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Plautus · Miles Gloriosus §432-489

Dicea's Escape and Periplectomenus's Outrage

Passage 8 of 24 · Latin

Summary

Sceledrus tries to capture a woman calling herself Dicea but she escapes, and Palaestrio tricks Sceledrus into believing that Philocomasium was at home all along. Following this, their neighbor Periplectomenus enters the stage in a rage.

§432nos vicinorum imprudentis aliquis immutaverit.
lest some of the neighbors has changed us while we were unaware.
§433Certe equidem noster sum.
Certainly indeed I am myself.
§433bEt pol ego.
And by Pollux, I too.
quaeris tu, mulier, malum.
You, woman, are looking for trouble.
§434tibi ego dico, heus, Philocomasium.
I am speaking to you, ho there, Philocomasium!
§434bQuae te intemperiae tenent, §435qui me perperam perplexo nomine appelles?
What madness possesses you, that you should call me incorrectly by a confusing name?
§435bEho, §436quis igitur vocare?
Ho, who are you called then?
§436bDiceae nomen est.
My name is Dicea.
§436cIniuria es, §437falsum nomen possidere, Philocomasium, postulas; §438ἄδικος es tu, non δικαία, et meo ero facis iniuriam.
You are injustice itself, you demand to possess a false name, Philocomasium; you are adikos, not dikaia, and you are doing an injustice to my master.
§439Egone?
I?
§439bTune.
You.
§439cQuaé heri Athenis Ephesum adveni vesperi §440cum meo amatore, adulescente Atheniensi?
I, who arrived yesterday evening from Athens to Ephesus with my lover, an Athenian youth?
§440bDic mihi, §441quid hic tibi in Epheso est negoti?
Tell me, what business have you here in Ephesus?
§441bGeminam germanam meam §442hic sororem esse indaudivi, eam veni quaesitum.
My own twin sister, I heard she was here, I have come to seek her.
§442bMala es.
You are a bad woman.
§443Immo ecastor stulta multum, quae vobiscum fabuler.
Nay, by Castor, very foolish rather, that I should talk with you.
§444abeo.
I am going.
§444bAbire non sinam te.
I will not let you go.
§444cMitte.
Let me go.
§444dManifestaria es.
You are caught in the act.
§445non omitto.
I will not let go.
§445bAt iam crepabunt mihi manus, malae tibi, §446nisi me omittis.
But now my hands will slap your cheeks, unless you let me go.
§446bQuid, malum, astas? quin tenes altrinsecus?
Why the plague do you stand there? Why don't you hold her on the other side?
§447Nil moror negotiosum mi esse tergum. qui scio
I don't care to have a busy back.
§448an ista non sit Philocomasium átque alia eius similis sit?
How do I know whether she is not Philocomasium and someone else like her?
§449Mittis me an non mittis?
Do you let me go or do you not?
§449bImmo vi atque invitam ingratiis, §450nisi voluntate ibis, rapiam te domum.
Nay, by force and against your will, in spite of your teeth, unless you go willingly, I will drag you home.
§450bHosticum hoc mihi §451domicilium est, Athenis domus est Atticis; ego istam domum §452neque moror neque vos qui hómines sitis novi neque scio.
This is a foreign dwelling, my home is in Attic Athens; I neither care for that house of yours, nor do I know or understand who you are.
§453Lege agito: te nusquam mittam, nisi das firmatam fidem, §454te huc, si omisero, intro ituram.
Proceed by law: I will let you go nowhere, unless you give a solemn pledge, that you will go in here, if I let you go.
§454bVi me cogis, quisquis es.
You compel me by force, whoever you are.
§455do fidem, si omittis, isto me intro ituram quo iubes.
I give my word, if you let go, that I will go in where you command.
§456Ecce omitto.
See, I let go.
§456bAt ego abeo missa.
But I am off, now that I am let go.
§456cMuliebri fecit fide.
She has acted with woman’s faith.
§457Sceledre, manibus amisisti praedam.
Sceledrus, you have let the prey slip from your hands.
tám east quam potis §458nostra erilis concubina.
She is as much she as possible, our master’s mistress.
vin tu facere hoc strenue?
Do you wish to do this boldly?
§459Quid faciam?
What shall I do?
§459bEcfer mihi machaeram huc intus.
Bring me out a sword here from inside.
§459cQuid facies ea?
What will you do with it?
§460Intro rumpam recta in aedis: quemque hic intus videro §461cum Philocomasio osculantem, eum ego óbtruncabo extempulo.
I will burst straight into the house: and whomsoever I see in here kissing with Philocomasium, I will cut him down on the spot.
§462Visanest ea esse?
Did she seem to be she?
§462bImmo edepol plane east.
