Result of the Lot and Chalinus Overhearing the Plot — Plautus, Casina, lines 415b–485, Latin & English

415b

Teneo sortem.

I hold the lot.

Ecfer foras.

Bring it out.

Iamne mortuo's?

Are you already dead?

Ostende. mea haec est.

Show it. This is mine.

Mala crux éast quidem.

It is indeed a bad cross.

Victus es, Chaline.

You are defeated, Chalinus.

Cum nos di iuvere, Olympio,

Since the gods have helped us, Olympio,

gaudeo.

I rejoice.

Pietate factum est mea atque maiorum meum.

It has happened through my piety and that of my ancestors.

Intro abi, uxor, atque adorna nuptias.

Go inside, wife, and prepare the wedding.

Faciam ut iubes.

I will do as you order.

420

Scin tu rus hinc esse ad villam longe quo ducat?

Do you know that from here it is far to the country villa where she is to be led?

Scio.

I know.

Intro abi et, quamquam hoc tibi aegre est, tamen fac accures.

Go inside, and although this is painful to you, yet see that you attend to it.

Licet.—

Very well.

Eamus nos quoque intro, hortemur ut properent.

Let us also go inside, let us urge them to hurry.

Numquid moror?—

Am I delaying at all?

Nam praesente hoc plura verba fieri non desidero.—

For while this man is present, I do not desire more words to be made.

Si nunc me suspendam, meam operam luserim¹

If I should hang myself now, I would throw away my labor,

425

et praeter operam restim sumpti fecerim

and besides my labor, I would make an expense of the rope,

et meis inimicis voluptatem creaverim.

and I would create pleasure for my enemies.

quid opus est, qui sic mortuos? equidem tamen

What need is there, for one who is thus already dead? However, indeed,

sorti sum victus, Casina nubet vilico.

I am defeated by lot; Casina will marry the farm-bailiff.

atque id non tam aegrest iam, vicisse vilicum,

And that is not so painful now, that the farm-bailiff has won,

430

quam id expetivisse opere tam magno senem,

as that the old man desired it with so great effort,

ne ea mihi daretur atque ut illi nuberet.

lest she should be given to me, and that she should marry him.

ut illé trepidabat, ut festinabat miser;

How he was trembling, how he was hastening, the wretch!

ut sussultabat, postquam vicit vilicus.

How he was jumping up and down after the farm-bailiff won!

attat, concedam huc, audio aperiri foris,

Aha! I will withdraw here; I hear the door being opened,

435

mei benevolentes atque amici prodeunt.

my well-wishers and friends are coming out.

hinc ex insidiis hisce ego insidias dabo.

From this ambush here I will set an ambush for them.

Sine modo rus veniat: ego remittam ad te virum

Let him only come to the country: I will send the man back to you into the city with a fork like a charcoal-burner.

cum furca in urbem tamquam carbonarium.

With a fork into the city like a charcoal-burner.

Ita fieri oportet.

So it ought to be done.

Factum et curatum dabo.²

I will see it done and cared for.

440

Volui Chalinum, si domi esset, mittere

I wanted to send Chalinus, if he were at home,

tecum obsonatum, ut etiam in maerore insuper

with you to buy provisions, so that even in his grief in addition,

inimico nostro miseriam hanc adiungerem.

I might add this misery to our enemy.

Recessim cedam ad parietem, imitabor nepam;

I will retreat backward to the wall, I will imitate a crab;

captandust horum clanculum sermo mihi.

I must secretly catch their conversation.

445

nam illorum me alter cruciat, alter macerat.

For of them, one tortures me, the other wastes me away.

at candidatus cedit hic mastigia,

But this white-robed candidate of a scoundrel is coming,

stimulorum loculi. protollo mortem mihi;

this chest of whips! I postpone death for myself;

certum est, hunc Acheruntem praemittam prius.

it is resolved to send this fellow to Acheron first.

Vt tibi ego inventus sum obsequens. quod maxime

How compliant I have been found towards you! What you most

450

cupiebas, eius copiam feci tibi.

desired, I have made you have abundance of it.

erit hodie tecum quod amas clam uxorem.

Today what you love will be with you, secretly from your wife.

Tace.

Be silent.

ita me di bene ament, ut³ ego vix reprimo labra

So may the gods love me, that I can scarcely restrain my lips

ob istánc rem quin te deosculer, voluptas mea.

on account of that matter, from kissing you, my pleasure.

Quid, deosculere? quae res? quae voluptas tua?

