Demipho's Confession and Charinus's Distress — Plautus, Mercator, lines 277–348, Latin & English

277

I tu hinc ad villam atque istos rastros vilico

Go from here to the country, and take care to hand over those rakes to the bailiff

Pisto ipsi facito coram ut tradas¹ in manum.

Pistus himself, right into his hand in his presence.

uxori facito ut nunties, negotium

Take care to announce to my wife that I have

280

mihi esse in urbe, ne me exspectet; nam mihi

business in the city, lest she expect me; for I have

tris hodie litis iudicandas dicito.

three lawsuits to judge today, tell her.

ei, et hoc memento dicere.

Go, and remember to say this.

Numquid amplius?

Anything else?

Tantumst.

That is all.

Lysimache, salve.

Lysimachus, greetings.

Euge, Demipho,

Ah, Demipho,

salveto. quid agis? quid fit?

greetings. How are you doing? What is happening?

Quod miserrumus.

I am most wretched.

285

Di melius faxint.

May the gods grant better.

Di hoc quidem faciunt.

Indeed, the gods are doing this.

Quid est?

What is it?

Dicam, si videam tibi esse óperam aut otium.

I would tell you, if I saw that you have attention or leisure.

Quamquam negotiumst, si quid vis, Demipho,

Although I have business, if you want anything, Demipho,

non sum occupatus umquam amico operam dare.

I am never too busy to give attention to a friend.

Benignitatem tuam mi experto praedicas.

You declare your kindness to me, which I have experienced.

290

quid tibi ego aetatis videor?²

What age do I seem to you?

Acherunticus,

A candidate for Acheron,

senex vetus, decrepitus.

an ancient, decrepit old man.

Pervorse vides.

You see wrongly.

puer súm, Lysimache, septuennis.

I am a boy, Lysimachus, seven years old.

Sanun es,

Are you sane,

qui puerum te esse dicas?

who say that you are a boy?

Vera praedico.

I speak the truth.

Modo hercle in mentem venit, quid tu diceres:

By Hercules, it just came to my mind what you meant:

295

senex quom extemplo est, iam nec sentit nec sapit,

as soon as an old man is there, he no longer feels nor has wisdom,

aiunt solere eum rusum repuerascere.

they say he is wont to become a child again.

Immo bis tanto valeo quam valui prius.

On the contrary, I am twice as strong as I was before.

Bene hercle factum, et gaudeo.

By Hercules, well done, and I rejoice.

Immo si scias,

Nay, if you but knew,

oculis quoque etiam plus iam video quam prius.

I also see even more with my eyes now than before.

300

Benest.

That is good.

Malae rei dico.

I speak of a bad thing.

Iam istuc non benest.

Now that is not good.

Sed ausimne³ ego tibi eloqui fideliter?

But would I dare to speak to you faithfully?

Audacter.

Boldly.

Animum advorte.

Pay attention.

Fiet sedulo.

It shall be done carefully.

Hodie ire in ludum occepi litterarium,

Today I began to go to the primary school,

Lysimache. ternas scio iam.

Lysimachus. I already know three letters.

Quid ternas?

What three?

Amo.

’Amo’ (I love).

305

Tun capite cano amas, senex nequissime?

Do you love with a gray head, you most worthless old man?

Si canum seu istuc rutilum sive atrumst, amo.

Whether it is gray, or that red, or black, I love.

Ludificas nunc tu me hic, opinor, Demipho.

You are making sport of me here now, I think, Demipho.

Decide collum stanti, si falsum loquor;

Cut off my neck as I stand, if I speak falsely;

vel, ut scias me amare, cape cultrum ac seca

or, that you may know I love, take a knife and cut

310

digitum vel aurem vel tu nasum vel labrum:

finger or ear, or even the nose or lip:

si movero me seu secari sensero,

if I move myself or if I feel myself being cut,

Lysimache, auctór sum ut⁴ me amando enices.

Lysimachus, I authorize you to kill me with love.

Si umquam vidistis pictum amatorem, em illic est.

If you have ever seen a painted lover, look, there he is.

nam meo quidem animo vetulus decrepitus senex

For indeed, in my opinion, a decrepit old man

315

tantidemst quasi sit signum pictum in pariete.

is worth just as much as a picture painted on a wall.

Nunc tu me, credo, castigare cogitas.

Now you, I believe, are thinking of chastising me.

Egon té?

I, you?

