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Plautus · Mostellaria §994-1063

Simo's Denial and the Exposure of Tranio's Lies

Passage 16 of 18 · Latin

Summary

Theopropides meets his neighbor Simo to verify the purchase of the house, but Simo denies receiving any money, thereby exposing Tranio's elaborate fabrications. Meanwhile, Tranio, having extricated himself and his companions, hatches a new plan to outwit his master.

§994non equidem in Aegyptum hinc modo vectus fui, §995sed etiam in terras solas orasque ultumas §996sum circumvectus, ita ubi nunc sim nescio.
Indeed, I was not just carried to Egypt from here, but I have even been sailed around to lonely lands and the outermost shores, so that I do not know where I am now.
§997verum iam scibo, nam eccum unde aedis filius §998meus emit.
But I shall know soon, for look, there is the man from whom my son bought the house.
quid agis tu?
How are you doing?
§998bA foro incedo domum.
I am walking home from the forum.
§999Numquid processit ad forum hodie novi?
Did any news come up at the forum today?
§1000Etiam.
Yes.
§1000bQuid tandem?
What, pray?
§1000cVidi efferri mortuom.
I saw a dead man being carried out.
Ah.
§1002modo eum vixisse aiebant.
They said just now that he had been alive.
§1002bVae capiti tuo.
A plague on your head!
§1003Quid tu otiosus res novas requiritas?
Why do you, a man of leisure, inquire after news?
§1004Quia hodie adveni peregre.
Because I have just returned today from abroad.
§1004bPromisi foras, §1005ad cenam ne me te vocare censeas.
I have a dinner engagement elsewhere, so do not think of inviting me to dinner.
§1006Haud postulo edepol.
By Pollux, I do not ask for that.
§1006bVerum cras, nisi quis prius §1007vocaverit me, vel apud te cenavero.
But tomorrow, unless someone else invites me first, I will even dine at your house.
§1008Ne istuc quidem edepol postulo.
By Pollux, I do not ask for even that.
nisi quid magis §1009es occupatus, operam mihi da.
Unless you are somewhat busy, give me your attention.
§1009bMaxime.
By all means.
§1010Minas quadraginta accepisti, quod sciam, §1011a Philolachete?
You received forty minae, as far as I know, from Philolaches?
§1011bNumquam nummum, quod sciam.
Never a coin, as far as I know.
§1012Quid, a Tránione servo?
What, from the slave Tranio?
§1012bMulto hercle id minus.
By Hercules, much less than that.
§1013Quas arraboni tibi dedit?
Which he gave you as a deposit?
§1013bQuid somnias?
What are you dreaming?
§1014Egone? at quidem tu, qui istoc te speras modo
Me?
§1015potesse dissimulando infectum hoc reddere.
Nay, it is you indeed, who hope in that way, by dissembling, to make this transaction undone.
§1016Quid autem?
What transaction, then?
§1016bQuod me apsente hic tecum filius §1017negoti gessit.
The business which, in my absence, my son conducted here with you.
§1017bMecum ut ille hic gesserit,
That he conducted business with me here while you were away?
§1018_1020dum tu hinc abes, negoti? quidnam aut quo die?
What business indeed, or on what day?
§1021Minas tibi octoginta argenti debeo.
I owe you eighty minae of silver.
§1022Non mihi quidem hercle.
By Hercules, not to me indeed.
verum, si debes, cedo.
But, if you owe it, hand it over.
§1023fides servanda est, ne ire infitias postules.
The pledge must be kept, do not attempt to deny it.
§1024Profecto non negabo debere, et dabo; §1025tu cave quadraginta accepisse hinc te neges.
Indeed, I will not deny that I owe it, and I will pay; you take care not to deny that you received forty from him.
§1026Quaeso edepol huc me aspecta, et responde mihi.
By Pollux, please look at me here, and answer me.
§1026aquadraginta istas cur mihi argenti minas §1026bfilius, ut ais, debebat?
Why was my son, as you say, owing me those forty minae of silver?
§1026bbEgo dicam tibi.
I will tell you.
§1026ctalentis duobus, Tranio ut dixit mihi, §1026dde te aedis emit.
As Tranio told me, he bought the house from you for two talents.
§1026dbDe me ille aedis emerit?
He bought the house from me!?
§1027Te velle uxorem aiebat tuo nato dare, §1028ideo aedificare hic velle aiebat in tuis.
He said that you wanted to give a wife to your son, and therefore wanted to build an extension here on your own property.
§1029Hic aedificare volui?
I wanted to build here?
§1029bSic dixit mihi.
So he told me.
§1030Ei mihi, disperii.
Alas, I am utterly ruined.
vocis non habeo satis.
I have not enough voice left.
§1031vicine, perii, interii.
Neighbor, I am ruined, I am dead.
§1031bNumquid Tranio §1032turbavit?
Has Tranio made a mess of things?
§1032bImmo éxturbavit omnia.
Nay, he has completely overturned everything.
§1033deludificatust mé hodie indignis modis.
He has tricked me today in most shameful ways.
§1034Quid tú ais?
What do you say?
§1034bHaec res sic est ut narro tibi: §1035deludificatust me hodie in perpetuom modum.
The matter is just as I tell you: he has completely fooled me today.
§1036nunc te obsecro, ut me bene iuves operamque des.
Now I beseech you, help me well and give me your assistance.
§1037Quid vis?
What do you want?
§1037bI mecum hinc, obsecro, ad te una simul.
Come with me from here, I beseech you, into your house together.
§1038Fiat.
So be it.
§1038bServorumque operam et lora mihi cedo.
And lend me the assistance of your slaves and whips.
§1039Sume.
Take them.
§1039bEademque opera haéc tibi narravero, §1040quis med exemplis hodie ludificatus est.
And at the same time, I will tell you by what examples he has made a fool of me today.
§1041Quí homo timidus erit in rebus dubiis, nauci non erit; §1042atque equidem quid id esse dicam verbum nauci, nescio.
A man who is timid in doubtful situations is not worth a straw (a naucus); though indeed I do not know what that word 'naucus' means.
§1043nám erus me postquam rus misit, filium ut suom arcesserem, §1044_1045abii illac per angiportum ad hortum nostrum clanculum, §1046ostium quod in angiportu est horti, patefeci fores, §1047eaque eduxi omném legionem, ét maris et feminas.
For after my master sent me to the country to fetch his son, I went secretly through that alleyway to our garden, opened the garden gate that is in the alley, and led out all my legion there, both males and females.
§1048postquam ex opsidione in tutum eduxi maniplares meos, §1049capio consilium, ut senatum congerronum convocem.
After I led my comrades out of the siege into safety, I formed a plan to call a senate of my drinking-buddies.
§1050quoniam convocavi, atque illi me ex senatu segregant.
Since I called them together, they excluded me from their senate.
§1051ubi ego me video venire in meo foro, quantum potest §1052facio idem quod plurimi alii, quibus res timida aut turbidast: §1053pergunt turbare usque, ut ne quid possit conquiescere.
When I see myself being sold in my own market (ruined), I do the same as most others whose situation is timid or troubled: they go on stirring up trouble so that nothing can rest.
§1054_1055nam scio equidem nullo pacto iam esse posse haec clam senem.
For indeed I know that by no means can this now be kept secret from the old man.
§1056non amicus alius quisquamst §1057aut §1058pro §1059_1060ille qui ero simul.
There is no other friend, or for the one who is together with my master.
§1061praeoccupabo atque anteveniam et foedus feriam.
I will preoccupy, forestall, and strike a treaty.
me moror.
I am delaying myself.
§1062sed quid hoc ést, quod foris concrepuit proxima vicinia?
But what is this noise, that the door creaked in the immediate neighborhood?
§1063erus meús hic quidem est.
My master is here indeed.
gustare ego eius sermonem volo.
I want to have a taste of his conversation.

