- Source
- Terence. Publii Terentii Comoediae Sex. Parry, Edward St. John, editor. London: Whittaker and Co.; George Bell, 1857.
- 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:phi0134.phi005.humanitext-lat2:140-208
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Parmeno recounts to Philotis how Pamphilus gradually became moved by his wife's modesty despite his initial reluctance, and how a new discord began with her sudden return to her parents. Laches then enters, venting his deep frustration with women and harshly interrogating his innocent wife Sostrata.
Non verisimile dicis; nec verum arbitror.
You don’t say what is probable; nor do I think it is true.
Credo ita videri tibi; nan nemo ad te venit
I believe it seems so to you; for no one comes to you
Nisi cupiens tui:1 ille invitus illam duxerat.
unless desiring you; but he had married her against his will.
Quid deinde fit?
What happens next?
Diebus sale pauculis
Indeed, only a very few days
Post Pamphilus me solum seducit foras;
later, Pamphilus leads me aside outdoors alone;
Narratque ut virgo ab se integra etiam tum siet;
and tells me how the maiden is even then untouched by him;
Seque ante quam eam uxorem duxisset domum
and that, before he had brought her home as his wife,
Sperasse eas tolerare posse nuptias:
he had hoped he would be able to endure that marriage:
"Sed quam decrerim me non posse diutius
”But her, whom I have decided I cannot keep any longer
Habere,2 cam ludibrio haberi, Parmeno,
as my wife, to be held up to mockery, Parmeno,
Quin integram itidem reddam ut accepi ab suis,
without returning her untouched just as I received her from her family,
Neque honestum mihi, neque utile ipsi virgini est."
is neither honorable for me nor advantageous for the maiden herself.”
Pium ac pudicum ingenium narras Pamphili.
You describe a pious and modest character of Pamphilus.
"Hoc ego proferre incommodum mihi esse arbitror;
”I think it is disadvantageous for me to make this public;
Reddi patri autem cui tu nihil dicas viti,
on the other hand, to return her to her father when you can say there is no fault in her
Superbum est. Sed illam spero ubi hoc cognoverit,
is arrogant. But I hope that when she realizes this—
Non posse se mecum esse, abituram denique."
that she cannot remain with me—she will finally leave.”
Quid interea? ibatne ad Bacchidem?
What in the meantime? Did he go to Bacchis?
Quotidie.
Daily.
Sed, ut fit, postquam hunc alienum ab sese videt,
But, as usually happens, after she sees him alienated from her,
Maligna multo et magis procax facta ilico est.
she immediately became much more ill-natured and insolent.
Non edepol mirum.
By Pollux, no wonder.
Atqui ea res multo maxime
Yet that very thing, more than anything else,
Disiunxit illium ab illa, postquam et ipse se,
separated him from her, after he had come to know sufficiently himself,
Et illam, et hanc quae donli erat, cognovit satis,
and her, and this wife who was at home,
Ad exemplum ambarum mores earum existimans.
evaluating the characters of both by comparing them with each other.
Haec, ita uti liberali esse ingenio decet,
The latter, as becomes one of a noble disposition,
Pudens, modesta; incommoda atque iniurias
was modest and patient; she bore all the inconveniences and wrongs
Viri omnes ferre, et tegere3 contumelias.
of her husband, and concealed his insults.
Hic animus partim uxoris misericordia
This mind of his, partly bound by pity for his wife,
Devinctus, partim victus huius iniuriis,
and partly overcome by the outrages of Bacchis,
Paulatim elapsus est Bacchidi, atque huc transtulit
gradually slipped away from Bacchis, and transferred his love hither,
Amorem, postquami par ingenium nactus est.
after he found a congenial disposition.
Interea in Imbro moritur cognatus senex
Meanwhile, an old kinsman of theirs dies in Imbros;
Horunce: ea ad hos redibat lege hereditas.
that inheritance by law fell to them.
Eo amantem invitum Pamphilum extrudit pater.
Thither the father drives the unwilling, loving Pamphilus.
Relinquit cum matre hic uxorem; nam senex
Here he leaves his wife with his mother; for the old man
Rus abdidit se; huc raro in urbem commeat.
has hidden himself in the country, and rarely comes hither into the city.
Quid adhuc habent infirmitatis nuptiae?
What weakness does the marriage still have up to this point?
