- 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-lat2:597-655
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Sostrata resolves to withdraw to the countryside, and Laches agrees, while Pamphilus harbors inner conflicts. Phidippus then arrives to reveal Philumena's birth of a son, leading Laches to demand that Pamphilus take back his wife.
Hic video me esse invisam immerito: tempus est concedere.
Sostrata: Here I see that I am hated undeservedly: it is time to withdraw.
Sic optime, ut ego opinor, omnes causas praecidam omnibus;
Thus best, as I think, I shall cut off all excuses from everyone;
Et me hac suspicione exsolvam, et illis morem gessero.
And I shall free myself from this suspicion, and I shall have complied with their wishes.
Sine me obsecro hoc effugere vulgus quod male audit1 mulierum.
Pray permit me to escape this crowd of women which has a bad reputation.
Quam fortunatus caeteris sim rebus, absque una hac foret,2
Pamphilus: How fortunate I would be in other matters, were it not for this one thing,
Hanc matrem habens talem, illam autem uxorem.b Obsecro, mi Pamphile,
having such a mother as this, and that woman as my wife. Sostrata: I pray you, my Pamphilus,
Non tute incommodam rem, ut quaeque est, in animum induces pati?
will you not bring your mind to endure an inconvenient thing, whatever it may be?
Si caetera sunt ita ut vis, itaque ut esse ego illam existimo,
If other things are as you wish, and as I think her to be,
Mi gnate, da veniam hanc mihi: reduce illam.b Vae misero mihi!
my son, grant me this favor: take her back. Pamphilus: Alas, miserable me!
Et mihi quidem! nam haec res non minus me male habet quam te, gnate mi.
Sostrata: And to me indeed! for this matter troubles me no less than you, my son.
Quem cum istoc sermonem habueris procul hinc stans accepi, uxor.
Laches: Wife, standing far from here, I heard what conversation you had with that fellow.
Istuc est sapere, qui ubicumque opus sit animum possis flectere;
That is being wise, to be able to bend your mind wherever there is need;
Quod faciendum sit post fortasse idem hoc nunc si feceris.
if you do now this very thing which perhaps must be done afterward anyway.
Fors fuat pol.b Abi rus ergo hinc: ibi ego te et tu me feres.
Sostrata: May fortune favor us, by Pollux. Laches: Go then to the countryside from here: there you shall bear with me and I with you.
Spero ecastor.b I ergo intro, et compone quae tecum simul
Sostrata: I hope so indeed, by Castor. Laches: Go then inside, and pack up what is to be carried
Ferantur: dixi.b Ita ut iubes faciam.c Pater.
with you: I have spoken. Sostrata: I will do as you order. Pamphilus: Father.
Quid vis, Pamphile?b Hinc abire matrem? minime.c Quid ita istuc vis?
Laches: What do you want, Pamphilus? Pamphilus: Mother to depart from here? Not at all. Laches: Why do you want that so?
Quia de uxore incertus sum etiam quid sim facturus.b Quid est?
Pamphilus: Because I am still uncertain what I shall do about my wife. Laches: What is that?
Quid vis facere nisi reducere?b Equidem cupio; et vix contineor;
What do you want to do except take her back? Pamphilus: Indeed I desire to; and I can scarcely contain myself;
Sed non minuam meum consilium: ex usu quod est id persequar.
But I will not lessen my plan: I will pursue what is of advantage.
Credo ea gratia concordes magis, si non reducam, fore.
I believe that on that account they will be more in harmony, if I do not take her back.
Nescias. Verum id tua refert nihil3 utrum illae fecerint,
Laches: You cannot know. But that matters nothing to you, whichever of the two they do,
Quando haec abierit. Odiosa haec est aetas adolescentulis.
when this woman has departed. This age is hateful to young women.
E medio aequum excedere est. Postremo iam nos fabula
It is right to depart from the midst. Finally, we are already a story,
Sumus, Pamphile, "senex atque anus."
Pamphilus, “the old man and the old woman.”
Sed video Phidippum egredi per tempus: accedamus.
But I see Phidippus coming out in good time: let us approach him.
Tibi quoque edepol iratus sum, Philumena,
Phidippus: By Pollux, I am angry with you too, Philumena,
Graviter quidem; nam hercle abs te factum est turpiter;
indeed heavily; for, by Hercules, it was done shamefully by you;
Etsi tibi causa est de hac re: mater te impulit:
although you have an excuse in this matter: your mother impelled you:
Huic vero nulla est.b Opportune te mihi,
but to her indeed there is none. Laches: Seasonably to me,
Phidippe, in ipso tempore ostendis.b Quid est?
