- 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-lat2:349-409
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Charinus agonizes over how to conceal the mistress he brought from Rhodes, when his father Demipho appears. Demipho argues that she is unfit for housework and that her beauty would cause a public scandal, forcing Charinus to anxiously agree with him.
dum rursum haud placet nec pater potis videtur
Charinus: While, on the other hand, it does not please me, nor does my father seem able to be induced to think
induci ut putet1 matri ancillam emptam esse illam.
that she was bought for my mother.
nunc si dico ut res est atque illam mihi me
Now, if I speak as the matter is and declare that I bought her
emisse indico, quem ad modum existumet me?
for myself, how would he judge me?
atque illam abstrahat, trans mare hinc venum asportet;
And he would drag her away, and carry her off from here across the sea to be sold.
scio saevos quam sit, domo doctus. igitur
I know how harsh he is, having learned it at home. Therefore,
hócine est amare? arare mavelim, quam sic amare.2
is this what it is to love? I would rather plow than love like this.
iam hínc olim invitum domo extrusit ab se,
Once before he drove me from home from him against my will,
mercatum ire iussit: ibi hoc malum ego inveni.
and ordered me to go trading; there I found this trouble.
úbi voluptatem aegritudo vincat, quid ibi inest amoeni?
Where sickness overcomes pleasure, what sweetness is there in that?
nequíquam abdidi, abscondidi, abstrusam habebam:
In vain I hid her, concealed her, kept her secret:
muscast meus pater, nil potest clam illum haberi,
my father is a fly, nothing can be kept secret from him.
néc sacrum nec tam profanum quicquam est, quin ibi ilico adsit.3
Nor is there anything so sacred or so profane but that he is there on the spot.
nec, qui rebus meis confidam mi ulla spes in corde certast.
Nor is there any certain hope in my heart that I can trust in my affairs.
Quíd illuc est quod solus secum fabulatur filius?
Demipho: What is that which my son is talking about to himself alone?
sollicitus mihí nescio qua re videtur.
He seems to me to be anxious about I know not what.
Attatae,
Charinus: Ah!
meus patér hic quidem est quem video. ibo, adloquar. quid fit, pater?
Indeed, this is my father whom I see. I will go and speak to him. How are you, father?
Vnde incedis, quid festinas, gnate mi?
Demipho: Where do you come from, why are you in a hurry, my son?
Recte, pater.
Charinus: All is well, father.
Ita volo, sed istúc quid est, tibi quod commutatust color?
Demipho: I wish so, but what is that, that your color is changed?
numquid tibi dolet?
Does anything hurt you?
Nescio quid meo animost aegre, pater.
Charinus: I feel somewhat uneasy in my mind, father.
poste hac nocte non quievi satis mea ex sententia.
Since last night I have not rested enough to my satisfaction.
ergo edepol palles. si sapias, eas ac decumbas domi.
Demipho: Therefore, by Pollux, you are pale. If you are wise, you would go and lie down at home.
Otium non est: mandatis rebus praevorti volo.
Charinus: I have no leisure: I want to attend to the business entrusted to me first.
Cras agito, perendie agito.
Demipho: Do it tomorrow, do it the day after tomorrow.
Saepe ex te audivi, pater:
Charinus: I have often heard from you, father:
rei mandatae omnis sapientis primum praevorti decet.
”It becomes all wise men to attend first to the business entrusted to them.”
Age igitur; nolo advorsari tuam advorsum sententiam.
Demipho: Come then; I do not want to oppose your opinion.
Salvos sum, siquidem ísti dicto solida et perpetuast fides.
Charinus: I am safe, if indeed there is solid and lasting faith in that saying.
Quid illuc est quod ille á me solus se in consilium sevocat?
Demipho: What is that which he calls himself aside into counsel alone away from me?
nón vereor ne illam me amare hic potuerit resciscere;
Charinus: I am not afraid that he could have found out here that I love her;
quippe haud etiam quicquam inepte feci, amantes ut solent.
for indeed I have not yet done anything foolishly, as lovers are wont to do.
Res adhuc quidem hercle in tutost, nam hunc nescire sat scio
The matter indeed is still in safety, by Hercules, for I know well enough that he does not know
de illa amica; quod si sciret, esset alia oratio.
about that mistress; but if he knew, the talk would be different.
Quin ego hunc adgredior de illa?
Why do I not approach him about her?
Quin ego hinc me amolior?
