Sostrata's Lament and the Return of Pamphilus — Terence, Hecyra, lines 260–309, Latin & English

260

Quem¹ ego intellexi illam haud minus quam se ipsum magnificare.

whom I have understood to cherish her no less than himself.

Neque adeo clam me est² quam esse eum graviter laturum credam,

And indeed it is not hidden from me how heavily I believe he will take it,

Hoc si rescierit: eo domum studeo haec prius quam ille ut redeat.

if he finds this out; therefore I desire that she return home before he does.

Laches, et diligentiam vestram et benignitatem

Laches, I know both your diligence and your kindness;

Novi; et quae dicis omnia esse ut dicis animum induco:

and I persuade myself that all the things you say are as you say:

265

Et te hoc mihi cupio credere: illam ad vos redire studeo,

And I wish you to believe this of me: I desire that she return to you,

Si facere possim ullo modo.

if I could do it in any way.

Quae res te id facere prohibet?

What is it that prevents you from doing so?

Eho, numquidnam accusat virum?

Tell me, does she make any accusation against her husband?

Minime; nam postquam attendi

Not at all; for after I paid closer attention,

Magis, et vi coepi cogere ut rediret, sancte adiurat

and began to force her by authority to return, she solemnly swears

Non posse apud vos Pamphilo se absente perdurare.

that she cannot remain at your house while Pamphilus is absent.

270

Aliud fortasse alii viti est: ego sum animo leni natus:

Perhaps different people have different faults: I was born with a gentle disposition;

Non possum adversari meis.

I cannot oppose my own people.

Hem, Sostrata!

Ah, Sostrata!

Heu me miseram!

Alas, wretched me!

Certumne est istuc?

Is that certain?

Nunc quidem ut videtur: sed numquid vis?

For now indeed, as it seems; but do you want anything else?

Nam est quod me transire ad forum iam oporteat.

For there is a reason why I must go over to the forum now.

Eo tecum una.

I am going together with you.

Edepol ne nos sumus inique aeque omnes invisae viris,

By Pollux, indeed we women are all equally and unjustly hated by our husbands,

275

Propter paucas, quae omnes faciunt dignae ut videamur malo.

on account of a few, who make us all seem worthy of punishment.

Nam, ita me Di ament, quod me accusat nunc vir sum extra noxiam.

For, so help me the gods, as for what my husband now accuses me of, I am free from blame.

Sed non facile est expurgatu;³ ita animum induxerunt socrus

But it is not easy to clear oneself; they have so persuaded themselves that mothers-in-law

Omnes esse iniquas: haud pol me quidem; nam nunquam secus

are all unjust; by Pollux, not me indeed! For I have never

Habui illam ac si ex me esset nata: nec qui hoc mihi eveniat scio;

treated her otherwise than if she were my own daughter; nor do I know how this happens to me;

280

Nisi pol filium multimodis iam exspecto ut redeat domum.

except that, by Pollux, I am now eagerly expecting my son to return home in every way.

Nemini ego plura acerba credo esse ex amore homini unquam oblata

I believe that to no man have more bitter trials ever been presented from love than to me.

Quam mihi. Heu me infelicem, hancine ego vitam parsi perdere?⁴

Alas, unhappy me! Did I refrain from losing this life of mine?

Hacine causa ego eram tantopere cupidus redeundi domum,

Was it for this reason that I was so exceedingly eager to return home,

Cui quanto fuerat praestabilius ubivis gentium agere aetatem

for whom how much better would it have been to spend my life anywhere in the world

285

Quam huc redire, atque haec ita esse miserum me resciscere.

than to return here, and for wretched me to find out that things are thus.

Nam nos omnes, quibus est alicunde aliquis obiectus labos,

For to all of us, to whom some trouble from somewhere has been presented,

Omne quod est interea tempus prius quam id rescitum est lucro est.

all the time that passes before it is found out is so much gain.

At sic citius qui⁵ te expedias his aerumnis reperies.

But in this way you will more quickly find how to extricate yourself from these troubles.

Si non redisses, hae irae factae essent multo ampliores;

If you had not returned, this anger would have become much greater;

290

Sed nunc adventum tuum ambas, Pamphile, scio reverituras.

but now, Pamphilus, I know that both women will respect your arrival.