Phidippus, you show yourself at the very time. Phidippus: What is it?
Quid respondebo his? aut quo pacto hoc aperiam?
Pamphilus: What shall I answer them? Or in what way shall I reveal this?
Dic filiae rus concessuram hinc Sostratam:
Laches: Tell your daughter that Sostrata is going to withdraw from here to the countryside:
Ne revereatur minus iam quo redeat domum.b Ah,
so that she may now have less fear to return home. Phidippus: Ah,
Nullam de his rebus culpam commeruit tua:
your wife has deserved no blame concerning these matters:
A Myrrhina haec sunt mea uxore exorta omnia.
all these things have arisen from Myrrhina, my wife.
Mutatio fit: ea nos perturbat, Lache.
A change has taken place: that disturbs us, Laches.
Dum ne reducam, turbent porro quam velint.
Pamphilus: As long as I do not take her back, let them disturb as much as they wish.
Ego, Pamphile, esse inter nos, si fieri potest,
Phidippus: I, Pamphilus, wish this alliance between us, if it can be done,
Affinitatem hanc sane perpetuam volo:
to be indeed perpetual:
Sin est ut aliter tua siet sententia,
but if it is that your opinion is otherwise,
Accipias puerum.b Sensit peperisse; occidi.
take the child. Pamphilus: He perceived that she has given birth; I am ruined.
Puerum? quem puerum?b Natus est nobis nepos:
Laches: Child? What child? Phidippus: A grandson has been born to us:
Nam abducta a vobis praegnas fuerat filia,
for my daughter was pregnant when she was taken away from you,
Neque fuisse praegnatem unquam ante hunc scivi diem.
and I never knew that she was pregnant before this day.
Bene, ita me Di ament, nuntias; et gaudeo
Laches: You bring good news, so may the Gods love me; and I rejoice
Natum illum, et tibi illam salvam: sed quid mulieris
that he is born, and that she is safe for you: but what kind of woman
Uxorem habes, aut quibus moratam moribus?
do you have as a wife, or of what character is she?
Nosne hoc celatos tam diu? nequeo satis
That we have been kept in the dark about this so long! I cannot sufficiently
Quam hoc mihi videtur factum prave proloqui.
express how wickedly this seems to me to have been done.
Non tibi illud factum minus placet quam mihi, Lache.
Phidippus: That deed pleases you no more than it does me, Laches.
Etiamsi dudum fuerat ambiguum hoc mihi,
Although just now this was doubtful to me,
Nunc non est quum eam consequitur alienus puer.4
now it is not, since another’s child follows her.
Nulla tibi, Pamphile, hic iam consultatio est.
Laches: There is no longer any room for you to deliberate, Pamphilus.
Perii.b Hunc videre saepe optabamus diem
Pamphilus: I am ruined. Laches: We often wished to see this day
Quum ex te esset aliquis qui te appellaret patrem.
when there would be someone from you who would call you father.
Evenit: habeo gratiam Dis.b Nullus sum.
It has come to pass: I give thanks to the Gods. Pamphilus: I am nothing.
Reduc uxorem, ac noli adversari mihi.
Laches: Take back your wife, and do not oppose me.
Pater, si ex me illa liberos vellet sibi,
Pamphilus: Father, if she wished children for herself from me,
- 600quod male audit
The verb audio (to hear) combined with the adverb male is an idiomatic Latin expression meaning "to have a bad reputation" or "to be spoken ill of."
- 601absque una hac foret
The preposition absque with the ablative case, combined with the imperfect subjunctive foret (an alternative form of esset), expresses a contrary-to-fact condition ("were it not for this one thing"), a usage highly characteristic of early Latin comedy.
- 618id tua refert nihil
The syntax of the impersonal verb refert (it concerns, it matters). To indicate the person concerned, the feminine ablative singular of the possessive adjective (such as meā, tuā) is used instead of a genitive; hence tua is used here.
- 649alienus puer
The word alienus (belonging to another) spoken by Phidippus refers to the child belonging to Pamphilus' family rather than Phidippus' own. Since Phidippus believes the child is Pamphilus' legitimate son, he means that the child should be received by his actual father.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-22)
- 2026-09-22 AI review — source 1