The Youths' Troubles and Geta Announcing the Father's Return — Terence, Phormio, lines 144–199, Latin & English

144

Quid paedagogus ille, qui citharistriam?

Davus: What about that tutor of his, the one of the music-girl?

145

Quid rei gerit?

How is he doing?

Sic tenuiter.

Geta: Just so-so.

Non multum habetQuod det fortasse.

He hasn’t much to give, perhaps.

Immo nihil nisi spem meram.

Davus: Nay, nothing but mere hope.

Pater eius rediit an non.?

Has his father returned or not?

Nondum.

Geta: Not yet.

Quid? senemQuoad exspectatis vestrum?

Davus: What? How long do you expect your old man?

Non certum scio;Sed epistolam ab eo allatam esse audivi modo,Et ad portitores esse delatam: hanc petam.

Geta: I don’t know for certain; but I just heard that a letter from him was brought and delivered to the customs officers: I’m going to fetch it.

Numnquid, Geta, aliud me vis?

Davus: Is there anything else you want of me, Geta?

Ut bene sit tibi.Puer, hens. Nemone huc prodit? Cape, da hoc Dorcio.

Geta: Only that you fare well. Boy, hey! Does no one come out here? Take this, give it to Dorcium.

Adeon rem redisse ut qui mihi consultum optime velit esse,Phaedria, patrem ut extimescam, ubi in mentem eius adventi¹ venit?

Antipho: Has it come to this, Phaedria, that I must dread my father, who wishes only the best for me, whenever the thought of his arrival comes into my mind?

155

Quod ni fuissem incogitans, ita eum exspectarem ut par fuit.²

But if I had not been thoughtless, I should have been awaiting him as was proper.

Quid istuc est?

Phaedria: What is that?

Rogitas, qui tam audacis facinoris mihi conscius sis?

Antipho: Do you ask, you who are accomplice in so bold a deed?

Quod utinam ne Phormioni id suadere in mentem incidisset,

Would that it had never entered Phormio’s mind to suggest this,

Neu me cupidum eo impulisset, quod mihi principium est mali.

nor urged me in my eagerness into it, which is the beginning of my misfortune.

Non potitus essem: fuisset tum illos mihi aegre aliquot dies:

I should not have obtained her: then I would have had some painful days;

160

At non quotidiana cura haec angeret animum.

but this daily anxiety would not be tormenting my mind.

Audio.

Phaedria: I hear you.

Dum exspecto quam mox veniat qui adimat hanc mihi consuetudinem.

Antipho: While I am waiting how soon he will come who is to deprive me of this connection.

Aliis quia defit quod amant aegre est: tibi quia superest dolet.

Phaedria: Other men suffer because they lack what they love; you are pained because you have abundance.

Amore abundas, Antipho.

You abound in love, Antipho.

Nam tua quidem hercle certo vita haec expetenda optandaque est.

For, by Hercules, your life indeed is certainly to be sought and wished for.

165

Ita me Di bene ament ut mihi liceat tam diu quod amo frui;

So may the Gods love me, that I might be allowed to enjoy what I love so long;

Iam depecisci morte cupio: tu coniicito caetera;

I would already be willing to bargain for it with my death: you may guess the rest;

Quid ego ex hac inopia nunc capiam, et quid tu ex hac copia;

what I now suffer from this want, and what you from this abundance;

Ut ne addam quod sine sumtu ingenuam liberalem nactus es;

not to add that you have obtained a well-born and lady-like girl without expense;

Quod habes, ita ut voluisti, uxorem sine mala fama palam;

that you have her, just as you wished, as your wife, openly and without bad reputation;

170

Beatus ni unum hoc desit, animus qui modeste istaec ferat.

happy, if this one thing were not wanting, a mind to bear these things with moderation.

Et si tibi res sit cum eo lenone quocum mihi est, tum sentias.

And if you had to deal with that slave-dealer with whom I have, then you would feel it.

Ita plerique ingenio sumus omnes: nostri nosmet poenitet.

We are all generally of this character: we are dissatisfied with our own lot.

At tu mihi contra nunc videre fortunatus, Phaedria,

Antipho: But to me, on the contrary, Phaedria, you seem now fortunate,

Cui de integro est potestas etiam consulendi quid velis;

who have still the power from the beginning of deliberating on what you wish;

175

Retinere, amare, amittere. Ego in eumn incidi infelix locumUt neque mihi eius sit amittendi nec retinendi copia.

whether to keep, to love, or to let her go. Unhappy that I am, I have fallen into such a position that I have no power either of letting her go or keeping her.

