Humanitext Reader

Plautus · Poenulus §155-227

Plot Against Lycus and the Sisters on Adornment

Passage 3 of 22 · Latin

Summary

Agorastocles and Milphio devise a plot to trick the pimp Lyco and seize all his household. Later, Agorastocles' love interest Adelphasium and her sister appear, singing about the immense trouble of women's adornment.

§155lenonis huius meretricem maiusculam.
the older courtesan of this pimp.
§156Iam pridem equidem istuc ex te audivi.
Indeed, I have heard that from you long ago.
§156bDifferor §157cupidine eius.
I am torn apart by desire for her.
sed lenone istoc Lyco, §158illius domino, non lutumst lutulentius.
But than that pimp Lyco, her master, no mud is muddier.
§159Vin tu illi nequam dare nunc?
Do you want to give him a "worthless thing" now?
§159bCupio.
I desire to.
§159cEm me dato.
Look, give me.
§160Abi díerectus.
Go to the gallows!
§160bDic mihi vero serio: §161vin dare malum illi?
Tell me seriously indeed: do you want to give him "trouble"?
§161bCupio.
I desire to.
§161cEm, eundem me dato: §162utrumque faxo habebit, et nequam et malum.
Look, give the same me: I will guarantee he will have both, the worthless thing and trouble.
§163Iocare.
You are joking.
§163bVin tu illam hodie sine dispendio §164tuo túam libertam facere?
Do you want to make her your freedwoman today without any expense of your own?
§164bCupio, Milphio.
I desire to, Milphio.
§165Ego faciam ut facias. sunt tibi intus aurei
I will make you do so.
§166trecenti nummi Philippi?
Do you have inside three hundred gold Philippic coins?
§166bSescenti quoque.
Six hundred even.
§167Satis súnt trecenti.
Three hundred are enough.
§167bQuid iis facturu's?
What are you going to do with them?
§167cTace.
Be silent.
§168totum lenonem tibi cum tota familia §169dabo hodie dono.
I will give you the whole pimp with his entire household today as a gift.
§169bQui id facturu's?
How are you going to do that?
§169cIam scies.
You will know soon.
§170tuos Cóllybiscus nunc in urbest vilicus; §171eum hic non novit leno.
Your farm manager Collybiscus is now in the city; the pimp here does not know him.
satin intellegis?
Do you understand well enough?
§172Intellego hercle, sed quo evadas nescio.
I understand, by Hercules, but I do not know where you are heading.
§173Non scis?
You do not know?
§173bNon hercle.
No, by Hercules.
§173cAt ego iam faxo scies.
But I will make you know soon.
§174ei dabitur aurum, ut ad lenonem deferat §175dicatque se peregrinum esse, ex alio oppido: §176se amare velle atque obsequí animo suo; §177locum sibi velle liberum praeberier, §178ubi nequam faciat clam, ne quis sit arbiter.
Gold will be given to him, to bring to the pimp, and to say that he is a foreigner from another town: that he wants to love and indulge his desires; that he wants a free place to be provided for him, where he may do his mischief secretly, so that there may be no witness.
§179leno ad se accipiet auri cupidus ilico: §180celabit hominem et aurum.
The pimp, eager for the gold, will immediately receive him: he will hide the man and the gold.
§180bConsilium placet.
The plan pleases me.
§181Rogato, servos veneritne ad eum tuos.
(Then) ask if your slave has come to him.
§182ille mé censebit quaeri: continuo tibi §183negabit.
He will think that he is being searched for: immediately to you he will deny it.
quid tu dubitas, quin extempulo §184dupli tibi auri et hominis fur leno siet?
Why do you doubt that immediately the pimp will be a thief to you for double the gold and the man?
§185neque id unde efficiat habet: ubi in ius venerit, §186addicet praetor familiam totam tibi.
And he has no means from which to pay: when he comes to court, the praetor will adjudge the entire household to you.
§187ita decipiemus fovea lenonem Lycum.
Thus we will deceive the pimp Lyco with a pitfall.
§188Placet consilium.
The plan pleases me.
§188bImmo etiam, ubi expolivero, §189magis hoc tum demum dices: nunc etiam rudest.
Nay indeed, when I have polished it, then you will say this even more: now it is still rough.
§190Ego in aedem Veneris eo, nisi quid vis, Milphio.
I am going to the temple of Venus, unless you want anything, Milphio.
§191Aphrodisia hodie sunt.
Today is the Aphrodisia.
§191bScio.
I know.
§191cOculos volo §192meos délectare munditiis meretriciis.
I want to delight my eyes with courtesans' elegant attire.
§193Hoc primum agamus quod consilium cepimus.
Let us first do this which we have planned.
