§63Quid faciam?
What shall I do?
§63bIn latebras abscondas pectore penitissimo.
Hide it in a hiding place in the deepest part of your heart.
§64tuam stultitiam sola facito ut scías sine aliis arbitris.
Make sure that you alone know of your folly, without any other witnesses.
§65At mihi cordolium est.
But I have a heartache.
§65bQuid? id unde est tibi cor? commemora obsecro;
What? Where do you get that heart from? Tell me, I pray.
§66quod neque ego habeo neque quisquam alia mulier, ut perhibent viri.
Which neither I have, nor any other woman, as men declare.
§67Siquid est quod doleát, dolet; si aútem non est—tamen hoc hic dolet.
If there is something that should hurt, it hurts; but if there is not—still, this here hurts.
§68Amat haec mulier.
This woman is in love.
§68bEho an amare occipere amarum est, obsecro?
Oh, is it bitter to begin to love, I pray?
§69Namque ecastor Amor et melle et felle est fecundissimus;
For by Castor, Love is most abundant in both honey and gall.
§70gustui dat dulce, amarum ad satietatem usque oggerit.
It gives sweetness to the taste, but heaps up bitterness to satiety.
§71Ad istam faciem est morbus, qui me, mea Gymnasium, macerat.
Of that very appearance is the disease which, my Gymnasium, torments me.
§72Perfidiosus est Amor.
Love is treacherous.
§72bErgo in mé peculatum facit.
Therefore it commits embezzlement against me.
§73Bono animo es, erit isti morbo melius.
Be of good cheer, that disease will get better.
I will trust it shall be so, if the doctor should come who can apply a remedy to this disease.
§75Veniet.
He will come.
§75bSpissum istuc amanti est verbum, veniet, nisi venit.
That word "he will come" is too slow for a lover, unless he is already here.
§76sed ego mea culpa et stultitia peius misera maceror, §77quom ego illum unum mi exoptavi, quicum aetatem degerem.
But I, wretched, am tormented worse by my own fault and folly, since I chose him alone for myself, with whom to spend my life.
§78Matronae magis cónducibilest istuc, mea Selenium, §79unum amare et cúm eo aetatem exigere quoi nuptast semel.
That is more advantageous for a matron, my Selenium, to love one man and spend her life with him, to whom she has been married once.
§80verum enim méretrix fortunati est oppidi simillima: §81non potest suam rem obtinere sola sine multis viris.
But indeed a courtesan is very like a prosperous town: she cannot maintain her estate alone without many men.
§82Hoc volo agatis.
This is what I want you to do.
qua accersitae causa ad me estis, eloquar.
I will explain the reason why you were summoned to me.
§83nam mea mater, quia ego nolo me meretricem dicier, §84obsecutast de ea re, gessit morem morigerae mihi, §85ut me, quém ego amarem graviter, sineret cúm eo vivere.
For my mother, because I do not wish to be called a courtesan, complied in that matter, and humored me, who was compliant to her, so that she allowed me to live with him, whom I deeply loved.
§86Stulte ecastor fecit.
By Castor, she acted foolishly.
sed tu enumquam cum quiquam viro §87consuevisti?
But have you ever with any man had intimate relations?
Except indeed with Alcesimarchus, with no one, nor has anyone else violated my chastity.
Tell me, I pray, in what way did that man introduce himself to you?
During the Dionysia, my mother took me to see the procession.
dum redeo domum, §91conspicillo consecutust clanculum me usque ad fores.
While I was returning home, he followed me secretly with his eyes all the way to the doors.
Then he worked himself into friendship with my mother and me at the same time, with flatteries, presents, and gifts.
I wish that man were given to me, so that I might turn him inside out!
§94bQuid opust verbis? consuetudine
What need of words?
§95coepi amare contra ego illum, et ille me.
By intimacy I in turn began to love him, and he me.
nam si ames, extempulo §97melius illi multo, quém ames, consulas quam rei tuae.
For if you should love, immediately you would consult the interest of him whom you love, much better than your own.
§98At ille conceptis iuravit verbis apud matrem meam, §99me uxorem ducturum esse: ei nunc alia ducendast domum, §100sua cognata Lemniensis, quae habitat hic in proxumo.
But he swore with solemn words before my mother, that he would take me as his wife; now he must bring home another, his relative from Lemnos, who lives here close by.
§101nam eúm pater eius subégit.
For his father forced him.
nunc mea mater iratast mihi, §102quia non redierim domum ad se, postquam hanc rem resciverim, §103eum uxorem ducturum esse aliam.
Now my mother is angry with me, because I did not return home to her after I found out this matter, that he is going to marry another woman.
§103bNihil amori iniuriumst.
Nothing is unjust to love.
Now I pray you to allow her to be here for this one three-day period alone, and to stay here with me.
nam ad matrem accersita sum.
For I have been summoned to my mother.
Although those three days will be troublesome to me, and you will cause me a loss, I will do it.
§107bFacis benigne et amice. sed tu, Gymnasium mea,
You act kindly and friendlily.
§108si me absente Alcesimarchus veniet, nolito acriter §109eum inclámare (utut erga me est meritus, mihi cordi est tamen), §110sed, amabo, tranquille: ne quid, quod illi doleat, dixeris.
But you, my Gymnasium, if Alcesimarchus comes in my absence, do not sharply shout at him (however he has deserved of me, he is still dear to my heart), but, I pray, calmly: do not say anything that would hurt him.
§111accipias clavis: si quid opus tibi erit prompto, promito.
take the keys: if you need anything from the store, take it out.
§112ego volo ire.
I want to go.
§112bVt mi excivisti lacrimas.
How you have drawn tears from me!
§113bCura te, amabo.
Take care of yourself, please.
sicine immunda, obsecro, §114ibis?
Are you going like this, so unkempt, I pray, going to go?
§114bImmundas fortunas aequom est squalorem sequi.
It is fitting that squalor should follow unclean fortunes.
§115Amiculum hoc sustolle saltem.
Lift up this cloak at least.
§115bSine trahi, cum egomet trahor.
Let it trail, since I myself am being trailed.
§116Quando ita tibi lubet, vale atque salve.
Since it pleases you so, farewell and be well.
§116bSi possim, velim.
If I could, I would wish so.
— §117Numquid me vis, mater, intro quin eam? ecastor mihi
Do you want anything of me, mother, before I go inside?
§118visa amare.
By Castor, to me she seemed to be in love.