- 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.phi006.humanitext-lat2:511-564
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Demea and Hegio depart to seek Micio. When Demea unexpectedly returns instead of staying in the countryside, Ctesipho hides himself, and Syrus fabricates a lie about being beaten by Ctesipho to deceive the father.
Ibo ac requiram fratrem, ut in eum haec evomam.
Demea: I will go and seek my brother, so that I may vomit out all this upon him.
Bono animo fac sis,1 Sostrata; et istam, quod potes,
Hegio: Keep a good heart, Sostrata; and comfort her, as much as you can.
Fac consolere. Ego Micionem, si apud forum est,
I will meet Micio, if he is at the forum;
Conveniam; atque ut res gesta est narrabo ordine.
and I will relate how the matter has been done in order.
Si est facturus ut sit officium suum,
If he is going to do what is his duty,
Faciat: sin aliter de hac re est eius sententia,
let him do so; but if his opinion on this matter is otherwise,
Respondeat mihi; ut quid agam quamprimum sciam.
let him answer me, so that I may know as soon as possible what to do.
Ain patrem hinc abisse rus?
Ctesipho: Do you say that my father has gone from here to the countryside?
Iamdudum.
Syrus: A long time ago.
Dic sodes.
Ctesipho: Tell me, please.
Apud villam est.
Syrus: He is at the villa.
Nunc cum maxime operis aliquid facere credo.
I believe he is just now doing some work there.
Utinam quidem,
Ctesipho: Would that indeed,
Quod cum salute eius fiat,2 ita se defatigarit velim,
provided it be with safety to his health, I wish he would so tire himself out,
Ut triduo hoc perpetuo prorsum e lecto nequeat surgere.
that for these next three days continuously he could not rise from his bed at all.
Ita fiat, et istoc si quid potis est rectius.
Syrus: So be it, and if anything can be even better than that.
Ita: nam hunc diem
Ctesipho: Yes: for this day
Misere nimis cupio, ut coepi, perpetuum in laetitia degere:
I miserably long, as I have begun, to spend continuously in joy;
Et illud rus nulla alia causa tam male odi, nisi quia prope est:
and I hate that countryside for no other reason so badly, except because it is near;
Quod si abesset longius,
but if it were further off,
Prius nox oppressisset illic quam huc reverti posset iterum.
night would have overtaken him there before he could return here again.
Nunc ubi me illic non videbit iam huc recurret, sat scio.
Now, when he does not see me there, he will run back here immediately, I know well enough.
Rogitabit me ubi fuerim; quem ego hodie toto non vidi die.
He will keep asking me where I have been; whom I have not seen all this day long.
Quid dicam?
What shall I say?
Nihilne in mentem?
Syrus: Nothing in your mind?
Nunquam quicquam.
Ctesipho: Never anything.
Tanto nequior.
Syrus: So much the worse.
Cliens, amicus, hospes, nemo est vobis?
Is there no client, friend, guest-friend among you?
Sunt: quid postea?
Ctesipho: There are; what then?
Hisce opera ut data sit.3
Syrus: That you were giving your attention to them.
Quae non data sit? non potest fieri.
Ctesipho: When I was not doing so? That cannot be done.
Potest.
Syrus: It can.
Interdiu: sed si hic pernocto, causae quid dicam, Syre?
Ctesipho: In the daytime; but if I pass the night here, what reason shall I give, Syrus?
Vah, quam vellem etiam noctu amicis operam mos esset dari.
Syrus: Ah, how I wish it were the custom to give attention to friends even at night!
Quin tu otiosus es: ego illius sensum pulchre calleo.
But you be at ease; I know his temper beautifully.
Quum fervit maxime tam placidum quam ovem reddo.
When he is most boiling, I make him as gentle as a sheep.
Quo modo?
Ctesipho: How?
Laudarier te audit libenter: facio te apud illum Deum:
Syrus: He listens with pleasure to your being praised; I make you a god in his presence;
Virtutes narro.
I relate your virtues.
Meas?
Ctesipho: Mine?
Tuas: homini ilico lacrimae cadunt
Syrus: Yours; immediately tears fall from the man,
Quasi puero gaudio. Hem tibi autem.
as if from joy, like a child. But look out for yourself.
Quidnam est?
Ctesipho: What is it?
Lupus in fabula.
Syrus: The wolf in the fable.
Pater est?
Ctesipho: Is it my father?
Ipsus est.
Syrus: It is he himself.
Syre, quid agimus?
Ctesipho: Syrus, what are we doing?
Fuge modo intro: ego videro.
Syrus: Just fly inside; I will see to it.
Si quid rogabit, nusquam tu me: audistin?
