Humanitext Reader

Plautus · Poenulus §1050-1120d

Recognition of Uncle and Nephew and a Plot Against the Pimp

Passage 17 of 22 · Latin

Summary

Agorastocles and Hanno confirm their relationship as uncle and nephew through a hospitality token and a scar, celebrating their reunion. Subsequently, the slave Milphio proposes a trick to rescue the girls from the pimp, in which Hanno agrees to act as their father.

§1050O mi hospes, salve multum.
O my host, hearty greetings!
nam mihi tuos pater §1051patritus † ergo hospes Antidamas fuit.
For to me your father, a hereditary host, namely Antidamas, was such.
§1052haec mi hospitalis tessera cum illo fuit.
This hospitality token was held between me and him.
§1053Ergo hic apud me hospitium tibi praebebitur.
Therefore, hospitality will be offered to you here at my house.
§1054nam haúd repudio hospitium neque Carthaginem, §1055unde súm oriundus.
For I do not reject the duty of hospitality, nor Carthage, whence I am descended.
§1055bDi dent tibi omnes quae velis.
May all the gods grant you what you wish.
§1056quid ais? qui potuit fieri, ut Carthagini
What do you say? How could it happen that you were born in Carthage?
§1057gnatus sis? hic autem habuisti Aetolum patrem.
Here, moreover, you had an Aetolian father.
§1058Surruptus sum illinc.
I was stolen from there.
hic me Antidama hospes tuos §1059emit, et is me sibi adoptavit filium.
Here your host Antidamas bought me, and he adopted me as a son for himself.
§1060Demarcho item ipse fuit adoptaticius.
He himself was likewise adopted by Demarchus.
§1061sed mitto de illoc, ad te redeo. dic mihi,
But I pass over him, and return to you.
§1062ecquid meministi tuom parentum nomina, §1063patris atque matris?
Tell me, do you remember at all the names of your parents, of your father and mother?
§1063bMemini.
I remember.
§1063cMemoradum mihi, §1064si novi forte aut si sunt cognati mihi.
Tell them to me, please, in case I happen to know them or if they are related to me.
§1065Ampsigura mater mihi fuit, Iahon pater.
Ampsigura was my mother, Iahon my father.
§1066Patrem atque matrem viverent vellem tibi.
I wish your father and mother were alive for you.
§1067An mortui sunt?
Are they dead?
§1067bFactum, quod aegre tuli. †
It has happened, which I have borne with grief.
§1068nam mihi sobrina Ampsigura tua mater fuit; §1069pater tuos, is erat frater patruelis meus, §1070et is me heredem fecit, quom suom obiit diem, §1071quo me privatum aégre patior mortuo.
For your mother Ampsigura was my cousin; your father, he was my cousin on my father's side, and he made me his heir, when he met his day, by whose death I grieve to find myself deprived.
§1072sed sí ita est, ut tu sis Iahonis filius, §1073signum esse oportet in manu laeva tibi, §1074ludenti puero quod memordit simia.
But if it is so, that you are the son of Iahon, there ought to be a mark on your left hand, which a monkey bit when you were a boy playing.
§1075ostende, inspiciam.
Show it, let me inspect.
§1075bEm ostendo.
Look, I show it.
§1075cAperi.
Open it.
audi atque ades: §1076Mi patrue, salve.
Listen and pay attention: My uncle, greetings!
§1076bÉt tu salve, Agorastocles.
And greetings to you, Agorastocles.
§1077iterum mihi gnatus videor, quom te repperi.
I seem to be born again, now that I have found you.
§1078Pol istám rem vobis bene evenisse gaudeo.
By Pollux, I am glad that this matter has turned out well for you both.
§1079sed te moneri num nevis?
But do you not wish to be advised?
§1079bSane volo.
Indeed I wish it.
§1080Paterna oportet filio reddi bona.
A father's property ought to be restored to his son.
§1081aequomst habere hunc bona quae possedit pater.
It is right that he should have the property which his father possessed.
§1082Haud postulo aliter: restituentur omnia; §1083suam síbi rem salvam sistam, si illo advenerit.
I demand nothing otherwise: everything shall be restored; I will deliver his property safe to him, if he comes there.
§1084Facito sis reddas, etsi hic habitabit, tamen.
Please make sure to restore it, even if he continues to live here.
§1085Quin mea quoque iste habebit, si quid me fuat.
Nay, he shall have my property too, if anything should happen to me.
§1086Festivom facinus venit mi in mentem modo.
A delightful plot has just come into my mind.
§1087Quid id est?
What is it?
§1087bTua opus est opera.
Your assistance is needed.
§1087cDic mihi quid lubet: §1088profecto uteris, ut voles, operam meam.
Tell me whatever you please: indeed you shall use my assistance as you wish.
§1089quid est negoti?
What is the business?
§1089bPotin tu fieri subdolus?
Can you become crafty?
§1090Inimico possum, amico ínsipientia est.
