Syrus's False Directions and Aeschinus's Distress — Terence, Adelphoe, lines 565–622, Latin & English

565

Laudo, Ctesipho; patrissas:¹ abi, virum te iudico.

Demea: I praise you, Ctesipho; you take after your father. Go to, I judge you to be a man.

Laudas? Nae ille continebit posthac si sapiet manus.

Syrus: You praise him? Indeed he will keep his hands to himself hereafter, if he is wise.

Fortiter.

Demea: Bravely done.

Perquam! quia miseram mulierem, et me servulum

Syrus: Exceedingly so! since he beat a wretched woman, and me, a poor slave

Qui referire non audebam, vicit: hui, perfortiter!

who didn’t dare strike back. Whew, very bravely indeed!

Non potuit melius: idem quod ego sensit te esse huic rei caput.

Demea: He could not have done better: he perceived, just as I did, that you are the head of this business.

570

Sed estne frater intus?

But is my brother inside?

Non est.

Syrus: He is not.

Ubi illum quaeram cogito.

Demea: I am thinking where to seek him.

Scio ubi sit; verum hodie nunquam monstrabo.

Syrus: I know where he is; but I will never tell you today.

Hem, quid ais?

Demea: Ha! What do you say?

Ita.

Syrus: Just so.

Diminuetur tibi quidem iam cerebrum.

Demea: Your brain indeed will be bashed in right now.

At nomen nescio

Syrus: But I don’t know the name

Illius hominis; sed locum novi ubi sit.

of that man; but I know the place where he is.

Dic ergo locum.

Demea: Tell me the place, then.

Nostin porticum apud macellum hanc deorsum?

Syrus: Do you know this portico down here by the meat-market?

Quidni noverim?

Demea: Why shouldn’t I know it?

575

Praeterito hac recta platea sursum: ubi eo veneris,

Syrus: Go past it, straight up this street: when you have come there,

Clivus deorsum versus est: hac te praecipitato: postea

there is a downward slope: hurry down this way; afterwards

Est ad hanc manum sacellum; ibi angiportum propter est.

there is a chapel on this hand; there is an alley next to it.

Quonam?

Demea: Which one?

Illic ubi etiam caprificus magna est: nostin?

Syrus: There where there is also a large wild fig-tree. Do you know it?

Novi.

Demea: I know it.

Hac pergito.

Syrus: Go along this way.

Id quidem angiportum non est pervium.

Demea: But that alley is not a thoroughfare.

Verum hercle. Vah,

Syrus: True, by Hercules! Ah,

580

Censen hominem me esse? erravi. In porticum rursum redi:

do you think I am human? I made a mistake. Return back to the portico:

Sane hac multo propius ibis, et minor est erratio.

Indeed this way you will go much closer, and there is less error.

Scin Cratini huius ditis aedes?

Do you know the house of this rich Cratinus?

Scio.

Demea: I know it.

Ubi eas praeterieris

Syrus: When you have passed it,

Ad sinistram hac recta platea: ubi ad Dianae veneris

turn to the left, straight along this street: when you have come to Diana’s,

Ito ad dextram: priusquam ad portam venias apud ipsum lacum

go to the right: before you come to the gate, right by the basin

585

Est pistrilla et exadversum fabrica: ibi est.

there is a small bakery and opposite it a workshop: he is there.

Quid ibi facit?

Demea: What is he doing there?

Lectulos in sole ilignis pedibus faciendos dedit.²

Syrus: He has given out an order for some couches with holm-oak feet to be made in the sun.

Ubi potetis vos? Bene sane. Sed cesso ad eum pergere?

Demea: For you guys to drink on? Very fine indeed! But why do I delay to go to him?

I sane. Ego te exercebo hodie ut dignus es, silicernium.³

Syrus: Go, by all means. I will keep you on the run today as you deserve, you old dry-bones!

Aeschinus odiose cessat: prandium corrumpitur.

Aeschinus is annoyingly late; the luncheon is getting spoiled.

590

Ctesipho autem in amore est totus. Ego iam prospiciam mihi:

Ctesipho is entirely in love. I will now look out for myself:

Nam iam adibo, atque unumquicquid quod quidem erit bellissimum

for I will now go inside, and I will pluck every single thing that is most delicious;

Carpam; et cyathos sorbilans paulatim hunc producam diem.

and sipping my cups little by little, I will spin out this day.

Ego in hac re nihil reperio quamobrem lauder tantopere, Hegio:

Micio: I find nothing in this matter, Hegio, why I should be praised so much:

Meum officium facio; quod peccatum a nobis ortum est corrigo:

I am doing my duty; I am correcting the fault that originated from us.