Notes

  1. 996ita ubi nunc sim nescio — The clause metaphorically describes Theopropides' state of total confusion and disorientation caused by Tranio's lies, equating his mental distress to being physically lost at sea.
  2. 1015infectum hoc reddere — This construction features `infectus` (undone, unperformed) as a complement alongside the accusative `hoc` in a double-accusative-like structure. `dissimulando` is an ablative gerund denoting means.
  3. 1027-1028Te velle uxorem aiebat tuo nato dare — Note the personal referents from Simo's perspective: the subject of the infinitive `Te` and the phrase `tuo nato` both refer to Theopropides and his son. Simo is relaying Tranio's lie back to Theopropides using the second person.
  4. 1041nauci non erit — The genitive `nauci` (referring to a nutshell or something of trivial value) is a genitive of value. The idiom `non nauci esse` means "to be worth absolutely nothing" in archaic comedy, setting up Tranio's metatheatrical joke in the following line where he admits not knowing its meaning.
  5. 1051venire in meo foro — The verb `venire` here is not from `venio` (to come) but is the present active infinitive of `veneo` (to be sold). The expression "to be sold in one's own market" is a comic punning idiom referring to being in a hopeless corner or facing ruin.

Cite this passage

Plautus, Mostellaria §994-1063. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0119.phi013.humanitext-lat2:994-1063

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