§194abeamus intro, ut Collybiscum vilicum §195hanc perdoceamus ut ferat fallaciam.
Let us go inside, so that Collybiscus the farm manager we may thoroughly instruct how to carry out this trick.
§196Quamquam Cupido in corde vorsatur, tamen §197tibi auscultabo. — §197bFaciam ut facto gaudeas.
Although Cupid is busy in my heart, yet I will listen to you.— I will make you glad of your deed.
§198inest amoris macula huic homini in pectore, §199sine damno magno quae elui ne utiquam potest.
(Aside) There is a stain of love in this man's breast, which can by no means be washed out without great loss.
§200itaque hic scelestus est homo leno Lycus, §201quoi iam infortuni intenta ballistast probe, §202quam ego haud multo post mittam e ballistario.
And so this scoundrel is the pimp Lyco, against whom a catapult of misfortune is already well aimed, which I will launch from the catapult not long after.
§203sed Adelphasium eccam exit atque Anterastilis.
But look, Adelphasium is coming out, and Anterastilis.
§204haec est prior, quae meum erum dementem facit.
This is the former, who makes my master crazy.
§205sed evocabo.
But I will call him out.
heus, i foras, Agorastocles, §206si vis videre ludos iucundissimos.
Hey, come outside, Agorastocles, if you want to see the most delightful games.
§207Quid istúc tumultist, Milphio?
What is that tumult, Milphio?
§207bEm amores tuos, §208si vis spectare.
Look, your loves, if you want to watch.
§208bO multa tibi di dent bona, §209quom hoc mi optulisti tam lepidum spectaculum.
Oh, may the gods grant you many good things, since you have offered me this so charming a spectacle.
§210Negóti sibí qui volét vim paráre, §211navem et mulierem, haec duo comparato.
(Song of Adelphasium) He who wants to prepare a force of business for himself, let him procure a ship and a woman, these two.
§212nam nullae magis res duae plus negoti §213habent, forte si occeperis exornare, §215neque eis ulla ornandi satis satietas est.
For no two things have more business, if by chance you begin to adorn them, nor is there any satiety of adorning them.
§216atque haec, ut loquor, nunc domo docta dico.
And these things, as I speak, I say now having learned from home.
§217nam nos usque ab aurora ad hoc quod diei est, §219ex industria ambae numquam concessamus §220lavari aut fricari aut tergeri aut ornari, §221poliri expoliri, pingi fingi; et una §222binae singulis quae dataé nobis ancíllae, §223eae nos lavando eluendo operam déderunt, §224aggerúndaque aqua sunt viri duo defessi.
For we, from dawn to this part of the day, both industriously have never ceased to be washed, rubbed, wiped, and adorned, polished, polished up, painted, and styled; and together, two maidservants who were given to each of us, they gave their effort in washing and rinsing us, and in carrying water two men are exhausted.
§225apage sis, negoti quantum in muliere una est.
Away with it! How much business there is in a single woman!
§226sed vero duae, sat scio, maxumo uni §227poplo cuilubet plus satis dare potis sunt,
But indeed two, I know well, for any greatest people are able to give more than enough trouble.

Notes

  1. §159nequam dare — An idiomatic phrase meaning "to play a trick on" or "to do harm to." Simultaneously, nequam (worthless, good-for-nothing) acts as an adjective describing Milphio himself, creating a double entendre: "give me (a good-for-nothing) to him." This wordplay is repeated in §161c with malum (trouble / a bad person).
  2. §162faxo habebit — faxo is an archaic form of the future perfect fecero, which here directly governs the future indicative habebit without ut, functioning parenthetically or as an emphatic expression meaning "I will make sure that..." or "I guarantee that...".
  3. §210Negóti sibí qui volét vim paráre — The relative clause starting with qui volet is placed at the beginning of the sentence, with negoti separated and placed at the very front (hyperbaton). The natural order would be qui volet sibi vim negoti parare, which acts as the logical subject for the main verb comparato (future imperative).
  4. §217ad hoc quod diei est — quod diei est is an expression where the partitive genitive diei is used with the relative pronoun quod. It literally means "that which is of the day," idiomatically translated as "up to this time of day."

Cite this passage

Plautus, Poenulus §155-227. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0119.phi015.humanitext-lat2:155-227

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