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Plautus · Bacchides §786-858

Delivery of the Letter and Chrysalus's Turnabout

Passage 13 of 19 · Latin

Summary

Chrysalus delivers the deceptive letter to Nicobulus and willingly allows himself to be bound, but immediately turns the tables by showing the old man his son's banquet with Bacchis and exploiting the sudden arrival of a furious soldier.

§786minitare?
[Chrysalus] Are you threatening me?
§786bNosces tu illum actutum qualis sit.
You will soon know what kind of man he is.
§787nunc has tabellas ferre me iussit tibi.
Now he has ordered me to bring these tablets to you.
§788orabat, quod istic esset scriptum ut fieret.
He begged that what was written there should be done.
§789Cedo.
[Nicobulus] Give them to me.
§789bNosce signum.
[Chrysalus] Recognize the seal.
§789cNovi.
[Nicobulus] I recognize it.
ubi ipse est?
Where is he himself?
§789dNescio.
[Chrysalus] I do not know.
§790nil iam me oportet scire.
It is no longer proper for me to know anything.
oblitus sum omnia.
I have forgotten everything.
§791scio me ésse servom.
I know that I am a slave.
nescio etiam id quod scio.
I do not even know what I do know.
§792nunc ab trasenna hic turdus lumbricum petit; §793pendebit hodie pulcre, ita intendi tenus.
[Aside] Now this thrush is seeking the worm near the trap; [Aside] he will hang beautifully today, so tight have I stretched the snare.
§794Mane dum parumper; iam exeo ad te, Chrysale. — §795Vt verba mihi dat, ut nescio quam rem gerat.
[Nicobulus] Wait for a moment; I am coming out to you directly, Chrysalus.— [Chrysalus] [Aside] How he tries to deceive me, how he conducts some business I know not what.
§796servos arcessit intus qui me vinciant.
[Aside] He is summoning slaves from within to bind me.
§797bene navis agitatur, pulcre haec confertur ratis.
[Aside] The ship is well tossed, this raft is beautifully steered.
§798sed conticiscam, nam audio aperiri fores.
[Aside] But I will be quiet, for I hear the door opening.
§799Constringe tu illi, Artamo, actutum manus.
[Nicobulus] Bind his hands immediately, Artamo.
§800Quid feci?
[Chrysalus] What have I done?
§800bImpinge pugnum, si muttiverit.
[Nicobulus] Strike him with your fist if he mutters.
§801quid hae locuntur litterae?
What does this letter say?
§801bQuid me rogas?
[Chrysalus] Why do you ask me?
§802ut ab illo accepi, ad te obsignatas attuli.
Just as I received it from him, I brought it to you sealed.
§803Eho tu, loquitatusne es gnato meo §804male per sermonem, quia mi id aurum reddidit, §805et te dixisti id aurum ablaturum tamen
[Nicobulus] Hey you, did you speak ill of my son constantly because he returned that gold to me, and did you say you would take that gold away anyway through trickery?
§806per sycophantiam? §806bEgone istuc dixi?
[Chrysalus] Did I say that?
§806cIta.
[Nicobulus] Yes.
§807Quis homost qui dicat me dixisse istuc?
[Chrysalus] Who is the man who says I said that?
§807bTace, §808nullus homo dicit: hae tabellae te arguont,
[Nicobulus] Silence, no man says so: these tablets accuse you, which you yourself brought.
§809quas tu attulisti. em hae te vinciri iubent.
Look, these order you to be bound.
§810Aha, Bellorophontem tuos me fecit filius: §811egomet tabellas tetuli ut vincirer.
[Chrysalus] Ah, your son has made me a Bellerophon: I myself brought the tablets to be bound.
sine.
Let it be.
§812Propterea hoc facio, ut suadeas gnato meo §813ut pergraecetur tecum, tervenefice.
[Nicobulus] I do this so that you may not persuade my son to play the Greek with you, you thrice-accursed scoundrel.
§814O stulte, stulte, nescis nunc venire te; §815atque in eopse adstas lapide, ut praeco praedicat.
[Chrysalus] O foolish, foolish man, you do not know that you are now being sold; and you are standing on the very stone, as the crier proclaims.
§816Responde: quis me vendit?
[Nicobulus] Answer: who is selling me?
§816bQuem di diligunt §817adulescens moritur, dum valet sentit sapit.
[Chrysalus] He whom the gods love dies young, while he is strong, perceives, and is wise.
§818hunc si ullus deus amaret, plus annis decem, §819plus iam viginti mortuom esse oportuit: §820terrai ódium ámbulat, iam nil sapit §821nec sentit, tantist quantist fungus putidus.
If any god loved this man, more than ten, nay, more than twenty years ago he ought to have been dead: a curse of the earth walks here, he now has no wisdom nor perception, he is worth just as much as a rotten mushroom.
§822Tun terrae me odium esse autumas? abducite hunc
[Nicobulus] Do you say that I am a curse of the earth?
§823intro atque adstringite ad columnam fortiter.
Lead him inside and bind him tightly to the pillar.
§824numquam auferes hinc aurum.
You will never carry off the gold from here.
§824bÁt qui iam dabis.
[Chrysalus] But indeed you will give it soon.
§825Dabo?
[Nicobulus] I will give it?
§825bAtque orabis me quidem ultro ut auferam, §826cum illum rescisces criminatorem meum §827quanto in periclo et quanta in pernicie siet.
[Chrysalus] Yes, and indeed you will beg me of your own accord to carry it off, when you find out in how great a danger and ruin that accuser of mine is.
