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Plautus · Amphitruo §854-923

Jupiter's Excuse of Joking and Alcumena's Indignation

Passage 15 of 19 · Latin

Summary

Amphitruo (actually the disguised Jupiter) tries to appease the angry Alcumena by explaining that his accusations were merely a joke to test her fidelity, but she, deeply hurt, is not easily mollified.

§854duc hos intro.
Lead these men inside.
ego huc ab navi mecum adducam Naucratem. — §855Nunc quidem praeter nos nemo est.
I will bring Naucrates here with me from the ship.— Now indeed there is no one besides us.
dic mihi verum serio: §856ecquis alius Sosia intust, qui mei similis siet?
Tell me the truth in seriousness: is there any other Sosia inside, who is like me?
§857Abin hinc a me dignus domino servos?
Are you not going away from me, you servant worthy of your master?
§857bAbeo, si iubes. — §858Nimis ecastor facinus mirum est, qui illi conlibitum siet
I am going, if you command.— By Castor, it is too wondrous a deed, why it should have pleased him, my husband, thus to accuse me falsely of so evil a crime.
§859meo viro sic me insimulare falso facinus tam malum. §860quidquid est, iam ex Naucrate cognato id cognoscam meo. — §861Ego sum ille Amphitruo, cui est servos Sosia, §862idem Mercurius qui fit, quando commodumst, §863in superiore quí habito cenaculo, §864qui interdum fio Iuppiter, quando lubet; §865huc autem quom extemplo adventum adporto, ilico §866Amphitruo fio et vestitum immuto meum.
Whatever it is, I shall soon learn it from my relative Naucrates.— I am that Amphitruo, who has Sosia as a servant, who becomes the same Mercury when it is convenient, I who dwell in the upper garret, who sometimes become Jupiter when it pleases me; but when I bring my arrival here immediately, at once I become Amphitruo and change my garment.
§867nunc huc honoris vostri venio gratia, §868ne hanc incohatam transigam comoediam; §869simul Alcumenae, quam vir insontem probri §870Amphitruo accusat, veni ut auxilium feram: §871nam mea sit culpa, quod egomet contraxerim,
Now I come here for the sake of your honor, lest I leave this comedy unfinished; at the same time, to Alcumena, whom her husband, innocent of crime, Amphitruo accuses, I have come to bring help: for it would be my fault, which I myself contracted, if it should fall upon innocent Alcumena.
§872si id Alcumenae innocenti expetat. §873nunc Amphitruonem memet, út occepi semel, §874esse adsimulabo, atque in horum familiam §875frustrationem hodie iniciam maxumam; §876post igitur demum faciam res fiat palam §877atque Alcumenae in tempore auxilium feram §878faciamque ut uno fetu et quod gravida est viro §879et me quod gravidast pariat sine doloribus.
Now I shall pretend that I myself am Amphitruo, as I once began, and into their household I shall throw the greatest confusion today; afterwards, therefore, at last I shall make the matter public, and bring help to Alcumena in due time, and make her bring forth in one birth both what she is pregnant with by her husband and what she is pregnant with by me, without pain.
§880Mercurium iussi me continuo consequi, §881si quid vellem imperare.
I ordered Mercury to follow me immediately, in case I wished to command anything.
nunc hanc adloquar.
Now I shall address her.
§882Durare nequeo in aedibus.
I cannot endure to stay in the house.
ita me probri, §883stupri, dedecoris a viro argutam meo!
That I should be accused of shame, of unchastity, and of dishonor by my husband!
§884ea quae sunt facta infecta ut reddat clamitat, §885quae neque sunt facta neque ego in me admisi arguit; §886atque id me susque deque esse habituram putat.
He cries out that he wants to make undone those things which have been done, and charges me with things that have neither been done nor did I commit; and he thinks that I will regard it as a matter of indifference.
§887non edepol faciam, neque me perpetiar probri §888falso insimulatam, quin ego illum aut deseram §889aut sátis faciat mi ille átque adiuret insuper, §890nolle esse dicta quae in me insontem protulit.
By Pollux, I will not do so, nor will I suffer myself to be falsely accused of shame, without either leaving him or having him make satisfaction to me and swear in addition that he did not wish to have said those things which he brought against me, innocent.
§891Faciundum est mi illud, fieri quód illaec postulat, §892si me illam amantem ad sese studeam recipere, §893quando ego quod feci, id factum Amphitruoni offuit §894atque illi dudum meus amor negotium §895insonti exhibuit, nunc autem insonti mihi §896illius ira in hanc et male dicta expetent.
I must do that which she demands to be done, if I should desire to receive her back to me, loving as she is, since what I did, that deed has harmed Amphitruo, and just now my love caused trouble to him, innocent, and now upon me, innocent, his anger and harsh words against her will fall.
§897Sed eccum video qui me miseram arguit §898stupri, dedecoris.
But look, I see him who accuses wretched me of unchastity and dishonor.
§898bTe volo, uxor, conloqui.
I wish to speak with you, wife.
§899quo te avortisti?
Why have you turned away?
§899bIta ingenium meumst: §900inimicos semper osa sum optuerier.
Such is my nature: I have always hated to look upon enemies.
§901Heia autem inimicos?
Aha, enemies indeed?
§901bSic est, vera praedico; §902nisi etiam hoc falso dici insimulaturus es.
It is so, I speak the truth; unless you are going to charge this also as being said falsely.
§903Nimis iracunda es.
You are too angry.
§903bPotin ut abstineas manum?
Can you keep your hand off?
§904nam certo, si sis sanus aut sapias satis, §905quam tu impudicam esse arbitrere et praedices, §906cum ea tú sermonem nec ioco nec serio §907tibi habeas, nisi sis stultior stultissimo.
For surely, if you were sane or wise enough, the woman whom you believe and declare to be unchaste, with her you would have no conversation either in jest or in earnest, unless you were more foolish than the most foolish.
§908Si dixi, nihilo magis es, neque ego esse arbitror, §909et id huc revorti uti me purgarem tibi.
If I said so, you are none the more so, nor do I think you are, and for this reason I returned here to clear myself to you.
§910nam numquam quicquam meo animo fuit aegrius, §911quam postquam audivi ted esse iratam mihi.
For nothing has ever been more painful to my mind than after I heard that you were angry with me.
§912cur dixisti? inquies.
"Why did you say it?" you will say.
ego expediam tibi.
I will explain it to you.
§913non edepol quo te esse impudicam crederem; §914verum periclitatus súm animum tuom, §915quid faceres et quo pacto id ferre induceres.
By Pollux, not because I believed you to be unchaste; but I was testing your mind, what you would do and in what way you would bring yourself to bear it.
§916equidem ioco illa dixeram dudum tibi, §917ridiculi causa.
Indeed, I had said those things to you just now in jest, for the sake of a laugh.
vél hunc rogato Sosiam.
Even ask this Sosia.
§918Quin huc adducis meum cognatum Naucratem, §919testem quem dudum te adducturum dixeras, §920te huc non venisse?
Why do you not bring here my relative Naucrates, the witness whom you said just now you would bring, to prove that you did not come here?
§920bSi quid dictum est per iocum, §921non aequom est id te serio praevortier.
If anything was said in jest, it is not right for you to concern yourself with it in earnest.
§922Ego illúd scio quam doluerit cordi meo.
I know how much that has grieved my heart.
§923Per dexteram tuam te, Alcumena, oro obsecro,
By your right hand, Alcumena, I pray and beseech you,

