- Source
- Plautus. Plauti Comoediae, Volume 1. Leo, Friedrich, editor. Berlin: Weidmann, 1895.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0119.phi011.humanitext-lat2:208-276
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Charinus despises his situation after his father saw his mistress and tries to avoid meeting him. Meanwhile, his father Demipho enters and delivers a monologue, recalling a strange dream from the night before and confessing his sudden infatuation with the beautiful woman he saw on the ship.
si illam matri meae me emisse dicam;1 post autem mihi
If I should say to my father that I bought her for my mother; but then to me
scelus videtur, me parenti proloqui mendacium.
it seems a crime to tell a lie to my parent.
neque ille credet, neque credibile est forma eximia mulierem,
Neither will he believe it, nor is it credible that a woman of exceptional beauty,
eam me emisse ancillam matri.
that I bought her as a maidservant for my mother.
Non taces, stultissime?
Won’t you be silent, you fool?
credet hercle, nam credebat iam mihi.
By Hercules, he will believe it, for he was already believing me.
Metuo miser,
Wretched me, I fear
ne patrem prehendat, ut sit gesta res, suspicio.
lest a suspicion should seize my father, how the matter was carried out.
hoc quod te rogo responde quaeso.
Answer this, please, which I ask you.
Quaeso quid rogas?
Please, what do you ask?
Num esse amicam suspicari visus est?
Did he seem to suspect that she is my mistress?
Non visus est.
He did not seem to.
quin quicque ut dicebam mihi credebat.
Indeed, whatever I said, he was believing me.
Verum, ut tibi quidem
True, so it seemed to you,
visus est.
at least.
Non, sed credebat.
No, but he was believing.
Vae mihi misero, nullus sum.
Woe to miserable me, I am nothing.
sed quid ego hic in lamentando pereo, ad navem non eo?
But why do I perish here in lamenting, and do not go to the ship?
sequere.
Follow.
Si istac ibis, commodum obviam venies patri;
If you go that way, you will come right to meet your father;
postea aspiciet te timidum esse atque exanimatum: ilico
afterward, he will see that you are fearful and breathless: immediately
retinebit, rogitabit unde illam emeris, quanti emeris:
he will hold you back, he will ask where you bought her, for how much you bought her:
timidum temptabit te.
he will test you, fearful as you are.
Hac ibo potius. iam censes patrem
I will go this way instead. Do you think my father
abiisse a portu?
has already departed from the harbor?
Quin ea ego huc praecucurri gratia,
Why, I ran ahead here for that very reason,
ne te opprimeret imprudentem atque electaret.
lest he should catch you off guard and extort the truth from you.
Optime.—
Very well.—
Miris modis di ludos faciunt hominibus
In wondrous ways the gods make sport of men,
mirisque exemplis somnia in somnis danunt.
and in wondrous fashions they give dreams in sleep.
velut ego nocte hac quae praeteriit proxuma
As I, on this night which has just passed,
in somnis egi satis et fui homo exercitus.
in my sleep did enough and was a hard-pressed man.
mercari visus mihi sum2 formosam capram;
I seemed to myself to buy a beautiful she-goat;
ei ne noceret quam domi ante habui capram
lest the she-goat which I had at home before should harm her,
neu discordarent, si ambae in uno essent loco,
or lest they should disagree if both were in one place,
posterius quam mercatus fueram, visus sum
after I had bought her, I seemed
in custodelam simiae concredere.
to entrust her to the custody of an ape.
ea simia adeo post haud multo ad me venit,
That ape came to me not long afterward,
male mihi precatur et facit convicium:
cursed me and made abuse:
ait sése illius opera atque adventu caprae
he said that by the action and arrival of that she-goat
flagitium et damnum fecisse haud mediocriter;
he had incurred disgrace and damage in no small measure;
dicit capram, quam dederam servandam sibi,
he said that the she-goat, which I had given to him to keep,
suaé uxoris dotem ambedisse oppido.