§828tum libertatem Chrysalo largibere; §829ego adeo numquam accipiam.
Then you will generously bestow freedom upon Chrysalus; though I indeed will never accept it.
§829bDic, scelerum caput, §830dic, quo in periclo est meus Mnesilochus filius?
[Nicobulus] Tell me, you head of wickedness, tell me, in what danger is my son Mnesilochus?
§831Sequere hac me, faxo iam scies.
[Chrysalus] Follow me this way, I will make you know soon.
§831bQuo gentium?
[Nicobulus] Where on earth?
§832Tres unos passus.
[Chrysalus] Just three steps.
§832bVel decem.
[Nicobulus] Even ten.
§832cAgedum tu, Artamo, §833forem hanc pauxillum áperi; placide, ne crepa; §834sat est.
[Chrysalus] Come now, Artamo, open this door a tiny bit; quietly, don't make a creak; that is enough.
accede huc tu.
Step closer here, you.
viden convivium?
Do you see the banquet?
§835Video exadvorsum Pistoclerum et Bacchidem.
[Nicobulus] I see Pistoclerus and Bacchis opposite.
§836Qui sunt in lecto illo altero?
[Chrysalus] Who are they on that other couch?
§836bInterii miser.
[Nicobulus] I am ruined, wretched man that I am!
§837Novistine hominem?
[Chrysalus] Do you recognize the man?
§837bNovi.
[Nicobulus] I do.
§837cDic sodes mihi, §838bellan videtur specie mulier?
[Chrysalus] Tell me, please, does the woman seem beautiful in appearance?
§838bAdmodum.
[Nicobulus] Very much so.
§839Quid illám, meretricemne esse censes?
[Chrysalus] What of her, do you think she is a courtesan?
§839bQuippini?
[Nicobulus] Why not?
§840Frustra es.
[Chrysalus] You are mistaken.
§840bQuis igitur obsecrost?
[Nicobulus] Who is she then, I beseech you?
§840cInveneris.
[Chrysalus] You will find out.
§841ex me quidem hodie numquam fies certior.
But you will never be informed of it by me today.
§842Meamne híc Mnesilochus, Nicobuli filius,
[Soldier] Is Mnesilochus, the son of Nicobulus, holding my woman here by force?
§843per vim ut retineat mulierem? quae haec factiost?
What kind of conduct is this?
§844Quis illést?
[Nicobulus] Who is that?
§844bPer tempus hic venit miles mihi.
[Chrysalus] [Aside] This soldier comes at the very right time for me.
§845Non me arbitratur militem, sed mulierem, §846qui me meosque non queam defendere.
[Soldier] He does not think of me as a soldier, but as a woman who cannot defend myself and mine.
§847nam neque Bellona mi umquam neque Mars creduat, §848ni illum exanimalem faxo, si convenero, §849nive exheredem fecero vitae suae.
For neither Bellona nor Mars would ever trust me, if I do not make him a corpse when I meet him, and if I do not disinherit him of his life.
§850Chrysale, quis ille est qui minitatur filio?
[Nicobulus] Chrysalus, who is that who is threatening my son?
§851Vir hic ést illius mulieris quacum accubat.
[Chrysalus] This is the husband of that woman with whom he is lying.
§852Quid, vir?
[Nicobulus] What, her husband?
§852bVir, inquam.
[Chrysalus] Her husband, I say.
§852cNuptanest illa, obsecro?
[Nicobulus] Is she married, I beseech you?
§853Scies haúd multo post.
[Chrysalus] You will know not long after.
§853bOppido interii miser.
[Nicobulus] I am completely ruined, wretched man that I am!
§854Quid nunc? scelestus tibi videtur Chrysalus?
[Chrysalus] What now?
§855age nunc vincito me, auscultato filio.
Does Chrysalus seem wicked to you? age now, bind me, listen to your son.
§856dixin tibi ego illum invénturum te qualis sit?
Didn't I tell you that you would find out what kind of man he is?
§857Quid nunc ego faciam?
[Nicobulus] What shall I do now?
§857bIube sis me exsolvi cito; §858nam ní ego exsolvor, iam manufesto hominem opprimet.
[Chrysalus] Order me to be untied quickly, please; for if I am not untied, he will immediately destroy the man openly.

Notes

  1. 786bNosces tu illum actutum qualis sit. — The verb nosces is in the future indicative. The noun illum is the direct object of the main clause, functioning as the subject of the indirect question qualis sit through prolepsis (anticipation).
  2. 792nunc ab trasenna hic turdus lumbricum petit — Metaphorical expression: 'Now this thrush (Nicobulus) is seeking the worm (the deceptive letter) near the trap (trasenna)'. The preposition ab here indicates proximity or direction from the trap, depicting the old man's vulnerability to the scheme.
  3. 810Bellorophontem tuos me fecit filius — A mythological allusion to Bellerophon, who unknowingly carried a letter ordering his own death ('Bellerophontic letter'). Chrysalus uses this ironic comparison because he has just delivered the tablets containing instructions for his own binding.
  4. 842Meamne hic Mnesilochus, Nicobuli filius, per vim ut retineat mulierem? — This sentence features an independent subjunctive clause of indignation with ut ('Mnesilochus... retineat'). The accusative 'meam... mulierem' is placed at the front for emphatic outrage. The speaker shifts here to the newly arrived soldier.

Cite this passage

Plautus, Bacchides §786-858. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0119.phi004.humanitext-lat2:786-858

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

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