Phidippus's Anger and Sostrata's Decision to Leave — Terence, Hecyra, lines 546–596, Latin & English

546

Id nunc res indicium haec facit quo pacto factum volueris.

Phidippus: This very fact now provides proof of how you wished it to be done.

Adeon me esse pervicacem censes cui mater siem

Myrrhina: Do you think that I, being her mother, would be of so stubborn a mind, if this marriage were to our advantage?

Ut eo essem animo, si ex usu esset nostro hoc matrimonium?

As to be of such a disposition?

Tun prospicere, aut iudicare nostram in rem quod sit potes?

Phidippus: Can you foresee or judge what is to our advantage?

550

Audisti ex aliquo fortasse qui vidisse eum diceret

Perhaps you heard from someone who said they had seen him going out or in to his mistress. What of it then,

Exeuntem aut introeuntem ad amicam. Quid tum postea,

afterwards,

Si modeste ac raro hoc fecit? nonne ea dissimulare nos

if he did this discreetly and rarely? Is it not more decent for us to overlook those things, than

Magis humanum est quam dare operam id scire qui nos oderit?¹

to take pains to know that, which would make him hate us?

Nam si is posset ab ea sese derepente avellere

For if he could suddenly tear himself away from her with whom he had spent so many years, I would not consider him a human being,

555

Quacum tot consuesset annos, non eum hominem ducerem,

nor a sufficiently reliable husband for our daughter.

Nec virum satis firmum gnatae.

Myrrhina: Dismiss the young man, I pray,

Mitte adolescentem, obsecro,Et quae me peccasse ais. Abi: solum solus conveni.

and the things in which you say I have done wrong. Go: meet him alone, face to face.

Roga velitne an non uxorem: si est ut dicat velle se,

Ask him whether he wants his wife or not: if it happens that he says he wants her, give her back;

Redde; sin est autem ut nolit, recte ego consului meae.

but if it happens that he does not want her, I have counselled well for my daughter.

560

Si quidem ille ipse non vult, et tu sensti esse in eo, Myrrhina,

Phidippus: If indeed he himself does not want her, and you perceived, Myrrhina, that the fault was in him,

Peccatum, aderam cuius consilio ea par fuerat prospici.²

I was here, by whose advice it would have been proper for those things to be foreseen.

Quamobrem incendor ira esse ausam facere haec te iniussu meo.

For which reason I am inflamed with anger that you dared to do these things without my order.

Interdico ne extulisse extra aedes puerum usquam velis.

I forbid you to wish to carry the child anywhere outside the house.

Sed ego stultior meis dictis parere hanc qui postulem.

But I am more foolish to expect her to obey my words.

565

Ibo intro, atque edicam servis ne quoquam efferri sinant.

I will go inside and order the servants not to allow him to be carried out anywhere.

Nullam pol credo mulierem me miseriorem vivere;

Myrrhina: By Pollux, I believe no woman lives more miserable than I;

Nam ut hic laturus hoc sit, si ipsam rem ut siet resciverit,

for how he will bear this, if he finds out the matter itself as it really is,

Non edepol clam me est, quum hoc quod levius est tam animo iracundo tulit:

is indeed not hidden from me, since he took this lighter matter with such an angry mind:

Nec qua via sententia eius possit mutari scio.

and I do not know by what way his opinion can be changed.

570

Hoc mihi unum ex plurimis miseriis reliquum fuerat malum,

This one evil had remained for me out of my many miseries,

Si puerum ut tollam cogit, cuius nos qui sit nescimus pater.

if he compels me to rear the child, whose father we do not know.

Nam quum compressa est nata, forma in tenebris nosci non quita est;³

For when our daughter was violated, his face could not be recognized in the darkness;

Neque detractum ei est quicquam qui posset post nosci qui siet.

nor was anything taken from him by which it could afterward be known who he was.

Ipse eripuit vi in digito quem habuit virgini abiens annulum.

He himself, on leaving, snatched by force a ring which the maiden had on her finger.

575

Simul vereor Pamphilum, ne orata nostra nequeat diutius

At the same time, I fear Pamphilus, lest he should no longer be able to conceal our entreaties,

Celare, quum sciet alienum puerum tolli pro suo.

when he knows that another’s child is being reared as his own.