To an enemy I can, to a friend it is foolishness.
§1091Inimicus hercle est huius.
By Hercules, he is an enemy to this man.
§1091bMale faxim lubens.
I would gladly do him harm.
§1092Amat ab lenone hic.
This man is in love with a girl at the pimp's.
§1092bFacere sapienter puto.
I think he acts wisely.
§1093Leno hic habitat vicinus.
The pimp lives here next door.
§1093bMale faxim lubens.
I would gladly do him harm.
§1094Ei duae puellae sunt meretrices servolae §1095sorores: earum hic alteram efflictim perit, §1096neque eam incestavit umquam.
He has two slave-girls, who are courtesans, sisters: of whom this man is desperately in love with one, nor has he ever defiled her.
§1096bAcerba amatiost.
That is a harsh love.
§1097Hunc leno ludificatur.
The pimp mocks him.
§1097bSuom quaestum colit.
He is looking after his own trade.
§1098Hic illi malam rem dare volt.
This man wants to pay him back with trouble.
§1098bFrugist, si id facit.
He is worthy, if he does that.
§1099Nunc hoc consilium capio et hanc fabricam apparo, §1100ut te allegemus, filias dicas tuas §1101surruptasque esse parvolas Carthagine §1102manu líberali causa ámbas adseras, §1103quasi filiae tuae sint.
Now I am taking this plan and preparing this device, that we send you as agent, that you say your daughters and that they were stolen as little children from Carthage, and that you claim them both in a freedom suit, as if they were your daughters.
iamne intellegis?
Do you understand now?
§1104Intellego hercle.
I understand, by Hercules.
nam mihi item gnatae duae §1105cum nutrice una sunt surruptae parvolae.
For I likewise had two daughters stolen as little children along with one nurse.
§1106Lepide hercle adsimulas.
By Hercules, you pretend elegantly!
iam in principio id mihi placet.
This pleases me right from the start.
§1107Pol magis quam vellem.
By Pollux, more than I could wish.
§1107bEu hércle mortalem catum, §1108malum crudumque, estolidum et subdolum.
O Hercules, what a clever fellow, shrewd and harsh, sharp and crafty!
§1109ut adflet, quo illud gestu faciat facilius.
How he pretends to weep, so that he may do that more easily with his gesture!
§1110me quoque dolis iam superat architectonem.
He already surpasses even me, the master-builder, in tricks.
§1111Sed earum nutrix qua sit facie, mi expedi.
But explain to me what sort of appearance their nurse had.
§1112Statura hau magna, corpore aquilost.
Not of tall stature, of dark complexion.
§1112bIpsa east.
It is she herself!
§1113Specie venusta, óre atque oculis pernigris.
Of lovely appearance, with very black mouth and eyes.
§1114Formam quidem hercle verbis depinxti probe.
By Hercules, you have painted her form with words properly.
§1115Vin eam videre?
Do you wish to see her?
§1115bFilias malo meas.
I prefer my daughters.
§1116sed i átque evoca illam; sí eae meae sunt filiae, §1117si illarum est nutrix, me continuo noverit.
But go and call her out; if those are my daughters, if that is their nurse, she will recognize me immediately.
§1118Heus, ecquis hic est? nuntiate ut prodeat
Ho, is anyone here?
§1119foras Gíddeneni.
Tell Giddenis to come out.
est qui illam conventam esse volt.
There is someone who wants to meet her.
§1120Quis pultat?
Who is knocking?
§1120bQui te proximust.
He who is nearest to you.
§1120cQuid vis?
What do you want?
Ho,

Notes

  1. §1066viverent vellem — vellem (imperfect subjunctive of volo) expresses an unaccomplished wish in the present ('I would wish'), taking the imperfect subjunctive viverent as its object clause without ut. The phrase functions as a counterfactual expression: 'I wish they were alive for you.'
  2. §1071quo me privatum aegre patior mortuo — quo... mortuo is an ablative absolute containing a relative pronoun ('by whose death'). me privatum... patior is an accusative with participle construction, meaning 'I grieve to find myself deprived (of him/the inheritance)'. The relative pronoun refers back to pater tuos in the preceding sentence.
  3. §1085si quid me fuat — fuat is an archaic present subjunctive of sum (corresponding to classical sit). The phrase si quid me fuat is an archaic equivalent of si quid me fiat ('if anything should happen to me'), which is a euphemism for death.
  4. §1088uteris... operam meam — uteris is the second person singular future of the deponent verb utor. While utor governs the ablative in classical Latin, in Early Latin (such as Plautus) it frequently takes a direct object in the accusative (operam meam).

Cite this passage

Plautus, Poenulus §1050-1120d. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0119.phi015.humanitext-lat2:1050-1120d

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.