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Plautus · Curculio §670-729

Refund by Cappadox the Pimp and Happy Ending

Passage 11 of 11 · Latin

Summary

The betrothal between Phaedromus and Planesium is settled, and the pimp Cappadox appears. Although Cappadox argues with Phaedromus, he yields under the threat of the soldier and agrees to return the money, leading to the happy resolution.

§670nunc eamus ad lenonem.
Now let's go to the pimp.
§670bLaudo.
I approve.
§670cHoc prius volo, §671meam rem ágere.
First I want this, to attend to my own business.
§671bQuid id est?
What is that?
§671cVt mihi hanc despondeas.
That you betroth her to me.
§672Quid cessas, miles, hanc huic uxorem dare?
Why do you delay, soldier, to give her as a wife to him?
§673Si haec volt.
If she wants to.
§673bMi frater, cupio.
My brother, I desire it.
§673cFiat.
Let it be done.
§673dBene facis.
You do well.
§674Spondesne, miles, mi hanc uxorem?
Do you betroth her to me as wife, soldier?
§674bSpondeo.
I betroth her.
§675Et ego hoc idem una spondeo.
And I promise this same thing together with you.
§675bLepide facis.
You do charmingly.
§676sed eccúm lenonem, incedit, thensaurum meum.
But look, there's the pimp, he's walking, my treasure.
§679Argentariis male credi qui aiunt, nugas praedicant: §680nam et bene et male credi dico; id adeo ego hodie expertus sum.
Those who say that bankers are badly trusted, speak nonsense: for I say they are trusted both well and badly; I have experienced that very thing today.
§681non male creditur qui numquam reddunt, sed prorsum perit.
It is not "badly trusted" to those who never return it, but it is completely lost!
§682vel ille, décem minas dum solvit, omnis mensas transiit.
For instance, that man, while paying ten minae, went through all the banking counters.
§683postquam nil fit, clamore hominem posco: ille in ius me vocat; §684pessume metui, ne mihi hodie ápud praetorem solveret.
After nothing happened, I demand the man with shouting: he summons me to court; I was terribly afraid that he would pay me today in the presence of the praetor.
§685verum amici compulerunt: reddit argentum domo.
But friends forced him: he pays the money from home.
§686nunc domum properare certumst.
Now I am resolved to hasten home.
§686bHeus tu, leno, te volo.
Hey you, pimp, I want you.
§687Et ego te volo.
And I want you.
§687bAt ego vos nolo ambos.
But I don't want either of you.
§687cSta sis ilico, §688atque argentum propere propera vomere.
Stop where you are, please, and hasten to vomit up the money quickly.
§688bQuid mecum est tibi?
What business have you with me?
§689aut tibi?
Or with you?
§689bQuía ego ex te hódie faciam pilum catapultarium §690atque ita te nervo torquebo, ítidem ut catapultae solent.
Because today I will make a catapult bolt out of you, and I will twist you with a cord, just as catapults are wont to do.
§691Delicatum te hodie faciam, cum catello ut accubes, §692ferreo ego dico.
Today I will make you delicate, so that you lie down with a little dog, an iron one, I mean.
§692bAt ego vos ambo in robusto carcere
But I hope you both in the oak-log prison perish!
§693ut pereatis. §693bCollum obstringe, abduce istum in malam crucem.
Seize him by the neck, drag him away to the bad cross.
§694Quidquid est, ipse ibit potius.
Whatever it is, he himself will go instead.
§694bPro deum atque hominum fidem, §695hocine pacto indemnatum atque intestatum me abripi?
By the faith of gods and men, is it in this manner that I, uncondemned and without witnesses, am dragged away?
§696obsecro, Planesium, et te, Phaedrome, auxilium ut feras.
I beseech you, Planesium, and you, Phaedromus, to bring help.
§697Frater, obsecro te, noli hunc condemnatum perdere.
Brother, I beseech you, do not destroy this condemned man without trial.
§698bene et pudice me domi habuit.
He kept me well and chastely at his house.
§698bHaud voluntate id sua: §699Aesculapio huic habeto, quom pudica es, gratiam; §700nam si valuisset, iam pridem quoquo posset mitteret.
Hardly of his own free will: Give thanks to this Aesculapius that you are chaste; for if he had been healthy, he would have sent you long ago wherever he could.
§701Animum advortite, ego si possum hoc inter vos componere.
Attention, see if I can settle this between you.
§702mitte istunc.
Let him go.
accede huc, leno.
Come here, pimp.
dicam meam sententiam, §703siquidem voltis quod decrero facere.
I will speak my decision, if indeed you wish to do what I shall have decreed.
§703bTibi permittimus: §704Dum quidem hercle ita iudices, ne quisquam a me argentum auferat.
We entrust it to you: So long as, by Hercules, you judge in such a way that no one takes money away from me.
§705Quódne promisti?
What about what you promised?
§705bQui promisi?
How did I promise?
§705cLingua.
With your tongue.
§705dEadem nunc nego.
With the same I now deny it.
§706dicendi, non rem perdendi gratia haec nata est mihi.
This tongue was born to me for the sake of speaking, not of losing property.
§707Nihil agit, collum obstringe homini.
He's achieving nothing; seize the man by the neck!
§707bIam iam faciam ut iusseris.
Right now I will do as you ordered.
§708Quando vir bonus es, responde quod rogo.
Since you are an honest man, answer what I ask.
§708bRoga quód lubet.
Ask what you please.
§709Promistin, si liberali quisquam hanc assereret manu, §710te omne argentum redditurum?
Did you promise, if anyone should claim her as free by legal hand, that you would return all the money?
§710bNon commemini dicere.
I do not remember saying so.
§711Quid? negas?
What? Do you deny it?
§711bNego hercle vero.
By Hercules, indeed I do deny it.
quo praesente? quo in loco?
In whose presence? In what place?
§712Me ipso praesente et Lycone tarpezita.
In my own presence and Lyco the banker's.
§712bNon taces?
Will you not be silent?
§713Non taceo.
I will not be silent.
§713bNon ego te flocci facio; ne me territes.
I don't care a straw for you; do not frighten me.
§714Me ipso praesente et Lycone factum est.
It was done in my own presence and Lyco's.
§714bSatis credo tibi.
I believe you enough.
§715nunc adeo, ut tu scire possis, leno, meam sententiam: §716libera haec est, hic huius frater est, haec autem illius soror, † §717haec mihi nubet: tu huic argentum redde.
Now indeed, so that you may know my decision, pimp: she is free, this man is her brother, she is his sister, she will marry me: you return the money to him.
hoc iudicium meum est.
This is my judgment.
§718Tu autem in nervo iam iacebis, nisi mi argentum redditur.
And you shall lie in the stocks now, unless the money is returned to me.
§719Hercle istam rem iudicasti perfidiose, Phaedrome.
By Hercules, you have judged that matter treacherously, Phaedromus.
§720et tibi oberit et te, miles, di deaeque perduint.
And it will harm you; and as for you, soldier, may the gods and goddesses destroy you!
§721tu me sequere.
You, follow me.
§721bQuo sequar te?
Where shall I follow you?
§721cAd trapezitam meum §722ad praetorem.
To my banker, and to the praetor.
nam inde rem solvo omnibus quibus debeo.
For from there I will pay everyone to whom I owe.
§723Ego te in nervom, haud ad praetorem hinc rapiam, ni argentum refers.
I will drag you from here to the stocks, not to the praetor, unless you return the money.
§724Ego te vehementer perire cupio, ne tu nescias.
I earnestly desire you to perish, so that you may not be ignorant of it.
§725Itane vero?
Is it really so?
§725bIta hercle vero.
Yes, by Hercules, indeed.
§725cNovi ego hos pugnos meos.
I know these fists of mine.
§726Quid tum?
What then?
§726bQuid tum, rogitas? hisce ego, si tu me irritaveris,
What then, you ask?
§727placidum te hodie reddam.
With these, if you irritate me, I will make you quiet today.
§727bAge ergo, recipe áctutum.
Come then, take it back immediately.
§727cLicet.
Very well.
§728Tu, miles, apud me cenabis.
You, soldier, shall dine with me.
hodie fient nuptiae.
The wedding will take place today.
§729Quae res bene vortat mi et vobis.
May this matter turn out well for me and for you.
spectatores, plaudite.
Spectators, applaud!