595

Nisi si me in illo credidisti esse hominum numero qui ita putant,

Unless, perhaps, you believed me to be in the number of those men who think

Sibi fieri iniuriam ultro si quam fecere ipsi expostules,

that an injury is done to them, if you demand satisfaction for one they themselves have committed,

Et ultro accusant: id quia non est a me factum agis gratias?

and who even go so far as to accuse you: because that was not done by me, do you thank me?

Ah, minime: nunquam te aliter atque es in animum induxi meum.

Hegio: Ah, not at all; I have never imagined you to be otherwise than you are.

Sed quaeso ut una mecum ad matrem virginis eas, Micio,

But I beg you, Micio, to go with me to the mother of the maiden,

600

Atque istaec eadem quae mihi dixti tute dicas mulieri;

and that you yourself tell the woman these same things you have told me:

Suspicionem hanc propter fratrem eius esse et illam psaltriam.

namely, that this suspicion is on account of his brother and that music-girl.

Si ita aequum censes, aut si ita opus est facto, camus.

Micio: If you think it right, or if there is need for it to be done, let us go.

Bene facis;

Hegio: You do well;

Nam et illi animum iam relevabis, quae dolore ac miseria

for both you will now relieve her mind, who is wasting away with grief

Tabescit; et tuo officio fueris functus:⁴ sed si aliter putas,

and misery, and you will have performed your duty; but if you think otherwise,

605

Egomet narrabo quae mihi dixti.

I myself will tell her what you told me.

Immo ego ibo.

Micio: Nay, I will go.

Bene facis.

Hegio: You do well.

Omnes quibus res sunt minus secundae magis sunt nescio quomodo

All those whose circumstances are less prosperous are, I know not how,

Suspiciosi; ad contumeliam omnia accipiunt magis;

more suspicious; they take everything more as an insult;

Propter suam impotentiam se semper credunt negligi;

on account of their own helplessness, they always believe themselves to be neglected;

Quapropter te ipsum purgare ipsis coram placabilius est.

therefore, to clear yourself to them in person is more appeasing.

610

Et recte et verum dicis.

Micio: You speak both rightly and truly.

Sequere me ergo hac intro.

Hegio: Follow me then this way inside.

Maxime.

Micio: By all means.

Discrucior animi:⁵

Aeschinus: I am tormented in my mind:

Hocine de improviso mali mihi obiici⁶

that such a great misfortune should be thrown upon me unexpectedly,

Tantum, ut neque quid de me faciam neque quid agam certum siet!

so that it is not certain what I should do with myself or what I should act!

Membra metu debilia sunt; animus timore

My limbs are weak with fear; my mind

615

Obstipuit: pectore consistere nil consili

is numbed with dread; no counsel can settle in my breast.

Quit. Vah! quomodo me ex hac expediam turba? Tanta nunc

Ah! how shall I extricate myself from this trouble? Such a great

Suspicio de me incidit;

suspicion has fallen upon me;

Neque ea immerito: Sostrata credit mihi me psaltriam hanc emisse.

and not undeservedly: Sostrata believes that I bought this music-girl.

Id anus mihi indicium fecit.

The old woman made this clear to me.

620

Nam ut hinc forte ea ad obstetricem erat missa, ubi eam vidi ilico

For as she happened to be sent from here to the midwife, when I saw her, I immediately

Accedo, rogito Pamphila quid agat, iam partus adsiet;

approach her, I ask how Pamphila is doing, whether the delivery is near,

Eone obstetricem arcessat. Illa exclamat, "Abi, abi iam, Aeschine.

and whether she is fetching the midwife for that purpose. She cries out: ‘Away, away now, Aeschine!’

Syntax notes6 items

565patrissas
A colloquial and comic verb derived from the Greek πατρίζω, meaning 'to take after one's father.' Demea uses it approvingly upon hearing of Ctesipho's violent behavior, seeing it as a sign of inheriting his own rough nature.
586faciendos dedit
A causative expression consisting of the verb do and a gerundive, meaning 'to commission or give over to be made.' Here it indicates that Micio has ordered couches to be manufactured.
588silicernium
Originally meaning a 'funeral feast,' this term is used colloquially as a comic insult for an old man, translating to 'dry-bones' or 'one with one foot in the grave.' Syrus mutters this abuse after successfully sending Demea away.
604fueris functus
Perfect subjunctive (or future perfect equivalent). Paired with the preceding future relevabis, it emphasizes a completed state in the future: 'you will have performed your duty.' Note that fungor takes the ablative case (officio).
611animi
An archaic survival of the locative case (or genitive of respect) used with verbs and adjectives of mental distress (here, discrucior), meaning 'in mind' or 'mentally' tormented.
612Hocine de improviso mali mihi obiici
The accusative with infinitive used in exclamation, expressing Aeschinus's profound shock and grief that such a great misfortune (mali) has suddenly been cast (obiici) upon him. The particle -ne appended to hoc adds a tone of indignant wonder.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0134.phi006.humanitext-lat2:565-622