Rem cognosces; iram expedies; rursum in gratiam restitues.

You will learn the facts; you will clear away the anger; you will restore them back to favor.

Levia sunt haec quae tu pergravia esse in animum induxti tuum.

These things are light, which you have persuaded yourself are very heavy.

Quid consolare me? an quisquam usquam gentium est aeque miser?

Why do you console me? Is there anyone anywhere in the world equally wretched?

Prius quam hanc uxorem duxi habebam alibi animum amori deditum:

Before I married this wife, I had my mind devoted to love elsewhere:

295

Iam in hac re, ut taceam, cuivis facile scitu est quam fuerim miser:

Now in this matter, to say nothing, it is easy for anyone to know how wretched I have been:

Tamen nunquam ausus sum recusare eam quam mihi obtrudit pater.

Yet I never dared to refuse her whom my father thrust upon me.

Vix me illinc abstraxi, atque impeditum in ea expedivi animum meum,

Hardly did I drag myself away from there, and extricated my entangled mind from her,

Vixque huc contuleram; hem, nova res orta est porro ab hac quae me abstrahat.

and hardly had I directed it here; alas, a new trouble has arisen from her, which in turn drags me away.

Tum matrem ex ea re me aut uxorem in culpa inventurum arbitror;

Then, in this affair, I think I shall find either my mother or my wife in fault;

300

Quod ita quum esse invenero, quid restat nisi porro ut fiam miser?

and when I find that it is so, what remains but that I should be wretched henceforth?

Nam matris ferre iniurias me, Parmeno, pietas iubet.

For filial duty orders me, Parmeno, to bear my mother’s wrongs.

Tum uxori obnoxius sum; ita olim suo me ingenio pertulit;

On the other hand, I am indebted to my wife; she bore with me in the past with such sweet temper;

Tot meas iniurias quae nunquam in ullo patefecit loco.

who never in any place revealed so many injuries of mine.

Sed magnum nescio quid necesse est evenisse, Parmeno,

But something great, I know not what, must have happened, Parmeno,

305

Unde ira inter eas intercessit quae tam permansit diu.

whence this anger arose between them which has lasted so long.

Haud quidem hercle parvum, si vis vero veram rationem exsequi.

Not a small thing indeed, by Hercules, if you wish to follow the true reasoning.

Non maximas quae maximae sunt interdum irae iniurias⁶

It is not always the greatest injuries that produce the greatest angers;

Faciunt; nam saepe est quibus in rebus alius ne iratus quidem est,

for often there are matters in which another would not even be angry,

Quum de eadem causa est iracundus factus inimicissimus.

whereas an irritable man, from the same cause, is made a most bitter enemy.

Syntax notes6 items

260Quem
Accusative masculine singular relative pronoun. It refers to 'gnati' (son) at the end of the previous sentence, functioning as a connective relative ('whom I understood...').
261clam me est
An impersonal expression meaning 'it is hidden from me'. While the preposition clam often takes the ablative in classical Latin, in early Latin (such as comedy) it very frequently governs the accusative (me).
277expurgatu
The ablative form of the supine (second supine) of the verb expurgo. It modifies the adjective facile ('easy'), functioning as an ablative of respect ('easy to clear oneself').
282parsi perdere
Parsi is the archaic perfect of parco ('to spare, refrain'). Combined with the infinitive perdere, it means 'did I refrain from losing (destroying) this life?', retroactively reflecting with self-derision on how he had spared his life from death during his past lovesickness or illness.
288qui
An adverb derived from the archaic ablative/instrumental of the relative/interrogative pronoun, meaning 'how' or 'by what means', introducing an indirect question clause (qui... expedias). It should not be confused with the nominative relative pronoun qui.
307Non maximas quae maximae sunt interdum irae iniurias
A striking instance of hyperbaton. The structural core is: irae, quae maximae sunt, interdum non faciunt maximas iniurias, meaning 'angers, which are greatest, sometimes do not arise from (or are not caused by) the greatest injuries,' highlighting the asymmetry between cause and effect.

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.phi005.humanitext-lat2:260-309