta Saturitas,
Hegio, itaque suo me semper condecoret cognomine,
ut ego vidi.
So help me Holy Stuffing, so may she grace me with her name
for evermore--I did see them, Hegio!
Hegio
Meum gnatum?
(_sceptically_) My son?
Erg.
Tuom gnatum et genium meum.
Your son and my guardian angel.
Hegio
Et captivom illum Alidensem?
And that Elean prisoner?
Erg.
Μὰ τὸν Ὰπόλλω.
_Oui, par_ Hercules!
Hegio
Et servolum 880
meum Stalagmum, meum qui gnatum surripuit?
And that miserable slave of mine, Stalagmus, that kidnapped
my son?
Erg.
Ναὶ τὰν Κόραν.
_Oui, par_ Hercul-aneum!
Hegio
Iam credo?
I’m to believe that?
Erg.
Ναὶ τὰν Πραινἐσην.
_Oui, par_ Pompeii!
Hegio.
Venit?
He’s come?
Erg.
Ναὶ τὰν Σιγνίαν.
_Oui, par_ Sorrento!
Hegio
Certon?
You’re sure?
Erg.
Ναὶ τὸν Φρουσινῶνα.
_Oui, par_ Amalfi!
Hegio
Vide sis.
Careful now!
Erg.
Ναὶ τὸν Ἀλάτριον.
_Oui, par_ Torre dell’Annunziata!
Hegio
Quid tu per barbaricas urbes iuras?
What are you swearing by foreign cities for!
Erg.
Quia enim item asperae
sunt ut tuom victum autumabas esse.
Well, because they’re the same as you said your meals were--
perfect terrors.
Hegio
Vae aetati tuae.
Plague take you!
Erg.
Quippe quando mihi nil credis, quod ego dico sedulo.
sed Stalagmus quoius erat tunc nationis, cum hinc abit?
My sentiments exactly, seeing you don’t believe a word I
tell you in sober earnest. Stalagmus, though,--what was his
nationality when he disappeared?
Hegio
Siculus.
Sicilian.
Erg.
At nunc Siculus non est, Boius est, Boiam terit:
liberorum quaerundorum causa ei, credo, uxor datast.
But he’s no Sicilian now: he’s a Gaul--he’s being galled,[G]
anyhow, by that thing he’s attached to: he’s coupled with
the article so as to get children, I suppose?
[Footnote G: Boia means a woman of the Boii, also a
malefactor’s collar.]
Hegio
Dic, bonan fide tu mi istaec verba dixisti?
See here, have you told me all this in good faith?
Erg.
Bona. 890
In good faith.
Hegio
Di immortales, iterum gnatus videor, si vera autumas.
Great heavens! I feel like a new man, if what you say is
true.
Erg.
Ain tu? dubium habebis etiam, sancte quom ego iurem tibi?
postremo, Hegio, si parva iuri iurandost fides,
vise ad portum.
Eh? How’s that? You’ll still doubt me when I’d give you my
sacred word on it? Very well then, Hegio, if my solemn oath
is insufficient for you, go down to the harbour and see for
yourself.
Hegio
Facere certumst. tu intus cura quod opus est.
sume, posce, prome quid vis. te facio cellarium.
(_excited_) Precisely what I will do. You go inside and
attend to what’s needed. Take anything you want, ask for it,
get it from the store-room. I make you butler.
Erg.
Nam hercle, nisi mantiscinatus probe ero, fusti pectito.
(_wild with joy_) Now by Jupiter, if I don’t do some
handsome catering, comb me down with a club!
Hegio
Aeternum tibi dapinabo victum, si vera autumas.
I’ll dinner you till doomsday, if it’s true.
Erg.
Unde id?
And who’s to pay?
Hegio
A me meoque gnato.
I and my son.
Erg.
Sponden tu istud?
I have your word on that?
Hegio
Spondeo.
My word.
Erg.
At ego tuom tibi advenisse filium respondeo.
And for my part, my word to you is--your son has arrived.
Hegio
Cura quam optume potes.
(_making off toward harbour_) Attend to everything the
very best you can.