Demipho: Why do I not move away from here?
eo ego, ut quae mandata amicus amicis tradam.
Charinus: I am going, to deliver what was entrusted by a friend to friends.
Immo mane;
Demipho: Nay, wait;
paucula etiam sciscitare prius volo.
I still want to ask a few things first.
Dic quid velis.
Charinus: Tell me what you want.
Vsquene valuisti?
Demipho: Have you been continually well?
Perpetuo recte, dum quidem illic fui;
Charinus: Constantly well, at least while I was there;
verum in portum huc ut sum advectus, nescio qui animus mihi dolet.
but as soon as I was brought here into the harbor, somehow my mind hurts.
Nausea edepol factum credo; verum actutum abscesserit.
Demipho: By Pollux, I believe it was caused by seasickness; but it will pass away immediately.
sed quid ais? ecquam tu advexti tuae matri ancillam e Rhodo?
But what do you say? Did you bring any female slave from Rhodes for your mother?
Advexi.
Charinus: I brought one.
Quid? ea ut videtur mulier?
Demipho: What? How does that woman seem?
Non edepol mala.
Charinus: By Pollux, not bad.
Vt moratast?
Demipho: How is her character?
Nullam vidi melius mea sententia.
Charinus: In my opinion, I have seen none better.
Mihi quidem edepol visast, quom illam vidi.
Demipho: By Pollux, she seemed so to me too, when I saw her.
Eho an vidisti, pater?
Charinus: Eh? Have you seen her, father?
Vidi. verum non ex usu nostrost, neque adeo placet.
Demipho: I have. But she is not of use to us, nor does she please me so much.
Qui vero?
Charinus: Why indeed?
Quia †non nostra formam habet dignam domo.
Demipho: Because she does not have a beauty worthy of our house.
nihil opust nobis ancilla nisi quae texat, quae molat,
We have no need for a female slave unless she weaves, grinds,
lignum caedat, pensum faciat, aedis verrat, vapulet,
cuts wood, does her task of spinning, sweeps the house, takes beatings,
quaé habeat cottidianum familiae coctum cibum:
and who keeps the daily cooked food for the household;
horunc illa nihilum quicquam facere poterit.
she will be able to do nothing of these things.
Admodum.
Charinus: Quite so.
ea causa equidem illam emi, dono quam darem matri meae.
Indeed, for that reason I bought her, that I might give her as a gift to my mother.
Ne duas, neve te advexisse dixeris.
Demipho: Do not give her, nor say that you brought her.
Di me adiuvant.
Charinus: The gods are helping me.
Labefacto paulatim. verum quod praeterii dicere,
Demipho: I am shaking him by degrees. But what I passed over saying,
neque illa matrem satis honeste tuam sequi poterit comes,
neither will that woman be able to follow your mother as a companion with sufficient decency,
neque sinam.
nor will I allow it.
Qui vero?
Charinus: Why indeed?
Quia illa forma matrem familias
Demipho: Because with that beauty, for a mistress of the house,
flagitium sit si sequatur; quando incedat per vias,
it would be a disgrace if she should follow her; when she walks through the streets,
contemplent, conspiciant omnes, nutent, nictent, sibilent,
everyone would gaze, look, nod, wink, whistle,
vellicent, vocent, molesti sint; occentent ostium:
pinch, call out, be troublesome; sing offensive songs at the door:
impleantur élegeorum meae fores carbonibus.4
my doors would be filled with elegies written in charcoal.
- 350induci ut putet
induci is a present passive infinitive depending on potis videtur ('seems able'). The ut-clause functions as a noun clause or clause of result explaining the inducement, meaning 'to be induced to think'.
- 356arare mavelim, quam sic amare
mavelim (an archaic form equivalent to malim) is a present subjunctive (potential) meaning 'I would prefer'. It plays on the acoustic similarity between amare ('to love') and arare ('to plow'), contrasting the pain of love with hard agricultural labor.
- 362quin ibi ilico adsit
Following the negative expression 'nec... quicquam est' ('there is nothing'), quin (qui + ne) introduces a negative relative or consecutive clause ('but that...' or 'which is not...'), taking the present subjunctive adsit.
- 409impleantur élegeorum meae fores carbonibus
impleantur is a present subjunctive (either optative or potential passive). carbonibus is an ablative of means ('with charcoal'), and elegeorum is an archaic/non-classical genitive plural ('of elegiac verses'), describing the charcoal graffiti of love poems written on the door.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — note 1