Non clam me est, nate mi, tibi me esse suspectam uxorem tuam

Sostrata: It is not hidden from me, my son, that I am suspected by you, and that your wife departed from here because of my character,

Propter meos mores hinc abisse, etsi ea dissimulas sedulo.

even though you carefully disguise those things.

Verum, ita me Di ament, itaque obtingant ex te quae exopto mihi,

But, so may the Gods love me, and so may those things which I desire from you happen to me,

580

Ut nunquam sciens commerui merito ut⁴ caperet odium illa mei;

as I have never knowingly deserved that she should deservedly conceive a hatred of me;

Teque ante quam me amare rebar ei rei firmasti fidem.

and you have confirmed my belief in that matter, in which I thought you loved her more than me.

Nam mihi intus tuus pater narravit modo quo pacto me habueris

For your father just now told me inside how you held me preferred to your love:

Praepositam amori tuo: nunc tibi me certum est contra gratiam

now I am resolved to return the favor to you,

Referre, ut apud me praemium esse positum pietati scias.

so that you may know that a reward for piety is placed with me.

585

Mi Pamphile, hoc et vobis et meae commodum famae arbitror:

My Pamphilus, I think this is suitable both for you and for my reputation:

Ego rus abituram hinc cum tuo me esse certo decrevi patre,

I have firmly resolved that I will depart from here to the countryside with your father,

Ne mea praesentia obstet, neu causa ulla restet reliqua

so that my presence may not stand in the way, and no reason may remain to prevent your Philumena from returning to you.

Quin tua Philumena ad te redeat.Quaeso, quid istuc consili est?

Pamphilus: Pray, what kind of plan is that?

Illius stultitia victa ex urbe tu rus habitatum migres?

Defeated by her foolishness, are you, mother, to migrate from the city to live in the countryside?

590

Non facies: neque sinam ut qui nobis, mater, maledictum velit

You shall not do it; nor will I allow anyone who wishes us ill,

Mea pertinacia esse dicat factum, haud tua modestia.

to say that this was done by my obstinacy rather than by your modesty.

Tum tuas amicas te et cognatas deserere et festos dies

Furthermore, I do not wish you, for my sake, to desert your friends, relatives, and festive days.

Mea causa nolo.Nihil pol iam istaec res mihi voluptatis ferunt:

Sostrata: By Pollux, those things now bring no pleasure to me:

Dum aetatis tempus tulit perfuncta satis sum: satias iam tenet

while the time of my age permitted, I enjoyed them enough; a satiety of those pursuits now possesses me.

595

Studiorum istorum. Haec mihi nunc cura est maxima ut ne cui meae

This is now my greatest care, that the length of my life may not stand in anyone’s way,

Longinquitas aetatis obstet, mortemve exspectet meam.

nor that anyone should look forward to my death.

Syntax notes4 items

553id scire qui nos oderit
The antecedent of the relative 'qui' is an implied demonstrative pronoun referring to the husband. The subjunctive 'oderit' (perfect subjunctive used for future perfect or characteristic/result) suggests 'to take pains to know that, which would cause him to hate us' or 'concerning one who would come to hate us as a result'.
561cuius consilio ea par fuerat prospici
The antecedent of the genitive relative pronoun 'cuius' is the genitive 'mei' implied in the first-person verb 'aderam' ('I was present'). This construction, where the relative pronoun refers to a personal pronoun implied in the verbal ending, is common in colloquial Latin comedy.
572non quita est
'non quita est' is synonymous with 'non potuit' ('could not'). It is the third-person singular feminine perfect passive of the verb 'queo' ('to be able'). It takes a passive form because it is followed by the passive infinitive 'nosci' ('to be recognized').
579ita me Di ament... ut...
The construction 'ita [A]... ut [B]...' is a formula of oath or asseveration meaning 'as surely as I wish the Gods to love me [A], so surely is [B] true'. Here it strongly asserts the truth of the subsequent statement that Sostrata has never knowingly deserved hatred.

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-lat2:546-596