What, kiss? What’s this? What pleasure of yours?

455

ecfodere hercle hic volt, credo, vesicam vilico.†

By Hercules, this man wants, I believe, to dig out the farm-bailiff’s bladder.

Ecquid amas nunc me?

Do you love me at all now?

Immo edepol me quam te minus.

Nay, by Pollux, myself less than you.

licetne amplecti te?

Is it permitted to embrace you?

Quid, amplecti?

What, embrace?

Licet.

It is permitted.

Vt, quia te tango, mel mihi videor lingere.

How, because I touch you, I seem to myself to lick honey!

Vltro te, amator, apage te a dorso meo.

Away with you, lover, get away from my back!

460

Illuc est, illuc, quod hic hunc fecit vilicum:

That is it, that is why this man made him farm-bailiff:

eidem me pridem, cum ei advorsum veneram,

formerly, when I had gone to meet him, he had wanted

facere atriensem voluerat sub ianua.

to make me, the same person, a hall-porter under the door.

Vt tibi morigerus hodie, ut voluptati fui.

How compliant I have been to you today, how much of a pleasure!

Vt tibi, dum vivam, bene velim plus quam mihi.

How I wish well to you, as long as I live, more than to myself.

465

Hodie hercle, opinor, hi conturbabunt pedes:

By Hercules, today, I think, these men will entangle their feet;

solet hic barbatos sane sectari senex.

for this old man is truly accustomed to chase bearded men.

Vt ego hodie Casinam deosculabor, ut mihi

How I shall kiss Casina today, how

bona multa faciam clam meam uxorem.

I shall do many good things for myself, secretly from my wife.

Attatae,

Aha!

nunc pol ego demum in rectam redii semitam.

By Pollux, now at last I have returned to the right path.

470

hic ipsus Casinam deperit. habeo viros.

This man himself is desperately in love with Casina. I have the men.

Iam hercle amplexari, iam osculari gestio.

By Hercules, already I long to embrace, already to kiss.

Sine prius deduci. quid, malum, properas?

Let her first be led away. Why, plague on it, do you hurry?

Amo.

I am in love.

At non opinor fieri hoc posse hodie.

But I don’t think this can be done today.

Potest,

It can,

siquidém cras censes te posse emitti manu.

if indeed you think you can be set free tomorrow.

475

Enim véro huc aures magis sunt adhibendae mihi:

Indeed, my ears must be applied more to this:

iam ego uno in saltu lepide apros capiam duos.

now I shall neatly catch two wild boars in one glade.

Apud hunc sodalem meum atque vicinum mihi

At the house of this companion and neighbor of mine,

locus est paratus: ei ego amorem omnem meum

a place is prepared; to him I have entrusted all my love;

concredui; is mihi se locum dixit dare.

he said he would give me the place.

480

Quid eius uxor? ubi erit?

What of his wife? Where will she be?

Lepide repperi.

I have found it out neatly.

mea uxór vocabit huc eam ad se in nuptias,

My wife will invite her here to herself for the wedding,

ut hic sit secum, se adiuvet, secum cubet;

so that she may be here with her, help her, and sleep with her;

ego iussi, et dixit se facturam uxor mea.

I ordered it, and my wife said she would do so.

illa hic cubabit, vir aberit faxo⁴ domo;

She will sleep here; I will make sure the husband is away from home;

485

tu rus uxorem duces: id rus hic erit

you will lead your wife to the country: that country will be here.

Syntax notes4 items

424luserim
Apodosis to the conditional clause Si nunc me suspendam (present subjunctive, future less vivid). The perfect subjunctives (luserim, fecerim, creaverim) are frequently used in early Latin as equivalents to the present subjunctive in potential apodoses, emphasizing the completed action of the potential result.
439bFactum et curatum dabo
The construction of dabo with a perfect passive participle is common in early and colloquial Latin, functioning similarly to a future perfect ("I will have it done") or expressing a strong resolve to see the action completed.
452ita me di bene ament, ut
A formulaic expression of oath or strong assertion. Literally, "so may the gods love me, as I [do/am]...", meaning "as surely as I hope for the gods' favor, I am...". The ut clause introduces the actual state of affairs.
484faxo
An archaic and colloquial future form (originally fac-so, equivalent to faciam). Here used parenthetically as "I will see to it," translating to: "the husband will be away from home, I'll make sure of it."

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (2, latest 2026-09-22)

2026-09-22 AI review — source 1
2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0119.phi006.humanitext-lat2:415b-485