§332At nunc tibi dabitur pinguior tibicina.
(Pythodicus) But now you shall be given the fatter flute-player.
§333i sane cum illo, Phrugia.
Go on with him, Phrugia.
tu autem, Eleusium, §334huc intro abi ad nos.
And you, Eleusium, come inside here to our house.
(Congrio) Oh, cunning Pythodicus, have you driven me here to this most stingy old man?
Where, if I ask for anything, I shall ask until I am hoarse before anything is given.
§337bStultus et sine gratia es.
(Pythodicus) You are foolish and ungrateful.
§338† tibi recte facere, quando quod facias perit.
Doing good to you is useless, since whatever you do is lost.
§339Qui vero?
(Congrio) Why indeed?
§339bRogitas? iam principio in aedibus
(Pythodicus) You ask?
§340turba istic nulla tibi erit: siquid uti voles, §341domo abs te adferto, ne operam perdas poscere.
Right from the start, in that house there will be no crowd for you; if you want to use anything, bring it from your own home, so you don't lose your effort in asking.
§342hic autem apud nos magna turba ac familia est, §343supellex, aurum, vestis, vasa argentea: §344ibi si perierit quippiam (quod te scio §345facile abstinere posse, si nihil obviam est), §346dicant: coqui abstulerunt, comprehendite, §347vincite, verberate, in puteum condite. §348horum tibi istic nihil eveniet: quippe qui §349ubi quid subripias nihil est.
But here with us, there is a large crowd and family, furniture, gold, clothing, silver vessels: if anything disappears there (though I know you can easily keep your hands off, if nothing is in your way), they would say: "The cooks stole it, seize them, bind them, beat them, cast them into the well." None of this will happen to you there, since indeed there is nothing for you to steal.
sequere hac me.
Follow me this way.
§349bSequor.
(Congrio) I follow.
§350Heus, Staphyla, prodi atque ostium aperi.
(Pythodicus) Hey, Staphyla, come out and open the door.
§350bQui vocat?
(Staphyla) Who is calling?
§351Pythodicus.
(Pythodicus) Pythodicus.
§351bQuid vis?
(Staphyla) What do you want?
(Pythodicus) For you to take in these cooks, the flute-player, and the provisions for the wedding.
§353Megadorus iussit Euclioni haec mittere.
Megadorus ordered these to be sent to Euclio.
§354Cererin, Pythodice, has sunt facturi nuptias?
(Staphyla) Are they going to celebrate this wedding for Ceres, Pythodicus?
§355Qui?
(Pythodicus) Why?
§355bQuia temeti nihil allatum intellego.
(Staphyla) Because I see no wine has been brought.
§356At iam afferetur, si a foro ipsus redierit.
(Pythodicus) But it will be brought soon, once the master himself returns from the forum.
§357Ligna hic apud nos nulla sunt.
(Staphyla) There is no firewood here at our house.
§357bSunt asseres?
(Congrio) Are there rafters?
§358Sunt pol.
(Staphyla) Yes, by Pollux.
§358bSunt igitur ligna, ne quaeras foris.
(Congrio) Then there is firewood, don't look outside.
§359Quid, impurate? quamquam Volcano studes,
(Staphyla) What, you filthy man?
Although you love Vulcan, do you expect us to burn down our house for the sake of a dinner or for your wages?
§362Haud postulo.
(Congrio) I don't expect that.
§362bDuc istos intro.
(Pythodicus) Lead them inside.
ego intervisam quid faciant coqui; §364quos pol ut ego hodie servem, cura maxuma est.
I will go and see what the cooks are doing; by Pollux, to watch them today is my greatest care.
Unless I do this one thing: let them cook the dinner in the well; then we can draw it up in small baskets when cooked.
But if they eat it down there, whatever they cook, those above will go without dinner, and those below will have dined.
But I am talking here as if there were no business, when there is such a pack of thieves in the house.
(Euclio) I wanted at last to take courage today, to enjoy myself at my daughter's wedding.
§373venio ad macellum, rogito pisces: indicant §374caros; agninam caram, caram bubulam, §375vitulinam, cetum, porcinam: cara omnia.
I go to the market, I ask the price of fish: they say it's expensive; lamb is expensive, beef is expensive, veal, large fish, pork: everything is expensive.
§376atque eo fuerunt cariora, aes non erat.
And they were all the more expensive because there was no money.
§377abeo íratus illinc, quoniam nihil est qui emam.
I go away angry from there, since there is nothing for me to buy with.
§378ita illís impuris omnibus adii manum.
Thus I played a trick on all those filthy merchants.
§379deinde egomet mecum cogitare intervias §380occepi: festo die si quid prodegeris, §381profesto egere liceat, nisi peperceris.
Then on the way I began to think to myself: if you waste anything on a holiday, you may want on a workday, unless you spare.
§382postquam hanc rationem ventri cordique edidi, §383accessit animus ad meam sententiam, §384quam minimo sumptu filiam ut nuptum darem.
After I set this reasoning before my stomach and heart, my mind came round to my plan, to marry off my daughter with as little expense as possible.
§385nunc tusculum emi hoc et coronas floreas: §386haec imponentur in foco nostro Lari, §387ut fortunatas faciat gnatae nuptias.
Now I have bought this bit of frankincense and floral crowns: these shall be placed on our hearth for the Lar, that he may make my daughter's wedding prosperous.
§388sed quid ego apertas aedis nostras conspicor?
But why do I see our house wide open?
§389et strepitust intus.
And there is a noise inside.
numnam ego compilor miser?
Am I being robbed, wretch that I am?
(Anthrax) Ask for a larger pot, if possible, from the neighborhood; this one is small, it cannot hold it.
aúrum rapitur, aula quaeritur.
The gold is being stolen, a pot is being sought.
§394Apollo, quaeso, subveni mi atque adiuva, §395confige ságittis fures thensaurarios, §396si cui in re tali iam subvenisti antidhac.
Apollo, I pray, help and assist me, pierce with your arrows the treasure-thieves, if you have ever helped anyone in such a plight before.
§397sed cesso prius quam prorsus perii currere?
But why do I hesitate to run before I am completely ruined?
§398Dromo, desquama piscis.
(Anthrax) Dromo, scale the fish.
tu, Machaerio, §399congrum, murenam exdorsua quantum potest.
You, Machaerio, bone the eel and conger-eel as quickly as possible.
I will go and ask to borrow a baking-pan from next door from Congrio.
tu istum gallum, si sapis, §402glabriorem reddes mihi quam volsus ludiust.
You, if you are wise, will make that rooster smoother for me than a hairless actor.
§403sed quid hoc clamoris oritur hinc ex proximo?
But what is this clamor arising from next door?
§404coqui hercle, credo, faciunt officium suom.
By Hercules, the cooks, I believe, are doing their job.
§405fugiam intro, ne quid turbae hic itidem fuat.
I will flee inside, lest there should be any trouble here likewise.