- 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-lat2:685-745
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Aeschinus, filled with remorse, is overjoyed when his adoptive father Micio permits his marriage, and vows his deep gratitude. Meanwhile, Demea arrives after an exhaustive search and furiously denounces Aeschinus's new scandal involving a citizen girl, but Micio calmly accepts the situation, comparing life to a game of dice that must be managed with skill.
Et me tui pudet.1
Aeschinus: And I am ashamed before you.
Credo hercle; nam ingenium novi tuum
Micio: By Hercules, I believe it; for I know your nature
Liberale: sed vereor ne indiligens nimium sies.
is generous: but I fear lest you should be too negligent.
In qua civitate tandem te arbitrare vivere?
In what city, pray, do you think you are living?
Virginem vitiasti quam te ius non fuerat tangere.
You have wronged a maiden whom you had no right to touch.
Iam id peccatum primum magnum; magnum, at humanum tamen.
Now that is indeed a first great offense; great, but yet human.
Fecere alii saepe item boni: at postquam id evenit, cedo
Others, and good men too, have often done the same: but after that happened, tell me,
Numquid circumspexti? aut numquid tute prospexti tibi,
did you look about at all? Or did you provide at all for yourself,
Quid fieret, qua fieret? si te ipsum mihi puduit dicere,
as to what should be done, or how it should be done? If you were ashamed to tell me yourself,
Qua resciscerem? Haec dum dubitas menses abierunt decem.
by what means was I to find out? While you hesitated, ten months passed away.
Prodidisti et te, et illam miseram, et gnatum, quod quidem in te fuit.
You have betrayed both yourself, and that wretched girl, and your son, as far as was in your power.
Quid? credebas dormienti haec tibi confecturos Deos,
What? Did you believe that the Gods would manage these things for you while you slept,
Et illam sine tua opera in cubiculum iri deductum2 domum?
and that she would be brought home into your bedchamber without your own labor?
Nolim ceterarum rerum te socordem eodem modo.
I should be unwilling for you to be equally negligent in other matters.
Bono animo es: duces uxorem hanc.
Be of good heart: you shall marry this girl.
Hem.
Aeschinus: What?
Bono animo es, inquam.
Micio: Be of good heart, I say.
Pater,
Aeschinus: Father,
Obsecro, non ludis tu nunc me?
I beseech you, are you not playing with me now?
Ego te? quamobrem?
Micio: I with you? Why?
Nescio;
Aeschinus: I don’t know;
Nisi quia tam misere hoc esse cupio verum eo vereor magis.
except that because I so desperately wish this to be true, I fear it the more.
Abi domum, ac Deos comprecare ut uxorem arcessas: abi.
Micio: Go home, and pray to the Gods to bring your wife: go.
Quid? iam uxorem?
Aeschinus: What? My wife now?
Iam.
Micio: Now.
Iam?
Aeschinus: Now?
Iam, quantum potest.
Micio: Now, as soon as possible.
Di me, pater,
Aeschinus: Father, may all
Omnes oderint ni magis3 te quam oculos nunc amo meos.
the Gods hate me, if I do not love you more than my own eyes now.
Quid? quam illam?
Micio: What? More than her?
Aeque.
Aeschinus: Equally.
Perbenigne.
Micio: Very kind indeed.
Quid? ille ubi est Milesius?
Aeschinus: But where is that Milesian?
Abiit; periit; navem adscendit. Sed cur cessas?
Micio: He is gone; he is perished; he has boarded his ship. But why do you delay?
Abi pater:
Aeschinus: Go, father:
Tu potius Deos comprecare; nam tibi eos certo scio,
do you rather pray to the Gods; for I know for certain that they,
Quo vir melior multo es quam ego, obtemperaturos magis.
since you are a much better man than I, will listen to you more.
Ego eo intro ut quae opus sunt parentur: tu fac ut dixi, si sapis.
Micio: I will go inside so that what is necessary may be prepared: do as I said, if you are wise.
Quid hoc est negoti! Hoc est patrem esse? aut hoc est filium esse?
Aeschinus: What business is this! Is this to be a father? Or is this to be a son?
Si frater aut sodalis esset, qui magis morem gereret?
If he were a brother or a companion, how could he be more obliging?
Hic non amandus? hicine non gestandus in sinu est? hem!
Is he not to be loved? Is he not to be carried in one’s bosom? Oh!
Itaque adeo magnam mili iniecit sua commoditate curam
Therefore, indeed, he has inspired in me a great care by his kindness,
Ne forte imprudens faciam quod nolit: sciens cavebo.
lest by chance I should unintentionally do what he would not wish: knowingly I will beware.
Sed cesso ire intro ne morae meis nuptiis egomet siem?
But why do I delay to go inside, lest I myself should be a delay to my own wedding?
