- 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-lat2:368-425
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Pamphilus enters the house and discovers the secret that his wife Philumena is in labor with another man's child. Begged by her mother to keep the secret, he agrees to do so while deciding to separate from her, and tries to deceive his servant Parmeno by talking about the hardships of his sea voyage to keep him away from the house.
Laetae exclamant, "Venit;" id quod me repente aspexerant.1
Gladly they cried out, “He has come!”; because they had suddenly caught sight of me.
Sed continuo vultum earum sensi immutari omnium,
But immediately I perceived the countenance of them all to change,
Quia tam incommode illis fors obtulerat adventum meum.
because fortune had brought my arrival so inconveniently to them.
Una illarum interea propere praecucurrit nuntians
Meanwhile, one of them ran ahead in haste, announcing
Me venisse: ego eius videndi cupidus recta consequor.
that I had come; eager to see her, I followed straight after.
Postquam introii extemplo eius morbum cognovi miser;
After I entered, immediately, wretched me, I recognized her illness;
Nam neque ut celari posset tempus spatium ullum dabat,
for neither did time give any space so that it could be concealed,
Neque voce alia ac res monebat ipsa2 poterat conqueri.
nor could she groan with any other voice than what the circumstance itself prompted.
Postquam aspexi, "O facinus indignum!" inquam; et corripui ilico
As soon as I saw it, I said, “O shameful deed!”; and immediately I hurried
Me inde lacrimans, incredibili re atque atroci percitus.
away from there weeping, struck by an incredible and shocking thing.
Mater consequitur: iam ut limen exirem ad genua accidit
Her mother followed me: just as I was about to go out of the threshold, she fell at my knees,
Lacrimans misera: miseritum est. Profecto hoc sic est, ut puto:
weeping, wretched woman: I felt pity. Surely this is so, as I think:
Omnibus nobis ut res dant sese ita magni atque humiles sumus.
as circumstances present themselves to all of us, so are we great or humble.
Hanc habere orationem mecum a principio institit:
She persisted in holding this discourse with me from the beginning:
"O mi Pamphile, abs te quamobrem haec abierit causam vides;
”O my Pamphilus, you see the reason why she departed from you;
Nam vitium est oblatum virgini olim ab nescio quo improbo:
for a violation was once offered to the virgin by I know not what wicked man:
Nunc huc confugit te atque alios partum ut celaret suum."
now she has fled here to conceal her child-birth from you and others.”
Sed cum orata eius reminiscor, nequeo quin lacrimem miser.
But when I remember her entreaties, wretched me, I cannot help but weep.
"Quaeque fors fortuna est," inquit, "nobis quae te hodie obtulit,
”And whatever chance fortune,” she said, “which has offered you to us today,
Per eam3 te obsecramus ambae, si ius, si fas est, uti
by it we both implore you, if it is right, if it is lawful, that
Adversa eius per te tecta tacitaque apud omnes sient.
her misfortune may be kept covered and silent by you before all.
Si unquam erga te animo esse amico sensti eam, mi Pamphile,
If you ever perceived her to be of a friendly mind toward you, my Pamphilus,
Sine labore hanc gratiam te ut sibi des4 pro illa nunc rogat.
she now asks you to grant her this favor for her sake without trouble.
Caeterum de reducenda id facias quod in rem sit tuam,
But as for taking her back, do that which may be for your interest;
Parturire eam neque gravidam esse ex te solus conscius.
you alone are privy that she is in labor, and is not pregnant by you.
Nam aiunt tecum post duobus concubuisse eam mensibus:
For they say that she slept with you after two months:
Tum postquam ad te venit mensis agitur hic iam septimus;
then after she came to you, this is now the seventh month going on;
Quod te scire ipsa indicate res. Nunc si potis est, Pamphile,
which the matter itself indicates that you know. Now, if it is possible, Pamphilus,
Maxime volo doque operam ut clam eveniat partus patrem,
I especially wish and endeavor that the birth may happen secretly from her father,
Atque adeo omnes: sed si fieri id non potest quin sentiant,
and indeed all: but if that cannot be done without them perceiving it,
Dicam abortum esse: scio nemini aliter suspectum fore
I will say that it was a miscarriage: I know that to no one will it be otherwise suspected
Quin, quod verisimile est, ex te recte eum natum putent.5
but that they will think he was rightly born from you, which is likely.
