By Pollux, indeed I would much rather he were at Ephesus, provided he were safe, than that he had returned home.
§1049quid ego istic? quod perdundumst properem perdere.
What am I doing here? Let me make haste to lose what must be lost.
§1050binos ducentos Philippos iam intus ecferam, §1051et militi quos dudum promisi miser §1052et istos.
I will now bring out from inside twice two hundred Philipps, both those which I promised to the soldier a while ago, wretch that I am, and those others.
mane istic, iam exeo ad te, Chrysale. — §1053Fit vasta Troia, scindunt proceres Pergamum.
Wait there, I am coming out to you now, Chrysalus. — Troy is laid waste, the leaders tear down Pergamum.
§1054scivi ego iam dudum fore me exitio Pergamo.
I knew long ago that I would be the destruction of Pergamum.
§1055edepol qui me esse dicat cruciatu malo §1056dignum, ne ego cum íllo pignus haud ausim dare; §1057tantas turbellas facio.
By Pollux, even if someone should say that I am worthy of severe torture, indeed I would not dare to make a wager with him; so great are the disturbances I am causing.
sed crepuit foris: §1058ecfertur praeda ex Troia.
But the door creaked: the booty is brought out from Troy.
taceam nunciam.
Let me be silent now.
§1059Cape hoc tibi aurum, Chrysale, i, fer filio.
Take this gold for yourself, Chrysalus; go, carry it to my son.
§1060ego ad forum autem hinc ibo, ut solvam militi.
But I will go from here to the forum, so that I may pay the soldier.
§1061Non equidem accipiam.
Indeed I will not accept it.
proin tu quaeras qui ferat.
Therefore seek someone else to carry it.
§1062nolo ego mihi credi.
I do not want to be trusted.
§1062bCape vero, odiose facis.
Take it indeed, you are being troublesome.
§1063Non equidem capiam.
Indeed I will not take it.
§1063bAt quaeso.
But I beg you.
§1063cDico ut res se habet.
I say it as it is.
§1064Morare.
You are delaying me.
§1064bNolo, inquam, aurum concredi mihi.
I do not want, I say, the gold to be entrusted to me.
§1065vel da aliquem qui servet me.
Or give me someone to watch over me.
§1065bOhe, odiose facis.
Oh, you are being troublesome.
§1066Cedo, sí necesse est.
Give it here, if it is necessary.
§1066bCura hoc.
Take care of this.
iam égo huc revenero. — §1067Curatum est—esse te senem miserrumum.
I will return here shortly. — It has been taken care of — that you should be the most wretched old man.
§1068hoc est incepta efficere pulcre: bellule §1069mi evenit, ut ovans praeda onustus incederem; §1070salute nostra atque urbe capta per dolum §1071domum reduco íntegrum omnem exercitum.
This is completing undertakings beautifully: quite nicely it turned out for me, that I, exulting, should march laden with booty; with our safety secured and the city captured by trickery, I lead back home the entire army unharmed.
§1072sed, spectatores, vos nunc ne miremini §1073quod non triumpho: pervolgatum est, nil moror; §1074verum tamen accipientur mulso milites.
But, spectators, do not wonder now that I do not celebrate a triumph: it is very common, I do not care for it; but yet the soldiers will be received with honeyed wine.
§1075nunc hanc praedam omnem iam ad quaestorem deferam. — §1076Quam mágis in pectore meó foveo quas méus filius turbás turbet, §1077quam se ád vitam et quos ád mores praecípitem inscitus capéssat, §1078magis cúrae est magisque adfórmido, ne is péreat neu corrúmpatur.
Now I will carry all this booty straight to the quaestor. — The more I ponder in my heart what troubles my son is causing, and into what kind of life and habits he, foolish as he is, is headlong rushing, the more it is a worry and the more I dread lest he perish or be ruined.
§1079scio, fúi ego illa aetate ét feci illa omnía, sed more modésto; §1080neque plácitant mores quíbus video volgo ín gnatos essé parentes: §1082ego dáre me meo gnato ínstitui, ut animo óbsequium sumére possit; §1083aequom ésse puto, sed nimis nolo desídiae ei dare lúdum.
I know, I was of that age once and did all those things, but in a modest manner; nor do I like the ways of those parents whom I see in general with their sons: I have resolved to give to my son, so that he can indulge his inclination; I think it is fair, but I do not want to give too much play to his idleness.
§1084nunc Mnésilochum, quod mándavi, §1084aviso écquid eum ad virtútem aut ad §1085frugem ópera sua compúlerit, sic §1086ut eúm, si convenít, scio fe-cisse: eóst ingenio nátus. §1087Quicúmque ubi ubi sunt, quí fuerunt quiqué futuri sunt pósthac §1088stultí, stolidi, fatuí, fungi, bardí, blenni, buccónes, §1089solús ego omnis longe ántideo stultítia et moribus índoctis.
Now, regarding Mnesilochus, whom I commissioned, I will go to see whether by his efforts he has driven him to virtue or to a sober life, just as I know he has done, if he met him: he was born with such a disposition. — Whoever they are, wherever they are, who have been and who will be hereafter, fools, blockheads, simpletons, fungi, dolts, drivelers, babblers, I alone far surpass them all in foolishness and uncultivated ways.
§1090perií, pudet: hocine me aétatis ludós bis factum esse índigne?
I am undone, I am ashamed: that I at this age should be shamefully made a fool of twice?
§1091magis quam íd reputo, tam mágis uror quae méus filius turbávit.
The more I reflect on it, the more I burn at what my son has disturbed.
§1092perdítus sum atque eradícatus sum, omníbus exemplis éxcrucior.
I am ruined and rooted up, I am tortured in every possible way.
§1093omnía me mala conséctantur,omníbus exitiis ínterii.
All evils pursue me, I have perished by every destruction.
§1094Chrysálus med hodie láceravit,Chrysálus me miserum spóliavit: §1095is mé scelus auro usque áttondit dolis dóctis indoctum, út lubitumst.
Chrysalus has torn me to pieces today, Chrysalus has despoiled wretched me: he, that scoundrel, has sheared me of my gold completely, a naive man by clever tricks, just as he pleased.
§1096ita míles memorat méretricem esse eam quam ílle uxorem esse áiebat, §1097omníaque ut quidque actum est memoravit, eam síbi hunc annúm condúctam, §1098relicúom id auri factúm quod ego ei stultíssimus homo promísissem: hoc, §1099hoc ést quo cor peracéscit; hoc ést demum quod pércrucior, §1100me hoc aétatis ludíficari, §1101canó capite atque albá barba miserúm me auro esse emúnctum.
Thus the soldier relates that she is a courtesan whom my son said was his wife, and he related everything just as it was done, that she was hired to him for this year, and that that gold was made the remainder of what I, most foolish man, had promised him: this, this is what makes my heart sour; this is indeed what tortures me, that I at this age should be mocked, that I, with my grey head and white beard, wretched me, should be wiped clean of my gold.
§1102perii, hóc servom meum nón nauci facere ésse ausum! atque ego, si álibi
I am undone, that my slave should have dared to set me at naught!
§1103plus pérdiderim, minus aégre habeam minusque íd mihi damno dúcam.
And indeed, if elsewhere I had lost more, I would take it less hard and consider it less of a loss.
§1104Certo híc prope me mihi néscio quis loqui vísust; sed quem vídeo?
Surely here near me some one seemed to me to be speaking; but whom do I see?