had completely eaten away his wife’s dowry.
mi illud videri mirum, ut una illaec capra
That seemed strange to me, how that single she-goat
uxoris simiai dotem ambederit.
had eaten away the dowry of the ape’s wife.
instare factum simia, atque hoc denique
The ape insisted on the fact, and finally
respondet, ni properem illam ab sese abducere,
answered this, that unless I hurried to lead her away from him,
ad me domum intro ad uxórem ducturum meam.
he would lead her into my house to my wife.
atque oppido hercle bene velle illi visus sum,
And indeed, by Hercules, I seemed to wish her very well,
ast non habere cui commendarem capram;
but not to have anyone to whom I might commend the she-goat;
quo magis quid facerem cura cruciabar miser.
by which the more I, wretched man, was tormented by anxiety as to what I should do.
interea ad me haedus visust adgredirier,
Meanwhile, a kid seemed to approach me,
infit mihi praedicare, sese ab simia
began to declare to me that he from the ape
capram abduxisse, et coepit inridere me;
had led away the she-goat, and began to mock me;
ego énim lugere atque abductam illam aegre pati.3
whereas I was mourning and taking her abduction hard.
hoc quam ad rem credam pertinere somnium,
To what matter I should believe this dream to belong,
nequeo invenire; nisi capram illam suspicor
I cannot find out; except that I suspect that she-goat
iam me invenisse quae sit aut quid voluerit.
I have already found who she is or what she wanted to mean.
ad portum hinc abii mane cum luci simul;
I went from here to the harbor early, together with the light;
postquam id quod volui transegi, atque ego conspicor
after I dispatched what I wanted, then I espied
navem ex Rhodo quast héri advectus filius;
the ship from Rhodes in which my son was brought yesterday;
conlibitumst illuc mihi nescio qui visere:
it pleased me, I know not why, to go and see there:
inscendo in lembum átque ad navem devehor.
I boarded a boat and was carried to the ship.
atque égo illi aspicio forma eximia mulierem,
And there I saw a woman of exceptional beauty,
filius quam advexit meus matri ancillam suae.
whom my son brought as a maidservant for his mother.
quam ego postquam aspexi, non ita amo ut sani solent
Whom after I looked upon, I do not love as sane men
homines, sed eodem pacto ut insani solent.
are wont to do, but in the same manner as insane men are wont to.
amavi hercle equidem ego olim in adulescentia,
By Hercules, indeed I loved once in my youth,
verum ad hoc exemplum numquam, ut nunc insanio.
but never to this pattern, as I am insane now.
unum quidem hercle iam scio, periisse me;
One thing indeed, by Hercules, I now know, that I am ruined;
vosmet videte ceterum quanti siem.
as for the rest, see for yourselves what I am worth.
nunc hoc profecto sic est: haec illast capra;
Now this is surely so: this is that she-goat;
verum hercle simia illa atque haedus mihi malum
but indeed, by Hercules, that ape and the kid bring evil
adportant, atque eos esse quos dicam hau scio.
to me, and who they are to say, I do not know.
sed conticiscam, nam eccum it vicinus foras.
But I will be silent, for look, the neighbor is coming out.
Profecto ego illunc hircum castrari volo,
Indeed, I want that he-goat to be castrated,
ruri qui vobis exhibet negotium.
who causes trouble for you in the country.
Nec omen illud mihi nec auspicium placet.
Neither that omen nor that auspice pleases me.
quasi hircum metuo ne uxor me castret mea.
Like the he-goat, I fear lest my wife castrate me.
- 208si ... dicam
dicam is a present subjunctive expressing a future possibility (protasis), while the apodosis videtur is in the present indicative, showing a mixed condition.
- 229visus mihi sum
visus mihi sum is a personal construction of the verb videor ("I seemed to myself to..."), taking the nominative infinitive mercari.
- 251ego enim lugere ... pati
lugere and pati are historical infinitives, which take the nominative subject ego instead of the accusative, used to describe past events vividly.