Nihil est iam quod tu mihi suscenseas:

There is no reason now for you to be angry with me:

fecere tale ante alii spectati viri.

other esteemed men have done such a thing before.

humanum amarest, humanum autem ignoscerest:

To love is human, and to forgive is human too:

ne sís me obiurga, hoc non voluntas me impulit.

do not scold me, please; my will did not impel me to this.

Quin non obiurgo.

Indeed, I am not scolding.

At ne deteriorem tamen

But yet, do not think me

hoc facto ducas.

the worse for this action.

Egon te? ah, ne di siverint.

I, you? Ah, may the gods not allow it.

Vide sís modo etiam.

Do but look into it.

Visumst.

I have seen to it.

Certen?

Are you sure?

Perdis me.

You are destroying me.

325

hic homo ex amore insanit. numquid vis?

This man is insane from love. Do you want anything?

Vale.

Farewell.

Ad portum propero, nam ibi mihi negotium est.

I hasten to the harbor, for I have business there.

Bene ambulato.

Go safely.

Bene vale.—

Farewell.—

Bene sit tibi.

May it be well with you.

quin mihi quoque etiamst ad portum negotium.

Indeed, I also have business at the harbor.

nunc adeo ibo illuc. séd optume gnatum meum

Now therefore I will go there. But, most opportunely, my son

330

video eccum. opperiar hominem. hoc nunc mihi viso opust,⁵

I see, look, there he is. I will wait for him. I must now look into this,

huic persuadere quo modo potis siem,

how I may be able to persuade him

ut illam vendat neve det matri suae;

to sell her and not give her to his mother;

nam ei dono advexe audivi. sed praecauto opust,

for I heard he brought her as a gift for her. But precaution is needed,

ne hic illam me animum adiecisse aliqua sentiat.

lest he should somehow perceive that I have set my mind on her.

335

Homó me misérior nullúst aeque, opínor,

There is no man equally more wretched than me, I think,

neque ádvorsa cuí plura sínt sempitérna;

nor any to whom more endless adversities belong;

satin quídquid est, quam rem agere óccepi,

Is it really that whatever it is, what affair I have begun to deal with,

proprium nequit mihi evenire quod cupio?

cannot happen for me securely as I desire?

ita míhi mala res aliqua óbicitur,

Thus some bad thing is thrown in my way,

340

bonum quaé meum comprimit cónsilium.

which suppresses my good plan.

míser amicam míhi paravi, ánimi causa, pretio † eripui,

Wretched, I provided a mistress for myself, for my heart’s sake, and rescued her at a price,

ratús clam patrém me meúm posse habere:

thinking that I could have her secretly from my father:

is rescivit et vidit, et perdidit me;

he found it out and saw it, and has ruined me;

neque is cum roget quid loquar cogitatumst,⁶

nor has it been thought out what I should say when he asks,

345

ita animi decem in pectore incerti certant.

so do ten uncertain minds struggle in my breast.

nec quid corde nunc consili capere possim

Nor do I know what plan I can take now in my heart,

scio, tantus cum cura meost error animo,

since there is such great wandering in my mind together with anxiety,

dum servi mei perplacet mihi consilium,

while my servant’s plan pleases me greatly,

Syntax notes6 items

278facito coram ut tradas
The future imperative 'facito' combined with 'ut' + subjunctive forms a strong command ('take care that you...'). 'coram' is an adverb meaning 'in person' or 'face to face'.
290quid tibi ego aetatis videor?
'aetatis' is a partitive genitive (or genitive of quality) dependent on the pronoun 'quid', literally meaning 'what of age do I seem to you?' i.e., 'what age do you think I am?'.
301ausimne
'ausim' is an archaic perfect subjunctive of 'audeo' (to dare), used here as a potential subjunctive to express a hesitant, polite question ('would I dare...?'). '-ne' is an interrogative enclitic.
312auctór sum ut
'auctor sum ut...' means 'I authorize / advise that...', here introducing a highly exaggerated oath: 'I authorize you to kill me with love (if I flinch or feel pain).'
330hoc nunc mihi viso opust
'viso' is the ablative singular neuter of the perfect passive participle of 'visere' (to look into, inspect). Used with 'opus est' (there is need of), it forms a construction meaning 'there is need of this being looked into' or 'I must look into this.'
344neque is cum roget quid loquar cogitatumst
'cogitatumst' (cogitatum est) is an impersonal passive ('it has not been thought of [by me]'). The indirect question 'quid loquar' (what I should say), accompanied by the temporal clause 'cum roget' (when he asks), acts as the subject or content of this passive expression.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0119.phi011.humanitext-lat2:277-348