Defessus sum ambulando. Ut, Syre, te cum tua
Demea: I am tired of walking. May great Jupiter destroy you, Syrus,
Monstratione magnus perdat Iupiter!
with your directing!
Perreptavi usque omne oppidum: ad portam, ad lacum:
I have crawled through the whole town: to the gate, to the pool:
Quo non? neque illic fabrica ulla erat, neque fratrem homo
where not? And there was no workshop there, nor did any man
Vidisse se aibat quisquam: nunc vero domi
say he had seen my brother: but now indeed
Certum obsidere est usque donec redierit.
I am determined to sit at home until he returns.
Ibo, illis dicam nullam esse in nobis moram.
Micio: I will go and tell them that there is no delay on our part.
Sed eccum ipsum: te iamdudum quaero, Micio.
Demea: But there he is: I have been looking for you this long time, Micio.
Quidnam?
Micio: What is it?
Fero alia flagitia ad te ingentia
Demea: I bring you other monstrous misdeeds
Boni illius adolescentis.
of that “good” young man.
Ecce autem!
Micio: There you go again!
Nova;
Demea: New ones;
Capitalia.
capital ones.
Ohe, iam.
Micio: Oh, enough now.
Nescis qui vir sit.
Demea: You don’t know what kind of man he is.
Scio.
Micio: I know.
O stulte, tu de psaltria me somnias
Demea: O foolish man, you dream that I am talking
Agere: hoc peccatum in virginem est civem.
about the music-girl: this offense is against a maiden who is a citizen.
Scio.
Micio: I know.
Oho, scis et patere?
Demea: Oh, you know and you tolerate it?
Quidni patiar?
Micio: Why shouldn’t I tolerate it?
Dic mihi,
Demea: Tell me,
Non clamas? non insanis?
do you not cry out? Are you not mad?
Non. Malim quidem—
Micio: No. I should prefer indeed—
Puer natus est.
Demea: A child is born.
Di bene vertant!
Micio: May the Gods turn it to good!
Virgo nihil habet.
Demea: The maiden has nothing.
Audivi.
Micio: I heard.
Et ducenda indotata est?
Demea: And she must be married without a dowry?
Scilicet.
Micio: To be sure.
Quid nunc futurum est?
Demea: What is to happen now?
Id enim quod res ipsa fert:
Micio: Why, that which the matter itself brings:
Illinc huc transferetur virgo.
the maiden will be transferred from there to here.
O Iupiter!
Demea: O Jupiter!
Istocine pacto oportet?
Is it right in that fashion?
Quid faciam amplius?
Micio: What more should I do?
Quid facias? Si non ipsa re istuc tibi dolet,
Demea: What should you do? If it does not grieve you in the matter itself,
Simulare certe est hominis.4
to pretend at least is the part of a man.
Quin iam virginem
Micio: Nay, I have already
Despondi; res composita est; fiunt nuptiae:
betrothed the maiden; the matter is settled; the wedding is taking place:
Demsi metum omnem: haec magis sunt hominis.
I have removed all fear: this is more the part of a man.
Caeterum,
Demea: But,
Placet tibi factum, Micio?
does this deed please you, Micio?
Non, si queam
Micio: No, if I could
Mutare: nunc, quum non queo, aequo animo fero.
change it: now, since I cannot, I bear it with an easy mind.
Ita vita est hominum quasi quum ludas tesseris:
The life of men is like when you play with dice:
Si illud quod maxime opus est iactu non cadit,
if that which is most necessary does not fall by the throw,
Illud quod cecidit forte id arte ut corrigas.
that which has fallen by chance, you must correct by art.
Corrector! Nempe tua arte viginti minae
Demea: A corrector! Surely by your “art” twenty minae
Pro psaltria periere; quae, quantum potest,
have perished for a music-girl; who, as soon as possible,
- 685me tui pudet
This phrase demonstrates the grammatical construction of the impersonal verb pudet (to be ashamed). It takes an accusative of the person feeling the emotion (me) and a genitive of the person or thing causing the emotion (tui).
- 696iri deductum
This is the passive future infinitive construction, formed by the supine in the accusative (deductum) and the impersonal passive infinitive iri (from eo). In this accusative-with-infinitive construction, with illam as the subject accusative, it expresses the future passive meaning ("that she would be brought").
- 703ni magis
A formulaic expression of taking an oath (Di me... oderint ni...), literally meaning "may all the gods hate me if I do not...". The conditional clause with ni (equivalent to nisi) serves as a strong emphatic assertion of the speaker's love for his father ("I love you more than my own eyes").
- 736hominis
A predicate genitive of characteristic or duty ("it is the part of a man" or "it is characteristic of a human being"). Here it implies that even pretending to grieve is what is expected of a decent or feeling human being.