IV. 3.
Scene 3.
Erg.
Bene ambula et redambula. 900
illic hinc abiit, mihi rem summam credidit cibariam.
di immortales, iam ut ego collos praetruncabo tegoribus,
quanta pernis pestis veniet, quanta labes larido,
quanta sumini absumedo, quanta callo calamitas,
quanta laniis lassitudo, quanta porcinariis.
A pleasant walk and--backwalk--to you. [EXIT _Hegio_]
He’s gone! And the whole blessed commissariat left to me! Ye
immortal gods! how I’ll knock necks off backs now! Ah, ham’s
case is hopeless, and bacon’s in a bad, bad way! And sow’s
udder--done for utterly! Oh, how pork rind will go to pot!
Butchers and pig-dealers--won’t I bustle ’em!
nam si alia memorem, quae ad ventris victum conducunt, morast.
nunc ibo, ut pro praefectura mea ius dicam larido,
et quae pendent indemnatae pernae, eis auxilium ut feram.
Why, if I should mention all the other things that go to
bolster up a belly, it would be a waste of time. I must off
this minute to perform my official duties and pass judgment
on bacon and help out hams that are still untried and in
suspense. [EXIT INTO HOUSE, HURRIEDLY: UPROAR WITHIN.
IV. 4.
Scene 4.
ENTER _Page_, ANGRY AND EXCITED, FROM _Hegio’s_ HOUSE.
Puer
Page
Diespiter te dique, Ergasile, perdant et ventrem tuom,
parasitosque omnis, et qui posthac cenam parasitis dabit. 910
clades, calamitasque, intemperies modo in nostram advenit domum.
quasi lupus esuriens ille metui ne in me faceret impetum.
(_shaking his fist at door_) May all the powers of heaven
destroy you, Ergasilus, and that belly of yours and all
parasites and anyone that gives a parasite a meal hereafter!
Disaster, devastation, a tornado, has just fallen on our
house. I was afraid he’d jump at my throat like a ravening
wolf!
ubi[24] voltus esurientis vidi, eius extimescebam impetum
nimisque hercle ego illum male formidabam. ita frendebat dentibus.
adveniens deturbavit totum cum carne carnarium:
arripuit gladium, praetruncavit tribus tegoribus glandia;
aulas calicesque omnes confregit, nisi quae modiales erant.
As soon as I saw that ravenous look of his I almost died for
fear he’d make a rush at me-- Lord, how he did scare me, how
he kept grinding his teeth! In he came and tugged down the
meat, rack and all--grabbed a knife and lopped the choice
bits off three necks of pork--and smashed every pot and
tureen that didn’t hold a peck or more!
cocum percontabatur, possentne seriae fervescere.
cellas refregit omnis intus reclusitque armarium.
adservate istunc, sultis, servi. ego ibo, ut conveniam senem.
dicam ut sibi penum alium adornet, siquidem sese uti volet; 920
nam hic quidem, ut adornat, aut iam nihil est aut iam nihil erit.
Kept asking the cook if he couldn’t possibly use the big
pickle vats to boil things in! Broke into all the cupboards
and raided the pantry! (_shouting to those within_) Hi,
boys! watch him, will you! I’m going to find the old man.
I’ll tell him, so that he can get in more victuals for
himself, that is if he wants any for his own use: for to
judge from the way this fellow is getting ’em out here,
there’s nothing left now, or won’t be long. [EXIT.
ACTVS V
ACT V
(_Half an hour has elapsed._)
ENTER _Hegio_, _Philopolemus_, _Philocrates_, AND
_Stalagmus._
Hegio
Iovi disque ago gratias merito magnas,
quom reducem tuo te patri reddiderunt
quomque ex miseriis plurimis me exemerunt,
quae adhuc te carens dum hic[25] fui sustentabam,
quomque hunc conspicor in potestate nostra,
quomque huius reperta est fides firma nobis.
(_to Philopolemus_) I thank God with all my heart, as
I ought, for bringing you back to your father, and for
relieving me of the dreadful anguish I’ve been enduring as
day after day went by, and I still here without you; yes,
and for letting me see this rascal (_indicating Stalagmus_)
in my power, and for this gentleman’s (_indicating
Philocrates_) proving himself a man of honour in standing
by his promise to us.
