Argument over Perfume and the Persuasion of Chalinus — Plautus, Casina, lines 233b–291, Latin & English

233b

Nón potes ímpetrare.

You cannot obtain it.

Énecas.

You are killing me.

Véra dicás velim.

I wish you were speaking the truth.

Crédo ego istúc tibi.

I believe you on that point.

235

Réspice, o mi lepos.

Look back at me, oh my charm.

Nempe ita ut tú mihi es.

Surely just as you are to me.

unde híc, amabo, unguénta olent?

From where, pray, does this smell of perfume come?

Oh périi, manufestó miser

Oh, I am ruined! Wretched me, I am caught red-handed.

téneor. cessó caput pállio detérgere?

Shall I delay to wipe my head with my cloak?

út te bonus Mercúrius perdat, mýropola, quia haec míhi dedisti.

May the good Mercury destroy you, perfume-seller, because you gave me these things.

Ého tu nihili, cána culex, vix téneor quin¹ quae décent te dicam,

Hey you, good-for-nothing, gray gnat, I can scarcely restrain myself from saying what is fitting for you,

240

sénecta aetate únguentatus pér vias, ignáve, incedis?

walking through the streets anointed with perfume at your advanced age, you worthless wretch?

Pól ego amico dédi cuidam operam, dum émit unguenta.

By Pollux, I was helping a friend of mine while he was buying perfume.

Vt cito comméntust.

How quickly he made that up.

écquid te pudet?

Are you not ashamed at all?

Ómnia quae tu vís.

Everything that you wish.

Vbi in lustrá iacuisti?

Where in the dens of vice have you been lying?

Égone in lustra?

I in dens of vice?

Scío plus quam tu me árbitrare.

I know more than you think I do.

Quíd id est? quid scis?

What is that? What do you know?

Té sene omniúm † senem néminem esse ignáviorem.

That of all old men, there is no old man more worthless than you.

245

únde is, nihili? ubí fuisti? ubí lustratu's?² úbi bibisti?

Where are you coming from, good-for-nothing? Where have you been? Where have you been carousing? Where did you drink?

mádes mecastor: víde, palliolum ut rúgat.

By Castor, you are soaked: look how your little cloak is wrinkled.

Di me et te ínfelicent,

May the gods bring ruin upon me and you,

si égo in os méum hodie viní guttam índidi.

if I have put a drop of wine into my mouth today.

Immo age, út lubet,

Nay, go on, as you please,

bíbe, es, disperde rem.

drink, eat, waste our property.

Óhe, iam satis, uxór, comprime te, nímium tinnis,

Whoa, that’s enough, wife! Restrain yourself, you chatter too much,

relínque aliquantum orátionis, crás quod mecum lítiges.

leave some words so that you may argue with me tomorrow.

séd quid ais? iam domuisti animum, potius ut quod vir velit

But what do you say? Have you subdued your mind by now, so that you would rather do what your husband wants done,

fieri, id facias, quam adversere contra?

than oppose him?

Qua de re?

Concerning what matter?

Rogas?

You ask?

super ancilla Casina, ut detur nuptum nostro vilico,

concerning the handmaid Casina, that she be given in marriage to our bailiff,

255

servo frugi atque ubi illi bene sit ligno, aqua calida, cibo,

an honest servant, and one with whom she would be well off for firewood, warm water, food,

vestimentis, ubique educat pueros quos pariat † potius

clothing, and where she may bring up the children she bears,

quam illi servo nequam des, armigero nili atque improbo,

rather than that you should give her to that worthless servant, a good-for-nothing and wicked armor-bearer,

cui hominí hodie peculi nummus non est plumbeus.

a man who today doesn’t have a lead coin of personal savings.

Mirum ecastor, te senecta aétate officium tuom

By Castor, it is surprising that at your advanced age you

260

non meminisse.

do not remember your duty.

Quid iam?

Why so?

Quia, si facias recte aut commode,

Because, if you were to act rightly or properly,

me sinas curare ancillas, quae mea est curatio.

you would let me take care of the handmaids, which is my business.

Qui, malum, homini scutigerulo dáre lubet?

Why, the plague, do you want to give her to that armor-bearer?

Quía enim filio

Because indeed

nos oportet opitulari único.

it is fitting for us to help our only son.