Nunc audies. Primo dies complusculos
Now you shall hear. At first, for several days,
Bene conveniebat sane inter eas. Interim
they got along quite well indeed. In the meantime,
Miris modis odisse coepit Sostratam:
she began to hate Sostrata in a wonderful manner:
Neque lites ullae inter eas, postulatio
nor were there any quarrels between them, nor any complaints
Nunquam.
ever.
Quid igitur?
What then?
Si quando ad eam accesserat
If ever she had approached her
Confabulatum, fugere e conspectu ilico;
to chat, she would immediately flee from her sight,
Videre nolle: denique, ubi non quit pati,
refuse to see her: at last, when she could not bear it,
Simulat se a matre arcessi ad rem divinam: abit.
she pretends she is summoned by her mother for a sacrifice: she leaves.
Ubi illic est dies conplures, arcessi iubet:
When she had been there several days, she orders her to be sent for:
Dixere causam tunc nescio quam: iterum iubet:
they then gave I know not what excuse: again she orders:
Nemo remisit. Postquam arcessunt saepius,
No one sent her back. After they summon her more frequently,
Aegram esse simulant mulierem. Nostra ilico
they pretend the woman is ill. Our mistress immediately
It visere ad eam: admisit nemo. Hoc ubi senex
goes to visit her: but no one admitted her. When the old man
Rescivit, heri ea causa rure huc advenit:
found this out, he came hither yesterday from the country for that reason:
Patren continuo convenit Philumenae.
he immediately meets Philumena’s father.
Quid egerint inter se nondum etiam scio;
What they have done between themselves, I do not yet know;
Nisi sane curae est quorsum eventurum hoc siet.
except indeed that it is a matter of anxiety how this will turn out.
Habes omnem rem: pergam quo coepi hoc iter.
You have the whole story: I will proceed on my journey where I started.
Et quidem ego: nam constitui cum quodam hospite
And I indeed too: for I have arranged with a certain guest
Me esse illum conventuram.
that I should meet him.
Di vertant bene
May the gods turn out well
Quod agas.
what you are doing.
Vale.
Farewell.
Et tu bene vale, Philotium.
And you, farewell, Philotium.
Pro Deum atque hominum fidem, quod hoc genus est, quae haec est coniuratio.
By the faith of gods and men, what kind of race is this, what is this conspiracy!
Utine omnes mulieres eadem aeque studeant,4 nolintque omnia;
That all women should desire the same things equally, and dislike all the same things!
Neque declinatam quicquam ab aliarum ingenio ullam reperias?
And that you cannot find any woman who differs in the least from the nature of the others!
Itaque adeo uno animo omnes socrus oderunt nurus:
And so indeed with one mind all mothers-in-law hate their daughters-in-law:
Viris esse adversas aeque studium est; similis pertinacia est;
to be opposed to their husbands is equally their zeal; their stubbornness is similar;
In eodemque omnes mihi videntur ludo doctae ad malitiam.
and they all seem to me to have been trained in the same school of mischief.
Ei ludo, si ullus est, magistram hanc esse satis certo scio.
Of which school, if there is any, I know well enough that this wife of mine is the headmistress.
Me miseram, quae nunc quamobrem accuser nescio.
Wretched me, who now do not know for what reason I am accused!
Hem,
Ha!
Tu nescis?
You don’t know?
Non, ita me Di bene ament, mi Lache.
No, so help me gods, my Laches.
Itaque una inter nos agere aetatem liceat.
”And so may it be allowed for us to spend our life together.”
Di mala prohibeant.
”May the gods avert such an evil!”
Meque abs te immerito esse accusatam postmodum rescisces.
And you will find out later that I have been accused by you without desert.
- 142nisi cupiens tui
The genitive of the pronoun, tui, functions as an objective genitive dependent on the present participle cupiens.
- 148Sed quam decrerim me non posse diutius habere
The verb decrerim (= decreverim) in the relative clause with quam (referring to virgo or uxorem) is in the perfect subjunctive, expressing a conditional or causal nuance.
- 166ferre, et tegere
These are historical infinitives, acting as main verbs equivalent to the imperfect indicative (ferebat, tegebat). The subject is haec (the wife Philumena).
- 199Utine omnes mulieres eadem aeque studeant
The conjunction uti (ut) with the interrogative enclitic -ne introduces an exclamatory subjunctive (studeant, nolint) expressing astonishment, indignation, or disbelief.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (3, latest 2026-09-22)
- 2026-09-22 AI review — source 1
- 2026-09-21 AI review — source 2