Philop.
Satis iam dolui ex animo, et cura me satis et lacrumis maceravi,
satis iam audivi tuas aerumnas, ad portum mihi quas memorasti.
hoc agamus.
(_seeing Philocrates is getting impatient_) I’ve had quite
enough bitter suffering, and enough of wearing myself out
with anxiety and weeping, too, and I’ve heard quite enough
of your distress of which you told me at the harbour,
father! So now to the main point. (_turns to Philocrates_)
Philocr.
Quid nunc, quoniam tecum servavi fidem 930
tibique hunc reducem in libertatem feci?
(_to Hegio_) What of me, sir, now that I have kept faith
with you and secured the liberty of your son here?
Hegio
Fecisti ut tibi,
Philocrates, numquam referre gratiam possim satis,
proinde ut tu promeritu’s de me et filio.
After the way you have acted, Philocrates, I’m entirely
unable to show gratitude enough for your treatment of me and
my son.
Philop.
Immo potes,
pater, et poteris et ego potero, et di eam potestatem dabunt
ut beneficium bene merenti nostro merito muneres;
sicut tu huic[26] potes, pater mi, facere merito maxume.
No, no, you are able, father, yes, and always will be able,
and so shall I be, and Heaven will give you the ability to
do a deserved kindness to a man that has been so kind to us.
It’s just as with this slave here, (_pointing to Stalagmus_)
father dear; you’re able to give him his full deserts.
Hegio
Quid opust verbis? lingua nullast qua negem quidquid roges.
(_to Philocrates_) It’s plain enough, sir,--I have no tongue
with which to refuse a request of yours.
Philocr.
Postulo abs te, ut mi illum reddas servom, quem hic reliqueram
pignus pro me, qui mihi melior quam sibi semper fuit,
pro bene factis eius ut ei pretium possim reddere. 940
What I ask you to do is to give me back the slave I
left here as security for myself--he was always ready to
sacrifice himself for me!--so that I can reward him for his
kindnesses.
Hegio
Quod bene fecisti referetur gratia id quod postulas;
et id et aliud, quod me orabis, impetrabis. atque te
nolim suscensere quod ego iratus ei feci male.
You have been kind to us, sir, and I shall be glad to do as
you ask; both that request, and any other, will be granted.
(_embarrassed_) And--and I trust you won’t be incensed at me
for getting angry and treating him badly.
Philocr.
Quid fecisti?
(_anxiously_) What did you do?
Hegio
In lapicidinas compeditum condidi,
ubi rescivi mihi data esse verba.
I had him fettered and put down in the stone quarries when I
found out I had been imposed upon.
Philocr.
Vae misero mihi,
propter meum caput labores homini evenisse optumo.
God forgive me! To think of the splendid fellow suffering
so, and all for my sake!
Hegio
At ob eam rem mihi libellam pro eo argenti ne duis.
gratiis a me, ut sit liber, ducito.
Well, sir, this being so, you needn’t give me a single
farthing for him: take him from me gratis--he is a free man.
Philocr.
Edepol, Hegio.
facis benigne. sed quaeso, hominem ut iubeas arcessi.
Well, well, Hegio, many thanks! But have him sent for, I beg
you.
Hegio
Licet.
ubi estis vos? ite actutum Tyndarum huc arcessite, 950
vos ite intro. interibi ego ex hac statua verberea volo
erogitare, meo minore quid sit factum filio.
vos lavate interibi.
By all means (_calling to slaves in house_) Where are you?
[ENTER OVERSEERS] Quick! go bring Tyndarus here. [EXEUNT
OVERSEERS] (_to Philopolemus and Philocrates_) As for you
lads, step inside. Meanwhile I want to inquire of this
whipping post here (_pointing to Stalagmus_) what was done
with my younger son. You can take a bath meanwhile.
Philop.
Sequere hac. Philocrates, me intro.
Come along in with me, Philocrates.
Philocr.
Sequor.
Certainly. [EXEUNT.
