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Plautus · Poenulus §1294-1360b

Reconciliation of Antamonides and Summons of Lycus

Passage 21 of 22 · Latin

Summary

The soldier Antamonides arrives in anger and insults Hanno, but upon learning the truth, he backtracks and joins the celebration. Later, the despairing pimp Lycus appears, lamenting that his friends advised him to hang himself, and is summoned to court by the group.

§1294Vt nequeo te satis complecti, mi pater.
How I cannot embrace you enough, my father!
§1294bEgo me moror.
I am delaying myself.
§1295propemodúm hoc opsonare prandium potero mihi.
I shall nearly be able to cater this lunch for myself.
§1296sed quid hoc ést? quid est? quid hóc est? quid ego video? quo modo?
But what is this? What is it? What is this? What do I see? How so?
§1297quid hoc est conduplicationis? quae haec est congeminatio?
What doubling-up is this? What coupling is this?
§1298quis hic homo est cum tunicis longis quasi puer cauponius?
Who is this man with long tunics, like a tavern boy?
§1299satin ego oculis cerno? estne illaec mea amica Anterastilis?
Am I seeing clearly with my eyes? Is that my mistress Anterastilis?
§1300et ea est certo.
And it is surely she.
iam pridem ego me sensi nihili pendier.
Long ago I felt that I was valued at nothing.
§1301non pudet puellam ámplexari baiolum in media via?
Is a girl not ashamed to embrace a porter in the middle of the street?
§1302iam hercle ego illum éxcruciandum totum carnufici dabo.
By Hercules, I shall soon give him over entirely to the executioner to be tortured.
§1303sane genus hoc mulierosumst tunicis demissiciis.
Indeed, this race with hanging tunics is fond of women.
§1304sed adire certum est hanc amatricem Africam.
But I am determined to approach this African mistress.
§1305heus tu, tibi dico, mulier, ecquid te pudet?
Hey you, I am speaking to you, woman, are you not ashamed at all?
§1306quid tibi negoti est autem cum istac? dic mihi.
What business do you have, moreover, with that man? Tell me.
§1307Adulescens, salve.
Young man, hail.
§1307bNolo, nihil ad te attinet.
I do not want your greeting, it is nothing to you.
§1308quid tibi hanc digito tactio est?
Why do you touch her with your finger?
§1308bQuia mihi lubet.
Because it pleases me.
§1309Lubet?
It pleases you?
§1309bIta dico.
So I say.
§1309cLigula, i in malam crucem.
You shoe-strap, go to the gallows!
§1310tune hic amator audes esse, hallex viri, §1311aut contrectare quod mares homines amant?
Do you dare to be a lover here, you toe of a man, or to fondle what real men love?
§1312deglupta mena, sarrapis, sementium, §1313manstruca, halagora, sampsa, tum autem plenior §1314ali ulpicique quam Romani remiges.
You skinned minnow, Persian robe, seed-time, sheepskin coat, fish-market, crushed olives, and furthermore filled with more garlic and wild leeks than Roman rowers.
§1315Num tibi, adulescens, malae aut dentes pruriunt, §1316qui huic es molestus, an malam rem quaeritas?
Are your cheeks or teeth itching, young man, since you are troublesome to this man, or are you looking for trouble?
§1317Quin adhibuisti, dum istaec loquere, tympanum?
Why didn't you play a tambourine while saying those things?
§1318nam te cinaedum esse arbitror magis quam virum.
for I think you are more of a pathic than a man.
§1319Scin quam cinaedus sum? ite istinc, servi, foras, §1320ecferte fustis.
Do you know how much of a pathic I am? Go out from there, slaves, bring out the clubs!
§1320bHeus tu, si quid per iocum §1321dixi, nolito in serium convertere.
Hey you, if I said anything in jest, do not turn it into seriousness.
§1322Qui tibi lubido est, opsecro, Antamonides, §1323loqui inclementer nostro cognato et patri?
What pleasure is it to you, I pray, Antamonides, to speak harshly to our kinsman and father?
§1324nam hic noster pater est; hic nos cognovit modo §1325et hunc sui fratris filium.
for this is our father; he recognized us just now and this man as his brother's son.
§1325bIta me Iuppiter §1326bene amet, bene factum.
May Jupiter love me well, well done.
gaudeo et volup est mihi, §1327si quid lenoni óptigit magni mali.
I rejoice and it is a pleasure to me, if any great misfortune has happened to the pimp.
§1332Bonum virum eccum video, se recipit domum; §1333bVtrumvis est, vel leno vel Lycus.
Behold, I see the "good man", he is returning home; It is whichever you please, either the pimp or Lycus (the wolf).
§1334in servitute hic filias habuit tuas §1335et mi auri fur est.
this man held your daughters in servitude and to me he is a thief of gold.
§1336rapiamus in ius.
Let us drag him to court.
§1336bMinime.
By no means.
§1336cQuapropter?
Why so?
§1336dQuia §1337†iniuriarum multo induci satius est.
Because it is much better to bring a suit for injuries.
§1338Decipitur nemo, mea quidem sententia, §1339qui suis amicis narrat recte res suas; §1340nam omnibus amicis meis idem unum convenit, §1341ut me suspendam, ne addicar Agorastocli.
No one is deceived, in my opinion indeed, who relates his affairs rightly to his friends; for all my friends agreed on one and the same thing, that I should hang myself, lest I be delivered over to Agorastocles.
§1342Leno, eamus in ius.
Pimp, let us go to court.
§1342bOpsecro te, Agorastocles, §1343suspendere ut me liceat.
I beseech you, Agorastocles, that I may be allowed to hang myself.
§1343bIn ius te voco.
I summon you to court.
§1344Quid tibi mecum autem?
What business have you with me, moreover?
§1344bQuia hasce aio liberas §1345ingenuasque esse filias ambas meas; §1346eae súnt surruptae cum nutrice parvolae.
Because I declare these both to be free and well-born, both my daughters; they were stolen when very young with their nurse.
§1347Iam pridem equidem istuc scivi, et miratus fui, §1348neminem venire qui istas adsereret manu.
Indeed, I have known that for a long time, and I have wondered that no one came to claim them as free by hand.
§1351Duplum pro furto mi opus est.
I need double for the theft.
§1351bSume hinc quid lubet.
Take from here what you please.
§1352Et mihi suppliciis multis.
And to me many punishments are needed.
§1352bSume hinc quid lubet: §1354collo rem solvam iam omnibus, quasi baiolus.
Take from here what you please: now I will pay the debt to everyone with my neck, like a porter.

Notes

  1. 1308quid tibi hanc digito tactio est — A colloquial construction typical of early Latin, where the verbal noun "tactio" (touching) retains verbal force and governs the direct object in the accusative case ("hanc").
  2. 1341ut me suspendam — An appositional "ut" clause, concretely explaining the content of "idem unum" (one and the same thing) in the main clause.
  3. 1348qui istas adsereret manu — The imperfect subjunctive "adsereret" with the relative pronoun "qui" expresses purpose or characteristic. "asserere manu" (or "asserere in libertatem") is a technical legal term in Roman law for claiming someone as free by laying hands on them.

Cite this passage

Plautus, Poenulus §1294-1360b. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0119.phi015.humanitext-lat2:1294-1360b

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