Continuo exponetur: hic tibi nihil est quicquam incommodi;
It will be immediately exposed: here there is no trouble for you at all;
Et illi miserae indigne factam iniuriam contexeris."
and you will have concealed the injury undeservedly done to that wretched girl.”
Pollicitus sum; et servare in eo certum est quod dixi fidem;
I promised; and it is certain that I will keep my faith in what I said;
Nam de reducenda, id vero neutiquam honestum esse arbitror;
for as to taking her back, I think that is indeed by no means honorable;
Nec faciam; etsi amor me graviter consuetudoque eius tenet.
nor shall I do it; although her love and habit hold me strongly.
Lacrimo, quae posthac futura est vita quum in mentem venit,
I weep when it comes into my mind what life is to be hereafter,
Solitudoque. O fortuna, ut nunquam perpetuo es bona!
and solitude. O fortune, how you are never continuously good!
Sed iam prior amor me ad hanc rem exercitatum reddidit,
But already my former love has rendered me experienced in this matter,
Quem ego tum consilio missum feci: idem nunc huic operam dabo.
which I then dismissed by prudent counsel: likewise now I will apply my effort to this.
Adest Parmeno cum pueris: hunc minime est opus
Parmeno is here with the boys: there is least of all need for him
In hac re adesse; nam olim soli credidi
to be present in this matter; for formerly I trusted him alone
Ea me abstinuisse in principio, cum data est.
that I had abstained from her in the beginning, when she was given to me.
Vereor, si clamorem eius hic crebro audiat,
I fear, if he should frequently hear her cry here,
Ne parturire intelligat:6 aliquo mihi est
lest he should understand that she is in labor: I must send him somewhere
Hinc ablegandus dum parit Philumena.
away from here while Philumena is giving birth.
Ain tu tibi hoc incommodum evenisse iter?
”Do you say that this journey has turned out so inconvenient to you?”
Non hercle verbis, Parmeno, dici potest
”By Hercules, Parmeno, it cannot be expressed in words
Tantum quam re ipsa navigare incommodum est.
how inconvenient it is to sail in reality.”
Itane est?
”Is it so?”
O fortunate, nescis quid mali
”O fortunate one, you do not know what evil
Praeterieris qui nunquam es ingressus mare.
you have escaped, you who have never entered the sea.
Nam alias ut omittam miserias, unam hanc vide:
For to omit other miseries, look at this single one:
Dies triginta aut plus eo in navi fui,
I was in the ship for thirty days or more,
Cum interea semper mortem exspectabam miser;
while meanwhile, wretched me, I was always expecting death;
Ita usque adversa tempestate usi sumus.
so continuously did we experience adverse weather.”
Odiosum.
”How annoying.”
Haud clam me est: denique hercle aufugerim
”It is not unknown to me: finally, by Hercules, I would rather flee
Potius quam redeam, si eo mihi redeundum siet.
than return, if I had to return there.”
- 368id quod me repente aspexerant
The neuter relative pronoun 'id quod' acts in apposition to the preceding clause (their crying out), functioning as a conjunction of cause meaning 'namely, because they had suddenly caught sight of me.'
- 375voce alia ac res monebat ipsa
The particle 'ac' functions as a comparative conjunction after the adjective 'alia', meaning 'other than' or 'different from what the circumstance itself prompted.'
- 386Quaeque fors fortuna est... Per eam
An anticipatory relative structure (prolepsis) where the relative clause 'Quaeque fors fortuna est...' precedes the main clause, and its antecedent is referred back to by 'per eam' in the main clause.
- 390Sine labore hanc gratiam te ut sibi des
The conjunction 'ut' is delayed by anastrophe, placed after the adverbial phrase 'sine labore' and the object 'hanc gratiam'. 'Sine labore' (without labor) implies that granting this favor requires nothing but silence on Pamphilus's part.
- 398scio nemini aliter suspectum fore Quin... putent
Following 'nemini aliter suspectum fore' (it will not be otherwise suspected by anyone), the 'quin' clause with the subjunctive 'putent' expresses a strong positive conviction, meaning 'but that they will think...' or 'without doubting that they will believe...'
- 412Vereor... Ne parturire intelligat
The verb of fearing 'vereor' introduces the 'ne' clause ('lest he should understand', i.e., fearing that he might understand), with the conditional clause 'si... audiat' embedded in between.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-22)
- 2026-09-22 AI review — source 1