Sed quid hoc est? videone ego Getam currentem huc advenire?

But what is this? Do I see Geta running hither?

Is est ipsus: hei timeo miser quam hic nunc mihi nuntiet rem.

It is he himself: alas, unhappy that I am, I fear what news he may now bring me.

Nullus es, Geta, nisi iam aliquod tibi consilium celere repperis:

Geta: You are undone, Geta, unless you find some speedy counsel for yourself now:

180

Ita nunc imparatum subito tanta te impendent mala,

so suddenly do such great evils hang over you in your unprepared state,

Quae neque uti devitem scio, neque quo modo me inde extraham:Nam non potest celari nostra diutius iam audacia.

which I neither know how to avoid, nor in what way to extricate myself from them: for our boldness can no longer be concealed.

Quidnam ille commotus venit?

Antipho: Why on earth does he come in such agitation?

Tum temporis mihi punctum ad hanc rem est. Herus adest.

Geta: Now I have only a moment of time for this matter. The master is here.

Quid istuc mali est?

Antipho: What misfortune is that?

185

Quod quum audierit, quod eius remedium inveniann iracundiae?

Geta: When he hears of this, what remedy shall I find for his anger?

Loquarne? incendam: taceam? instigem: purgem me? laterem lavem.³

Shall I speak? I shall inflame him. Shall I be silent? I shall instigate him. Shall I clear myself? I might as well wash a brick.

Eheu me miserum: quum mihi paveo, tum Antipho me excruciat animi:

Alas, wretched me! While I fear for myself, Antipho tortures my mind.

Eius me miseret: ei nunc timeo: is nunc me retinet; nam absque eo esset,⁴

I pity him: for him I now fear: he now detains me; for if it were not for him,

Recte ego mihi vidissem, et senis essem ultus iracundiam:

I should have looked out well for myself, and have taken vengeance on the old man’s anger:

190

Aliquid convasassem, atque hinc me protinam coniicerm in pedes.

I should have packed up something, and immediately taken to my heels from here.

Quam hic fugam aut furtum parat?

Phaedria: What flight or theft is he preparing?

Sed ubi Antiphonem reperiam? aut qua quaerere insistam via?

Geta: But where shall I find Antipho? Or by what way shall I proceed to seek him?

Te nominat.

Phaedria: He names you.

Nescio quod magnum hoc nuntio exspecto malum.

Antipho: I expect some great misfortune from this news.

Ah, sanusne es?Domum ire pergam: ibi plurimum est.

Geta: I’ll go home: he is mostly there.

195

Revocemus hominem.

Phaedria: Let’s call the man back.

Sta ilico.

Antipho: Stand there.

Hem,Satis pro imperio, quisquis es.

Geta: Well, imperious enough, whoever you are.

Geta.

Antipho: Geta.

Ipse est quem volui obviam.

Geta: It is the very man I wanted to meet.

Cedo quid portas, obsecro? atque id, si potes, verbo expedi.

Antipho: Tell me, pray, what do you bring? And dispatch it in a word, if you can.

Faciam.

Geta: I will.

Eloquere.

Antipho: Speak out.

Modo apud portum—

Geta: Just now at the harbor—

Meumne?—

Antipho: My father?—

Intellexti.

Geta: You’ve understood.

Occidi.

Antipho: I am ruined.

Hem.

Phaedria: Ah.

Quid agam?

Antipho: What shall I do?

Syntax notes4 items

154adventi
The genitive ending of the fourth-declension noun adventus is here written as adventi, a second-declension genitive form commonly found in early Latin, instead of the classical adventūs.
155Quod ni fuissem incogitans, ita eum exspectarem ut par fuit.
A mixed conditional sentence, combining the pluperfect subjunctive fuissem (past counterfactual: "if I had not been thoughtless") with the imperfect subjunctive exspectarem (present counterfactual: "I should be awaiting").
186laterem lavem
A Latin proverbial expression meaning "to wash a brick (of unburnt clay)," which would dissolve and crumble upon washing, thus signifying a completely useless or futile effort.
188nam absque eo esset
The phrase absque eo esset is an idiomatic construction in early Latin, serving as a counterfactual conditional clause equivalent to si sine eo esset ("if it were not for him"). The apodosis consists of the pluperfect subjunctives vidissem and essem ultus, representing a past counterfactual result.

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

2026-09-21 AI review — source 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0134.phi004.humanitext-lat2:144-199