Notes

  1. 858qui — An interrogative adverb meaning 'why' or 'how', rather than a relative pronoun, introducing the impersonal expression 'conlibitum siet'.
  2. 862idem — Nominal reference matching the subject, qualifying either the antecedent 'Sosia' or functioning inside the relative clause to mean 'the very same person (Sosia) becomes...'.
  3. 882me probri... argutam! — An accusative of exclamation ('me... argutam!'). The verb of accusing 'arguere' (here perfect participle 'argutam') takes the genitive of the charge ('probri, stupri, dedecoris').
  4. 886susque deque — A colloquial adverbial phrase, common in comedy, meaning 'with indifference' or 'it is all the same to me' (literally 'up and down').
  5. 891si me illam amantem — An accusative in the infinitive construction. 'me' refers to Jupiter himself, and 'illam amantem' refers to 'her, loving me (Alcumena)', which functions as the object of 'recipere'.
  6. 900optuerier — An archaic passive infinitive form ending in '-ier' for the deponent verb 'obtueri' (to look upon), used here with active meaning.
  7. 903bPotin — A colloquial contraction of 'potisne (es)' meaning 'are you able?' or 'can you?', introducing a clause with 'ut' and the subjunctive.
  8. 920bpraevortier — An archaic passive infinitive ending in '-ier' of the deponent verb 'praevorti', meaning 'to turn one's attention to' or 'to take seriously'.

Cite this passage

Plautus, Amphitruo §854-923. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0119.phi001.humanitext-lat2:854-923

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