Plautus · Bacchides §930-983

Troy Monologue and False Report to Nicobulus

Passage 15 of 19 · Latin

Summary

Chrysalus delivers a lengthy monologue comparing his deception of his master Nicobulus to the Greek conquest of Troy. Afterward, he meets Nicobulus and falsely reports that he has severely scolded and brought his son to tears.

§930sine classe sineque exercitu et tanto numero militum.

without a fleet, and without an army, and without so great a number of soldiers.

§932nunc prius quam húc senex venit, libet lámentari dum éxeat.

Now, before the old man comes here, I would like to sing a lament until he comes out.

§933o Troia, o patria, o Pergamum, o Priame periisti senex, §934qui misere male mulcabere quadringéntis Philippis aureis.

O Troy, O my country, O Pergamum, O old Priam, you have perished, you who will be wretchedly and badly beaten out of four hundred gold Philipps.

§935nam ego has tabellas obsignatas consignatas quas fero §936non sunt tabellae, sed equos quem misere Achivi ligneum.

For these tablets, signed and sealed, which I carry, are not tablets, but the wooden horse which the Achaians sent.

§941tum quae hic sunt scriptae litterae, hoc in equo ínsunt milites §942armati atque animati probe.

Then the letters that are written here are the soldiers inside this horse, well-armed and of high spirits.

ita res successit mi usque adhuc.

Thus the matter has succeeded for me up to this point.

§943atque hic equos non in arcem, verum in arcam faciet impetum: §944exitium excidium exlecebra fiet hic equos hodie auro senis.

And this horse will make an attack not upon the citadel, but upon the money-chest: this horse today will become the destruction, the ruin, and the enticement for the old man's gold.

§945nostro seni huic stolido, ei profecto nomen facio ego Ilio; §946miles Menelaust, ego Agamemno, ídem Vlixes Lartius, §947Mnesilochust Alexander, qui erit exitio rei patriae suae; §948is Helenam avexit, cuia causa nunc facio obsidium Ilio.

To this foolish old man of ours, I surely give the name Ilium; the soldier is Menelaus, I am Agamemnon, and likewise Ulysses, son of Laertes; Mnesilochus is Alexander, who will be the destruction of his own father's estate; he carried off Helen, for whose sake I now lay siege to Ilium.

§949nam illi ítidem Vlixem audivi, ut ego sum, fuisse et audacem et malum: §950ín dolis ego prénsus sum, ille mendícans paene invéntus interiit, §951dum íbi exquirit fata Iliorum; adsímiliter mi hodie óptigit.

For I have heard that Ulysses was, just like me, both bold and cunning; I was caught in my tricks, while he, begging, was almost discovered and killed, while he was there seeking the fates of Ilium; a very similar thing happened to me today.

§952vínctus sum, sed dólis me exemi: item se ílle servavít dolis.

I was bound, but I freed myself by tricks; likewise he saved himself by tricks.

§953Ílio tria fuísse audivi fáta quae illi fórent exitio: §954signum ex arce si periisset; alterum etiamst Troili mors; §955tertium, cum portae Phrygiae limen superum scinderetur: §956paria item tria eis tribus sunt fata nostro huic Ilio.

I heard that Ilium had three fates which would be its destruction: if the statue should perish from the citadel; the second is the death of Troilus; the third, when the upper lintel of the Phrygian gate should be torn down: our Ilium here has three identical fates corresponding to those three.

§957nam dúdum primo ut díxeram nostró seni mendácium §958et de hóspite et de auro ét de lembo, ibi sígnum ex arce iam abstuli.

For when a little while ago I first told the lie to our old man, about the host, the gold, and the bark, I then already carried off the statue from the citadel.

§959iam dúo restabant fáta tunc, nec mágis id ceperam óppidum.

Then two fates still remained, and I had not yet taken the town.

§960post ubi tabellas ad senem detuli, ibi occidi Troilum, §961cum censuit Mnesilochum cum uxore esse dudum militis.

Afterward, when I brought the tablets to the old man, I then killed Troilus, when he believed Mnesilochus was just now with the soldier's wife.

§966post cúm magnifico mílite, urbes vérbis qui inermús capit, §967conflixi atque hominem reppuli; dein pugnam conserui seni: §968eum ego ádeo uno mendácio devíci, uno ictu extémpulo §969cépi spolia.

Afterward, with the boastful soldier, who takes cities with words while unarmed, I fought and repulsed the man; then I joined battle with the old man: him indeed I conquered with a single lie, and at a single blow, instantly, I took the spoils.

is núnc ducentos númmos Philippos míliti, §970quos dáre se promisít, dabit.

He will now pay the two hundred Philipp coins to the soldier, which he promised to give.

§971nunc álteris etiam ducentis usus est, qui dispensentur §972Ílio capto, ut sit mulsum qui triumphent milites.

Now there is need of another two hundred besides, to be distributed after Ilium is captured, so that there may be honeyed wine for the soldiers to celebrate their triumph.

§978sed Príamum adstantem eccum ánte portam vídeo.

But look, I see Priam standing before the gate.

adibo atque adloquar.

I will go and speak to him.

§979Quóianam vox própe me sonat?

[Nicobulus] Whose voice is sounding near me?

§979bO Nicobule.

[Chrysalus] O Nicobulus.

§979cQuid fit?

[Nicobulus] What is happening?

§980quíd quod te misi, écquid egísti?

What about the matter for which I sent you, did you achieve anything?

§980bRógas? congredere.

[Chrysalus] Do you ask?

§980cGradior.

Draw near.

§981Optumus sum oratór.

[Nicobulus] I am drawing near. [Chrysalus] I am the best speaker.

ad lacrumas coégi hominem cástigando §982maleque dictis, quae quidem quívi comminisci.

I forced the man to tears by chastising him and with bad words, indeed as many as I could devise.

§982bQuid ait?

[Nicobulus] What did he say?

§982cVerbum §983nullum fecit: lacrumans tacitus auscultabat quae ego loquebar;

[Chrysalus] He made not a single word: weeping, he listened in silence to what I was saying;

Notes

930sine classe — The phrase sine classe... functions as an adverbial phrase modifying the main clause of the preceding verse (§929 praeut ego erum expugnabo meum). It emphasizes the contrast between the sons of Atreus, who conquered Troy with a vast fleet and army, and Chrysalus, who is about to conquer his master without any of these.
933qui — The relative pronoun qui refers to the second-person singular antecedent Priame (or senex), and accordingly, the verb of the relative clause mulcabere is in the second-person singular future passive.
935tabellas — An instance of prolepsis or anacoluthon, where has tabellas is attracted into the accusative by the relative clause quas fero, though it functions logically as the subject of the main clause non sunt tabellae...
945nostro seni huic stolido, ei — The dative nostro seni huic stolido and the pronoun ei indicate the object to which the name is given in the construction "nomen facio" (to give a name to). Ilium is the name itself, attracted into the dative to agree with it.
948cuia — The feminine singular ablative form of the possessive adjective cuius, -a, -um (whose), agreeing with the ablative of cause causa. It means "for her sake" (literally, "by reason of whom").

Cite this passage

Plautus, Bacchides §930-983. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0119.phi004.humanitext-lat2:930-983

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