V. 2.
Scene 2.
Hegio
Age tu illuc procede. bone vir, lepidum mancupium meum.
(_to Stalagmus_) Come now, you! Over there with you,
(_pointing_) my good sir, my charming piece of property.
Stal.
Quid me oportet facere, ubi tu talis vir falsum autumas?
fui ego bellus, lepidus. bonus vir numquam, neque frugi bonae,
neque ero umquam, ne erres: spem ponas me bonae frugi fore.
(_sullenly_) What can you look for from me, when a fine
gentleman like you tells lies? I’ve had my day as a dandy, a
charmer; a good sir, or good for anything, I never was, and
I never will be, make no mistake, don’t you build up hopes I
will be good for anything.
Hegio
Propemodum ubi loci fortunae tuae sint facile intellegis.
si eris verax, tua ex re, facies ex mala meliusculam.
recte et vera loquere, sed neque vere neque tu recte adhuc 960
fecisti umquam.
You have no difficulty in appreciating your position pretty
fairly well. Now be truthful, and you’ll be acting to your
own advantage and make a bad prospect somewhat better. Out
with your story, make it straightforward and honest--virtues
you have never displayed hitherto, however.
Stal.
Quod ego fatear, credin pudeat cum autumes?
When I’m ready to admit a thing myself d’ye think I should
be ashamed of it just because you say it’s so?
Hegio
At ego faciam ut pudeat, nam in ruborem te totum dabo.
I’ll make you ashamed, though: (_savagely_) I tell you what,
I’ll make one big blush of you.
Stal.
Eia, credo ego imperito plagas minitaris mihi.
tandem ista aufer ac dic quid fers, ut feras hinc quod petis.
(_ironically_) La! La! I’m promised a whipping, it seems,
and I such a novice at it--oh, yes I am! Look here, get done
with that talk and say what you’ve got to propose, so as to
get what you’re after.
Hegio
Satis facundu’s. sed iam fieri dicta compendi volo.
Quite a gift of tongue, sir! But oblige me by saving some of
it for the moment.
Stal.
Ut vis fiat.
Anything you like.
Hegio
Bene morigerus fuit puer, nunc non decet.
hoc agamus. iam animum advorte ac mihi quae dicam edissere.[27] (967)
(_half aside_) That compliance he showed as a boy hardly
becomes him at present. (_aloud_) To business! Now then,
pay attention and answer me fully.
Stal.
Nugae istaec sunt. non me censes scire quid dignus siem? (969)
Rot! Don’t you suppose I know what I deserve?
Hegio
At ea subterfugere potis es pauca, si non omnia. 970
Well, you have a chance to escape a little of it, if not all.
Stal.
Pauca effugiam, scio; nam multa evenient, et merito meo,
quia et fugi et tibi surripui filium et eum vendidi.
Little enough I’ll escape, I know that; for there’ll be
plenty coming, and it serves me right, seeing I ran away
and kidnapped your son and sold him.
Hegio
Cui homini?
To whom?
Stal.
Theodoromedi in Alide Polyplusio,
sex minis.
(_drawling_) Theodoromedes Goldfields, in Elis, for
twenty-four pounds.
Hegio
Pro di immortales, is quidem huius est pater Philocrati.
God bless my soul! Why, he is the father of Philocrates
here!
Stal.
Quin melius novi quam tu et vidi saepius.
Well, I know him better than you, and I’ve seen him oftener.
Hegio
Serva, Iuppiter supreme, et me et meum gnatum mihi.
Philocrates, per tuom te genium obsecro, exi, te volo.
God Almighty, save me and save my boy for me! (_running to
door and shouting_) Philocrates! Here, here, come, on your
life! I want you!
V. 3.
Scene 3.
ENTER _Philocrates_.
Philocr
Hegio, assum. si quid me vis, impera.
Here I am, Hegio. If I can be of any service, command me.
Hegio
Hic gnatum meum
tuo patri ait se vendidisse sex minis in Alide.
(_beside himself_) This fellow says my son--he sold him to
your father--for twenty-four pounds--in Elis!
Philocr.
Quam diu id factum est?