Ctesipho: If he asks anything, you have seen me nowhere. Do you hear?
Potin ut desinas?
Syrus: Can’t you leave off?
Nae ego homo sum infelix: primum fratrem nusquam invenio gentium:
Demea: Indeed, I am an unhappy man: first, I can find my brother nowhere in the world;
Praeterea autem dum illum quaero a villa mercenarium
moreover, while I was looking for him, I saw a hired hand
Vidi: is filium negat esse ruri: nec quid agam scio.
I saw him; he says my son is not in the country. Nor do I know what to do.
Syre.
Syrus.
Quid est?
Syrus: What is it?
Men quaerit?
Ctesipho: Is he seeking me?
Verum.
Syrus: Yes.
Perii!
Ctesipho: I am lost!
Quin tu animo bono es.
Syrus: Why don’t you keep a good heart?
Quid hoc, malum, infelicitatis? nequeo satis decernere;
Demea: What is this, plague on it, of misfortune? I cannot well understand;
Nisi me credo huic esse natum rei, ferendis miseriis.
except that I believe I was born for this thing, to bear miseries.
Primus sentio mala nostra; primus rescisco omnia;
I am the first to feel our misfortunes; the first to find out everything;
Primus porro obnuntio: aegre solus si quid fit fero.
the first, moreover, to bring the bad news; if anything happens, I alone bear it with pain.
Rideo hunc: primum ait se scire; is solus nescit omnia.
Syrus: I laugh at him; he says he is the first to know; he alone knows nothing of all.
Nunc redeo: si forte frater redierit viso.
Demea: Now I am coming back; I will go and see if by chance my brother has returned.
Syre,
Ctesipho: Syrus,
Obsecro vide ne ille huc prorsus se irruat.
I beseech you, see to it that he does not rush straight in here.
Etiam taces?
Syrus: Will you still not be silent?
Ego cavebo.
I will take care.
Nunquam hercle hodie ego istuc committam tibi;
Ctesipho: By Hercules, I will never trust that to you today;
Nam me iam in cellam aliquam cum illa concludam: id tutissimum est.
for I will now shut myself up in some chamber with her; that is safest.
Age, tamen ego hunc amovebo.
Syrus: Go on, I will nevertheless remove this man.
Sed eccum sceleratum Syrum.
Demea: But here is that rascal Syrus.
Non hercle hic quidem durare quisquam, si sic fit, potest.
Syrus: By Hercules, no one can endure here indeed, if things go on thus.
Scire equidem volo quot mihi sint domini: quae haec est miseria?
I indeed want to know how many masters I have: what misery is this?
Quid ille gannit? quid vult? quid ais bone vir? est frater domi?
Demea: What is he muttering? What does he want? What do you say, good man? Is my brother at home?
Quid, malum, "Bone vir," mihi narras? Equidem perii.
Syrus: Why, plague on it, do you talk of “good man” to me? I indeed am ruined.
Quid tibi est?
Demea: What is the matter with you?
Rogitas? Ctesipho me pugnis miserum et istam psaltriam
Syrus: Do you ask? Ctesipho has beaten wretched me and that music-girl
Usque occidit.
with his fists continually.
Hem, quid narras?
Demea: Ha! What are you saying?
Hem! vide, ut discidit labrum.
Syrus: Look, see how he has split my lip.
Quamobrem?
Demea: For what reason?
Me impulsore4 hanc emtam esse ait.
Syrus: He says she was bought by my instigation.
Non tu eum rus hinc modo
Demea: Did you not just now say that he
Produxe aibas?
had gone to the country from here?
Factum: verum venit post insaniens:
Syrus: It was so; but he came back afterwards like a madman;
Nihil pepercit. Non puduisse verberare hominem senem,
he spared nothing. Was it not a shame to beat an old man,
Quem ego modo puerum tantillum in manibus gestavi meis?
whom I, just a tiny boy so big, carried in my own hands?
- 512fac sis
The imperative fac followed directly by the subjunctive sis (second-person singular present subjunctive of esse) without ut, expressing an earnest request or advice. The subsequent Fac consolere is formed in the exact same manner with the present subjunctive consolere of the deponent verb consolor.
- 520Quod cum salute eius fiat
A restrictive relative clause containing the subjunctive fiat ("so far as it may happen with his health/safety"), expressing a limitation or condition on the preceding wish.
- 531ut data sit
The subjunctive data sit introduced by ut in an independent clause, used to propose a pretext or assumption ("suppose that attention was given to...").
- 561bMe impulsore
An ablative absolute construction consisting of the noun impulsore and the ablative pronoun me (functioning as subject and complement in the absence of a present participle of esse), meaning "with me as the instigator" or "at my instigation".