Notes

  1. §671cVt mihi hanc despondeas — The subjunctive despondeas is used with ut to form a noun clause acting as the object of volo in the preceding lines (§670c-671). Although volo typically takes an infinitive, this construction with ut + subjunctive is also found in colloquial Latin and drama.
  2. §681non male creditur qui numquam reddunt — creditur is an impersonal passive. The dative antecedent iis (or eis) for the clause qui numquam reddunt is omitted. It conveys Cappadox's paradoxical humor: "To trust those who never return it is not 'badly trusted', but is completely lost."
  3. §684ne mihi hodie apud praetorem solveret — This is a ne-clause acting as the object of the verb of fearing metui (§684), meaning "I feared lest/that...". Paying apud praetorem (in the presence of the praetor) implies a public settlement by legal compulsion or bankruptcy proceedings, which the pimp Cappadox feared might put him at a disadvantage.
  4. §691cum catello ut accubes — catello is a double-entendre wordplay, which can be interpreted either as a diminutive of catulus (a puppy, "little dog") or as a diminutive of catena (a chain, "little chain" or shackle). The subsequent adjective ferreo ("iron") makes it clear that the latter meaning is intended.
  5. §695me abripi — An exclamatory infinitive construction (Accusative with Infinitive of exclamation), expressing strong indignation or surprise: "That I should be dragged away in this manner!"
  6. §700nam si valuisset, iam pridem quoquo posset mitteret — A contrary-to-fact conditional sentence. The subjunctive imperfect mitteret in the apodosis is used to express a continuous action in past time ("he would have been sending long ago") or a continuous effect originating from a past condition.

Cite this passage

Plautus, Curculio §670-729. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0119.phi008.humanitext-lat2:670-729

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