How long ago was this?
Stal.
His annus incipit vicensimus. 980
Going on for twenty years.
Philocr.
Falsa memorat.
He’s lying.
Stal.
Aut ego aut tu. nam tibi quadrimulum
tuos pater peculiarem parvolo puero dedit.
(_indifferent_) One of us is. As a matter of fact, your
father gave you a little four year old boy for your own,
when you were nothing but a youngster yourself.
Philocr.
Quid erat ei nomen? si vera dicis, memoradum mihi.
(interested) What was his name? If your story is true, come,
tell me that.
Stal.
Paegnium vocitatust, post vos indidistis Tyndaro.
Styled Pettie, he was: later on you folks called him
Tyndarus.
Philocr.
Cur ego te non novi?
How is it I don’t know you?
Stal.
Quia mos est oblivisci hominibus
neque novisse cuius nihili sit faciunda gratia.
Because it’s the regular thing to forget a fellow and cut
him, in case his good will can’t help you at all.
Philocr.
Dic mihi, isne istic fuit, quem vendidisti meo patri,
qui mihi peculiaris datus est?
Tell me, was that boy you sold my father the same one that
was given me for my own?
Stal.
Huius filius.
(_with a nod in Hegio’s direction_) His son.
Hegio
Vivitne is homo?
(_eagerly_) Is he alive, this--man?
Stal.
Argentum accepi, nil curavi ceterum.
I got the money: that’s all I bothered about.
Hegio
Quid tu ais?
(_to Philocrates_) What do you say?
Philocr.
Quin istic ipsust Tyndarus tuos filius, 990
ut quidem hic argumenta loquitur. nam is mecum a puero puer
bene pudiceque educatust usque ad adulescentiam.
Why, it’s Tyndarus himself that is your son, at least
according to this fellow’s evidence. For Tyndarus has been
brought up with me from the time we were boys, and brought
up in good honest fashion.
Hegio
Et miser sum et fortunatus, si vos vera dicitis;
eo miser sum quia male illi feci, si gnatust meus.
eheu, quom ego plus minusve feci quam me aequom fuit.
quod male feci crucior; modo si infectum fieri possiet.
sed eccum incedit huc ornatus haud ex suis virtutibus.
I feel miserable and happy both, if what you two say is
true! Miserable at having been so hard on him, if he is my
own boy! Dear, dear! how much more I’ve done than I ought,
or how much less! It’s torment, to think of the horrible
thing I’ve done--oh, if it could only be undone! (_looking
down street_) Look, though,--there he comes! To be decked
out like that, the noble fellow!
V. 4.
Scene 4.
ENTER _Tyndarus_ ESCORTED BY OVERSEERS. HE IS HEAVILY IRONED
AND CARRIES A CROWBAR.
Tynd.
Vidi ego multa saepe picta, quae Acherunti fierent
cruciamenta, verum enim vero nulla adaeque est Acheruns
atque ubi ego fui, in lapicidinis. illic ibi demumst locus, 1000
ubi labore lassitudo est exigunda ex corpore.
(_dryly_) I have seen a good many pictures whose subject was
torture in Hell: but upon my soul, there is no hell that can
match those stone quarries where I’ve been. That place down
there is certainly the one where a weary man can be dead
sure of working off his tired feeling.
nam ubi illo adveni, quasi patricus pueris aut monerulae,
aut anites aut coturnices dantur, quicum lusitent
itidem mi haec advenienti upupa, qui me delectem, datast
sed erus eccum ante ostium, et erus alter eccum ex Alide
rediit.
Why, when I got there it was just like your young scions
of the nobility being given daws or ducks or quails for
playfellows: my own case exactly--the moment I arrived they
gave me this crow to have a lark with. (_looking toward
Hegio’s house_) But there’s my master in front of the door--
and, yes, my other master back from Elis!
Hegio
Salve, exoptate gnate mi.
Oh, how are you, my own longed-for son?
Tynd.
Hem, quid gnate mi?
attat. scio cur te patrem adsimules esse et me filium:
quia mi item ut parentes lucis das tuendi copiam.