At quamquam unicust,

But although he is an only son,

nihilo magis ille unicust mihi filius quam ego illi pater:

he is no more an only son to me than I am a father to him:

265

illum mi aequiust quam me illi quae volo concedere.

it is more just for him to yield to my wishes than for me to yield to his.

Tu ecastor tibi, homo, malam rem quaeris.

By Castor, you are looking for trouble for yourself, fellow.

Subolet, sentio.

She smells a rat, I feel it.

egone?

Tu. nam quid friguttis? quid istuc tam cupide cupis?

You. For why are you stammering? Why do you desire that so eagerly?

Vt enim frugi servo detur potius quam servo improbo.

Why, so that she may be given to an honest servant rather than to a wicked one.

Quid si ego impetro atque exoro a vilico, causa mea

What if I obtain a concession and prevail upon the bailiff, for my sake,

270

ut eam illi permittat?

to yield her to him?

Quid si ego autem ab armigero impetro,

And what if I, on the other hand, obtain a concession from the armor-bearer

ut eam illi permittat? atque hóc credo impetrassere.³

to yield her to him? And I believe I shall obtain this.

Convenit. vin tuis Chalinum huc evocem verbis foras?

Agreed. Do you want me to call Chalinus out here in your name?

tú eum orato, ego autem orabo vilicum.

You entreat him, and I will entreat the bailiff.

Sane volo.

I certainly wish so.

Iam hic erit. nunc experiemur, nostrum uter sit blandior.—

He will be here soon. Now we shall test which of us is the more persuasive. —

275

Hercules dique istam perdant, quod nunc liceat dicere.⁴

May Hercules and the gods destroy her, as far as I am permitted to say now.

ego discrucior miser amore, illa autem quasi ob industriam

Wretched I am tortured by love, while she opposes me as if on purpose.

mi advorsatur. subolet hoc iam uxori quod ego machinor:

My wife already smells a rat about what I am plotting:

propter eam rem magis armigero dat operam de industria.

for that reason, she supports the armor-bearer all the more on purpose.

qui illum di omnes deaeque perdant.

May all the gods and goddesses destroy him!

Te uxor aiebat tua

Your wife said

280

me vocare.

that you were calling me.

Ego énim vocari iussi.

Indeed, I ordered you to be called.

Eloquere quid velis.

Tell me what you want.

Primum ego te porrectiore fronte volo mecum loqui;

First, I want you to speak with me with a smoother forehead;

stultitia est ei te esse tristem, cuius potestas plus potest.

it is foolishness for you to be sullen toward one whose power is greater.

probum te et frugi hominem iam pridem esse arbitror.

I have long thought you to be an honest and worthy fellow.

Intellego.

I understand.

quin, si ita arbitrare, emittis me manu?⁵

Then, if you think so, why don’t you set me free?

Quin id volo.

Indeed, I want to do that.

sed nihil est, me cupere factum, nisi tu factis adiuvas.

But it is nothing for me to desire it done, unless you help by your actions.

Quid velis modo id velim me scire.

I only wish to know what you want.

Ausculta, ego eloquar.

Listen, I will tell you.

Casinam ego uxorem promisi vilico nostro dare.

I have promised to give Casina as wife to our bailiff.

At tua uxor filiusque promiserunt mihi.

But your wife and son promised her to me.

Scio.

I know.

290

sed utrum nunc tu caelibem te ésse mavis liberum

But which do you prefer: to be a free unmarried man,

an maritum servom aetatem degere et gnatos tuos?

or to spend your life as a married slave, and your children too?

Syntax notes5 items

239vix téneor quin
Means 'I can scarcely restrain myself from...'. The 'quin' clause follows a negated verb of restraining or preventing, expressing the action that is barely prevented.
245ubí lustratu's
A comic, spontaneous coinage by Plautus derived from the noun 'lustra' (brothels, dens of vice) rather than the standard verb 'lustrare' (to purify), carrying the vulgar sense of 'where have you been carousing?'.
271impetrassere
An archaic future active infinitive equivalent to 'impetraturum esse', a morphological feature typical of early Latin comedy.
275quod nunc liceat dicere
A restrictive relative clause meaning 'so far as it is permitted to say now', explaining Lysidamus's situation where he can finally utter curses aloud now that he is alone.
284_285emittis me manu
Literally 'to send from the hand', an idiomatic phrase for the legal act of manumitting a slave (manumissio), derived from 'manu mittere'.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-22)

2026-09-22 AI review — source 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0119.phi006.humanitext-lat2:233b-291