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Plautus · Poenulus §1121-1186

Giddenis' Recognition of Hanno and the Betrothal

Passage 18 of 22 · Latin

Summary

The nurse Giddenis miraculously recognizes her master Hanno, confirming to Agorastocles that the stolen girls are indeed Hanno's daughters. Agorastocles secures a betrothal to Hanno's elder daughter and guides him to the Temple of Venus where the daughters are appearing.

§1121novistin tu illunc tunicatum hominem qui siet?
Do you know who that man in the tunic is over there?
§1122Nam quém ego aspicio? pro supreme Iuppiter,
For whom do I see?
§1123erus meus hic quidem est, mearum alumnarum pater, §1124Hanno Carthaginiensis.
Oh supreme Jupiter, this is indeed my master, the father of my foster-daughters, Hanno of Carthage.
§1124bEcce autem mala.
Well, here comes trouble.
§1127O mí ere, salve, Hánno, insperatissume §1128mihi tuisque filiis, salve atque—eho, §1129mirari noli neque me contemplarier.
Oh my master, greetings, Hanno, most unexpected to me and to your daughters, greetings and—hey, do not be surprised, nor gaze at me.
§1130cognoscin Giddenenem áncillam tuam?
Do you recognize your maidservant Giddenis?
§1131Novi.
I do.
sed ubi sunt meae gnatae? id scire expeto.
But where are my daughters? That I yearn to know.
§1132Apud aedem Veneris.
At the temple of Venus.
§1132bQuid ibi faciunt? dic mihi.
What are they doing there? Tell me.
§1133Aphrodisia hodie Veneris est festus dies: §1134oratum ierunt deam, ut sibi esset propitia.
Today is the Aphrodisia, the festival of Venus: they went to pray to the goddess, that she might be propitious to them.
§1135Pol satis scio, impetrarunt, quando hic hic adest.
By Pollux, I know well enough that they have obtained their prayer, since he is present here.
§1136Eho an huius sunt illae filiae?
Ho, are those girls his daughters?
§1136bIta ut praedicas.
Just as you say.
§1137tua pietas nobis plane aúxilio fuit, §1138quom huc advenisti hodie in ipso tempore; §1139namque hodie earum mutarentur nomina §1140facerentque indignum genere quaestum corpore.
Your devotion has clearly been our salvation, since you arrived here today at the very nick of time; for today their names would have been changed, and they would have made an earnings with their bodies, unworthy of their family.
§1141Auamma illi.
Auamma illi.
§1141bHauon bane silli in mustine.
Hauon bane silli in mustine.
§1142Mepstaetemes tas dum et alanna cestimim.
Mepstaetemes tas dum et alanna cestimim.
§1143Quid illí locuti sunt inter se? dic mihi.
What did they say to each other? Tell me.
§1144Matrem hic salutat suam, haec autem hunc filium.
He is greeting his mother, and she her son.
§1145tace atque parce muliebri supellectili.
Be quiet and spare the feminine furniture.
§1146Quae east supellex?
What is that furniture?
§1146bClarus clamor.
Loud shrieking.
§1146cSine modo.
Let it be.
§1147Tu abduc hosce intro; et una nutricem simul §1148iube hanc abire hinc ad te.
You lead these men inside; and at the same time order this nurse to go off with you to your house.
§1148bFac quod imperat.
Do what he orders.
§1149Sed quís illas tibi monstrabit?
But who will point out those girls to you?
§1149bEgo doctissume.
I will do so most expertly.
§1150Abeo igitur.
I am off then.
§1150bFacias modo quam memores mavelim.
I would rather you did as you say.
§1151patruo advenienti cena curetur volo.
I want a dinner to be prepared for my uncle on his arrival.
§1152Lachanna vos, quos ego iam detrudam ad molas, §1153inde pórro ad puteum atque ad robustum codicem.
You lachanna, whom I shall soon drive to the mills, and from there further to the well and the stout log.
§1154ego faxo hospitium hoc leniter laudabitis. — §1155Audin tu, patrue? dico, ne dictum neges:
I will make you praise this hospitality gently. — Do you hear, uncle?
§1156tuam míhi maiorem filiam despondeas.
I speak, lest you deny what is said: please betroth your elder daughter to me.
§1157Pactam rem habeto.
Consider the matter agreed.
§1157bSpondesne igitur?
Do you promise then?
§1157cSpondeo.
I promise.
§1158Mi patrue, salve.
My uncle, greetings!
nam nunc es plane meus.
For now you are completely mine.
§1159nunc demum ego cum illa fabulabor libere.
Now at last I shall speak with her freely.
§1160nunc, patrue, si vis tuas videre filias, §1161me sequere.
Now, uncle, if you wish to see your daughters, follow me.
§1161bIamdudum equidem cupio, et te sequor.
Indeed I have been longing to for a while, and I follow you.
§1166sed eccás video ipsas.
But look, I see them.
§1166bHaecine meae sunt filiae?
Are these my daughters?
§1167quantae e quantillis iam sunt factae.
How large they have grown from being so tiny!
§1167bScin quid est?
Do you know what?
§1168tragicae sunt: in calones sustolli solent.
They are tragic: they are accustomed to be lifted up onto camp-followers.
§1174Fuit hódie operae pretiúm cuivis qui amábilitati animum adiceret, §1175oculís epulas dare, délubrum qui hodie órnatum eo visére venit.
Today it was well worth the while for anyone who turned their mind to loveliness to feast their eyes, who came today to visit that adorned shrine.
§1176deamávi ecastor ílli hodie lepidíssima munera méretricum, §1177digná dea venustissimá Venere, neque cóntempsi eius opés hodie.
By Castor, I fell in love with those most elegant offerings of the courtesans today, worthy of the most beautiful goddess Venus, nor did I disdain her wealth today.
§1178tanta íbi copia venustátum aderat, in suó quique loco síta munde.
Such a wealth of charms was present there, neatly arranged each in its own place.
§1179arás tus, murrinus, ómnis odor complébat. haud sordére visust
Incense, myrrh, and every fragrance filled the altars.
§1180festús dies, Venus, nec tuóm fanum: tantús ibi clientarum érat numerus, §1181quae ad Cálydoniam venérant Venerem.
It did not seem sordid, your festival, Venus, nor your shrine: so great was the number of your female clients there, who had come to the Calydonian Venus.
§1181aCerto enim, quod quidem ad nos duas §1182attínuit, praepotentés pulchre pacísque potentes, sóror, fuimus, §1183neque ab iúventute inibi inrídiculo habitaé, quod pol, §1183bsoror, céteris omnibus fáctumst.
Certainly, as far indeed as concerned us two, sister, we were beautiful, powerful, and mistress of peace, nor were we held in derision by the youth there, which, by Pollux, sister, happened to all the others.
§1184Malim ístuc aliis vídeatur, quam uti tú te, soror, conlaúdes.
I would rather that seemed so to others, sister, than that you praise yourself.
§1185Spero équidem.
I hope so, indeed.
§1185bEt pól ego, quom, íngeniis quibus súmus atque aliae, gnósco; §1186eo súmus gnatae genere, út deceat nos ésse a culpa cástas.
And by Pollux, I do too, when I recognize the characters we and others have; we are born of such a race that it becomes us to be chaste and free from fault.