Eh? “My son?” How’s that? (_pauses, then with a weary
laugh_) Ah, yes, yes, I see the point of your father and
son chaff: just as parents do, you give me a chance to
behold the light of day.
Philocr.
Salve, Tyndare.
God bless you, Tyndarus!
Tynd.
Et tu, quoius causa hanc aerumnam exigo.
And you, sir, for whose sake I’m undergoing this confounded
experience.
Philocr.
At nunc liber in divitias faxo venies. nam tibi 1010
pater hic est; hic servos, qui te huic hinc quadrimum surpuit.
vendidit patri meo te sex minis, is te mihi
parvolum peculiarem parvolo puero dedit:
illic indicium fecit; nam hunc ex Alide huc reduximus.
But now you shall be a free man, Tyndarus, and a rich one,
I promise you. For here is (_indicating Hegio_) your father;
this slave (_indicating Stalagmus_) stole you away from him
here when you were four years old and sold you to my father
for twenty-four pounds. And when we were both small boys,
father gave you to me for my own. That fellow there has
proved it all; you see we brought him back here from Elis.
Tynd.
Quid huius filium?
(_dazed_) What about his son?
Philocr.
Intus eccum fratrem germanum tuom.[28] (1015)
Look--inside there--your own brother!
Tynd.
Nunc edepol demum in memoriam regredior, audisse me (1023)
quasi per nebulam, Hegionem meum patrem vocarier.
Great heavens! When I think back I do now at last remember
hearing--in a cloudy sort of way--my father called Hegio!
Hegio
Is ego sum.
(_embracing him_) I am that Hegio!
Philocr.
Compedibus quaeso ut tibi sit levior filius
atque huic gravior servos.
(_to Hegio, pointing to the shackles on Tyndarus_). Those
irons, sir,--for mercy’s sake get yourself a lighter son,
and him a heavier slave. (_indicating Stalagmus_)
Hegio
Certum est principio id praevortier.
eamus intro, ut arcessatur faber, ut istas compedes
tibi adimam, huic dem.
Yes, yes, I must see to that first of all. Let’s go inside
and have a blacksmith sent for, so that I may get those
irons off of you and make this fellow (_turning to
Stalagmus_) a present of them.
Stal.
Quoi peculi nihil est, recte feceris.
Thanks awfully--seeing I haven’t a thing I can call my own.
[EXEUNT OMNES.
CATERVA
EPILOGUE
SPOKEN BY THE COMPANY.
Spectatores, ad pudicos mores facta haec fabula est,
neque in hac subigitationes sunt neque ulla amatio 1030
nec pueri suppositio nec argenti circumductio,
neque ubi amans adulescens scortum liberet clam suom patrem.
Spectators, this play was composed with due regard to the
proprieties: here you have no vicious intrigues, no love
affair, no supposititious child, no getting money on false
pretences, no young spark setting a wench free without his
father’s knowledge.
huius modi paucas poetae reperiunt comoedias,
ubi boni meliores fiant. nunc vos, si vobis placet
et si placuimus neque odio fuimus, signum hoc mittite:
qui pudicitiae esse voltis praemium, plausum date.
Dramatists find few plays such as this which make good men
better. Now, if you so please, and if we have pleased you
and have not been boring, intimate as much: you who wish
virtue to be rewarded, give us your applause.
* * * * *
[Footnote 1: Corrupt (Leo): _vincti quia astant_ Fleckeisen.]
[Footnote 2: Leo notes lacuna here:
_(cette), iam hoc tenetis_ Schoell.]
[Footnote 3: _vel_ precedes in MSS: Leo brackets.]
[Footnote 4: Leo notes lacuna here: _cupio (fieri)_ Schoell.]
[Footnote 5: Leo’s correction of _multa miraclitis_ of the MSS.]
[Footnote 6: Corrupt (Leo): _ea_ MSS: _consili_ Schoell.]
[Footnote 7: Leo brackets the following v., 237:
_quod tibi suadeam, suadeam meo patri._]
[Footnote 8: Leo notes lacuna here: _huius (ille)_ Camerarius.]