Nay, by Pollux, she is clearly she.
§462cSed quo modo §463dissimulabat.
But how she dissembled!
§463bAbi, machaeram huc ecfer.
Go, bring the sword out here.
§463cIam faxo hic erit.
I will have it here immediately.
§464Neque eques neque pedes profectost quisquam tanta audacia, §465qui aeque faciat confidenter quicquam quam mulier facit.
Certainly neither horseman nor footman is of such great audacity, as to do anything as confidently as a woman does.
§466ut utrubique orationem docte divisit suam, §467ut sublinitur os custodi cauto, conservo meo.
How cleverly she divided her speech on both sides, how my fellow servant, the cautious guard, has his face smeared!
§468nimis beat quod commeatus transtinet trans parietem.
It is extremely fortunate that a passage extends through the wall.
§469Heus, Palaestrio, machaera nihil opust.
Ho, Palaestrio, there is no need of a sword.
§469bQuid iam, aut quid est?
Why now, or what is it?
§470Domi eccam erilem concubinam.
Look, our master’s mistress is at home.
§470bQuid, domi?
What, at home?
§470cIn lecto cubat.
She is lying on the bed.
§471Edepol ne tu tibi malam rem repperisti, ut praedicas.
By Pollux, indeed you have found trouble for yourself, as you declare.
§472Quid iam?
Why now?
§472bQuia hanc attingere ausus esausu's mulierem hinc ex proxumo.
Because you dared to lay hands on this woman from next door.
§473Magis hercle metuo.
By Hercules, I fear more.
§473bSed numquam quisquam faciet quin soror §474istaec sit gemina huius: eam pol tu osculantem hic videras.
But no one will ever make it otherwise than that she is her twin sister; by Pollux, it was she you had seen kissing here.
§475Id quidem palam est eam esse, ut dicis; quid propius fuit, §476quam ut perirem, si elocutus essem ero?
It is indeed plain that it is she, as you say; how close was it, but that I should perish, if I had spoken to the master?
§476bErgo, si sapis, §477mussitabis: plus oportet scire servom quam loqui.
Therefore, if you are wise, you will keep quiet: a servant ought to know more than he speaks.
§478ego abeo a te, ne quid tecum consili commisceam, §479atque apud hunc ero vicinum; tuae mihi turbae non placent.
I am going away from you, lest I should share any counsel with you, and I will be at this neighbor’s; your disturbances do not please me.
§480erus si veniet, si me quaeret, hic ero: hinc me arcessito. —
If the master comes, if he seeks me, I shall be here: fetch me from here.
§481Satin abiit ille neque erile negotium §482plus curat, quasi non servitutem serviat?
Is he really gone, and cares no more for our master's business, as if he were not performing a service of servitude?
§483certo illa quidem hic nunc intus est in aedibus, §484nam egomet cubantem eam modo offendi domi.
Certainly indeed she is now here inside the house, for I myself just now found her lying down at home.
§485certum est nunc observationi operam dare.
I am resolved now to give attention to watching.
§486non hercle hisce homines me marem, sed feminam §487vicini rentur esse servi militis: §488ita me ludificant.
By Hercules, these neighboring servants of the soldier think I am not a male, but a female; so they make sport of me.
meamne hic invitam hospitam, §489quae heri huc Athenis cum hospite advenit meo,
That my female guest here, against her will, who arrived here yesterday from Athens with my guest, should be thus handled.

Notes

  1. 432imprudentis — Archaic form of the accusative plural imprudentes (agreeing with nos), here used adverbially to mean 'while we are unaware' or 'unconsciously'.
  2. 435qui ... appelles — A relative clause of characteristic/cause with the subjunctive appelles, meaning 'since you call' or 'that you should call'.
  3. 446bquin tenes — The particle quin (originally qui non) with the present indicative tenes expresses a strong exhortation or command: 'why don't you hold?' or 'hold her!'.
  4. 463cfaxo — An archaic future perfect form (equivalent to fecero), used with the future indicative erit to express a strong promise, assurance, or 'I will see to it that...'.
  5. 473bquin ... sit — The construction facere quin with the subjunctive sit expresses absolute certainty: 'no one will ever prove/make it otherwise than that she is...'.

Cite this passage

Plautus, Miles Gloriosus §432-489. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0119.phi012.humanitext-lat2:432-489

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