Notes

  1. 1121tunicatum hominem qui siet — An instance of prolepsis, where the subject of the indirect question ('qui siet') is pulled into the main clause as the accusative object ('illunc tunicatum hominem'). 'Tunicatum' (tunic-wearing) refers to Hanno's Punic attire, which would appear foreign to a Roman audience.
  2. 1137tua pietas nobis plane auxilio fuit — A double dative construction containing the dative of reference ('nobis') and the dative of purpose or effect ('auxilio'), meaning 'your family devotion has clearly been our salvation.'
  3. 1141Auamma illi — A rare instance of the Punic (Carthaginian) language preserved in Plautus. Hanno and his attendants speak their native language, which Milphio then humorously misinterprets to Agorastocles in line 1144.
  4. 1167btragicae sunt: in calones sustolli solent — 'Tragicae' (tragic) is a pun on the high buskins (cothurni) worn by tragic actors, indicating that the girls have grown tall. The phrase 'in calones sustolli solent' (accustomed to be lifted onto camp-followers) reflects both their physical growth and a double entendre on their status as courtesans.
  5. 1174Fuit hodie operae pretium cuivis qui amabilitati animum adiceret — An idiom using 'operae pretium est' (it is worthwhile) in the perfect tense ('fuit'). The true subject of the clause is the infinitive phrase in §1175: 'oculis epulas dare' (to feast one's eyes).

Cite this passage

Plautus, Poenulus §1121-1186. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0119.phi015.humanitext-lat2:1121-1186

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