[Footnote 9: Leo brackets the following v., 280:
Hegio
_Tum igitur ei cum in Aleis tanta gratia est, ut praedicas._]
[Footnote 10: Leo brackets the following v., 288:
_nam ille quidem Theodoromedes fuit germano nomine._]
[Footnote 11: Leo brackets the following v., 324:
Hegio
_Ego virtute deum et maiorum nostrum dives sum satis._]
[Footnote 12: Corrupt (Leo): _quin te gratiis_ MSS:
_gratiis quin te_ Schoell.]
[Footnote 13: Leo brackets the following v., 438:
_scito te hinc minis viginti aestumatum mittier._]
[Footnote 14: Corrupt (Leo): _exitium_ Pontanus: _exilium_ MSS.]
[Footnote 15: Leo brackets the following v., 521:
_nec sycophantiis nec fucis ullum mantellum obviam est._]
[Footnote 16: Corrupt (Leo): _qui venit modo intro_ MSS:
_modo qui venit intro_ Lindsay.]
[Footnote 17: Leo notes lacuna here: _manicas (maxumas)_ Spengel.]
[Footnote 18: Leo notes lacuna here: _ut (etiam)_ Schoell.]
[Footnote 19: Leo notes lacuna here: _mihi (quod domist)_ Schoell.]
[Footnote 20: Leo brackets the following v., 801:
_Qui mihi in cursu opstiterit, faxo vitae is extemplo
opstiterit suae._]
[The man that stands in my path shall forthwith stand in the
way of his own existence.]
[Footnote 21: _Noli irascier_ follows in MSS: Leo brackets.]
[Footnote 22: Corrupt (Leo): _laridum ac pernas_ Schoell.]
[Footnote 23: Corrupt (Leo): _pern[ul]am_ Geppert.]
[Footnote 24: _voltus esurientis (vidi, eius extimescebam)_ Leo:
A reading doubtful: other MSS omit the line.]
[Footnote 25: Corrupt (Leo): _te carens dum hic_ P:
_carens dum huc_ A.]
[Footnote 26: _tu huic_ MSS: _nunc_ Leo.]
[Footnote 27: Leo brackets the following v., 968:
_si eris verax, ex tuis rebus feceris meliusculas._]
[Footnote 28: Leo brackets the following v., 1016-1022:
Tynd.
_Quid tu ais? adduatin illum huius captivom filium?_
Philocr.
_Quin, inquam, intus hic est._
Tynd.
_Fecisti edepol et recte et bene._
Philocr.
_Nunc tibi pater hic est. hic fur est tuos, qui parvom hinc
te abstulit._
Tynd.
_At ego hunc grandis grandem natu ob furtum ad carnificem dabo._
Philocr.
_Meritus est_
Tynd.
_Ergo edepol merito meritam mercedem dabo._ 1020
_sed tu dic oro. pater meus tune es?_
Hegio.
_Ego sum, gnate mi._
Tynd.
_Nunc demum in memoriam redeo, cum mecum recogito._]
[_Tynd._
What do you say? Did you bring this gentleman’s captive son?
_Philocr._
Yes, yes, he’s inside, I tell you.
_Tynd._
By heaven, sir, you have acted fairly and honourably.
_Philocr._
Now here is your father: and here is the thief who stole you
away from here when you were small.
_Tynd._
But now that we’re both big, I’ll hand him over to the
executioner for that theft.
_Philocr._
He deserves it.
_Tynd._
Well then, I’ll give him his deserved deserts deservedly, by
gad! But you, sir, speak I beseech you. Are you my father?
_Hegio_
I am, my dear lad.
_Tynd._
Now at last I remember--when I think it over.]
* * * * *
[Transcriber’s Corrections: Captivi (The Captives)
Personae:
ERGASILVS PARASITUS...
spelling unchanged, as in Amphitryon ]
I. 1.
...have dubbed me Missy, on the ground that...
text reads on the gound
II. 2.
Now the old fellow is in the barber’s chair
text reads barbar’s chair ]
* * * * *
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Amphitryo, Asinaria, Aulularia,
Bacchides, Captivi, by Plautus Titus Maccius