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Plautus · Poenulus §727-800

Agorastocles' Accusation and the Flight of Lycus

Passage 12 of 22 · Latin

Summary

Agorastocles and the witnesses prepare to confront Lycus. When Lycus emerges, Agorastocles demands his slave and the gold; realizing he has been trapped into a charge of theft, Lycus panics, curses his soothsayers, and flees to find a way to hang himself.

§727mox quom ad praetorem úsus veniet.
soon when there will be need before the praetor.
§727bMeminimus.
We remember.
§728Quid si recenti re aedis pultem?
What if I knock at the house while the matter is fresh?
§728bCenseo.
I agree.
§729Si pultem, non recludet?
If I knock, won't he open?
§729bPanem frangito.
Break some bread.
§730Si exierit leno, quid tum? hominem interrogem, §731meus sérvos ad eum veneritne?
If the pimp comes out, what then? Should I ask the man whether my servant went to him?
§731bQuippini?
Why not?
§733cRogas?
You ask?
§736Extemplo denegabit.
Immediately he will deny it.
§736bIuratus quidem.
Sworn indeed.
§737Homo fúrti sese adstringet.
The man will bind himself to a charge of theft.
§737bHau dubium id quidemst.
There is indeed no doubt about that.
§738Quantum quantum ad eum erit delatum.
However much has been brought to him.
§738bQuippini?
Why not?
§739Diespiter vos perduit.
May Jupiter destroy you!
§739bTe quippini?
And you, why not?
§740Ibo et pultabo ianuam iam.
I will go and knock at the door now.
§740bQuippini?
Why not?
§741Tacendi tempus est, nam crepuerunt fores.
It is time to be silent, for the doors have creaked.
§742foras égrediri video lenonem Lycum.
I see Lycus the pimp coming out.
§743adeste quaeso.
Stand by me, please.
§743bQuippini? † si voles
Why not?
§744operire capita, ne nos leno noverit, §745qui illi malae rei tantae fuimus inlices.
If you wish to cover our heads, lest the pimp recognize us, who were the enticers for him to such a great mischief.
§746Suspendant omnes nunciam se haruspices, §747quam ego illis posthac quod loquantur creduam, §748qui in re divina dudum dicebant mihi §749malum damnumque maximum portendier: §750is explicavi meam rem postilla lucro.
Let all the soothsayers hang themselves now, rather than that I should believe hereafter what they say, who just now during the sacred rite were telling me that evil and the greatest loss were portended: after that I have disentangled my business with profit.
§751Salvos sis, leno.
Greetings, pimp.
§751bDi te ament, Agorastocles.
May the gods love you, Agorastocles.
§752Magis mé benigne nunc salutas quam antidhac.
You greet me more kindly now than before.
§753Tranquillitas evenit, quasi navi in mari: §754utquomque est ventus, exim velum vortitur.
Tranquillity has come, just like for a ship at sea: whichever way the wind is, from there the sail is turned.
§755Valeant apud te quos volo; atque haud te volo.
May those whom I wish be well at your house; and indeed I do not wish you well.
§756Valent ut postulatumst, verum non tibi.
They are well as demanded, but not for you.
§757Mitte ad me, si audes, hodie Adelphasium tuam, §758die fésto celebri nobilique Aphrodisiis.
Send to me, if you dare, your Adelphasium today, on this celebrated and noble feast day of the Aphrodisia.
§759Calidum prandisti prandium hodie? dic mihi.
Did you eat a hot lunch today? Tell me.
§760Quid iam?
Why now?
§760bQuia os nunc frigefactas, quom rogas.
Because you make your mouth cold now when you ask.
§761Hoc age sis, leno.
Pay attention to this, please, pimp.
servom esse audivi meum §762apud te.
I heard that my servant is at your house.
§762bApud me? numquam factum reperies.
At my house? You will never find that to have happened.
§763Mentire.
You lie.
nam ad te venit aurumque attulit.
For he came to you and brought gold.
§764ita mihi renuntiatumst, quibus credo satis.
So it was reported to me by those whom I believe sufficiently.
§765Malus es, captatum me advenis cum testibus.
You are wicked, you arrive to catch me with witnesses.
§766tuorum apud me nemost nec quicquam tui.
There is no one of your people at my house, nor anything of yours.
§767Mementote illud, advocati.
Remember that, advocates.
§767bMeminimus.
We remember.
§768Hahahae, iam teneo quid sit, perspexi modo.
Hahaha, now I hold what it is, I have just seen through it.
§769hi qui illum dudum conciliaverunt mihi §770peregrinum Spartanum, id nunc his cerebrum uritur, §771me esse hos trecentos Philippos facturum lucri.
These men who just now recommended to me that Spartan stranger, their brain is now burning with jealousy at this, that I am going to make a profit of these three hundred Philippics.
§772nunc hunc inimicum quía esse sciverunt mihi, §773eum adlegarunt, suom qui servom diceret §774cum auro esse apud me; compositast fallacia, §775ut eo me privent atque inter se dividant.
now because they knew that this man was an enemy to me, they commissioned him, to say that his servant was at my house with the gold; a trick has been devised, so that they may deprive me of it and divide it among themselves.
§776lupo agnum eripere postulant.
They demand to snatch a lamb from a wolf.
nugas agunt.
They are playing trifles.
§777Negasne apud te esse aurum, nec servom meum?
Do you deny that the gold is at your house, and my servant?
§778Nego: et negando, si quid refert, ravio.
I deny it: and by denying, if it makes any difference, I make myself hoarse.
§779Periisti, leno.
You are ruined, pimp.
nam istest huius vilicus §780quem tibi nos esse Spartiatam diximus, §781qui ad te trecentos Philippeos modo detulit.
For that fellow is this man's bailiff, whom we told you was a Spartan, who just now brought three hundred Philippics to you.
§782idque in istoc adeo aúrum inest marsuppio.
And indeed that gold is inside that purse of yours.
§783Vae vostrae aetati.
Woe to your life!
§783bId quidem in mundo est tuae.
That indeed is ready for yours.
§784Age omitte actutum, furcifer, marsuppium: §785manifesto fur es mihi.
Come, let go of the purse immediately, you rascal: you are a thief in the act to me.
quaeso hercle, operam date, §786dum me videatis servom ab hoc abducere. — §787Nunc pol ego perii certo, haud arbitrario.
By Hercules, please assist me, while you see me lead my servant away from this man.— By Pollux, now indeed I am ruined certainly, not doubtfully.
§788consulto hoc factum est, mihi ut insidiae fierent.
This was done deliberately, so that a trap might be set for me.
§789sed quid ego dubito fugere hinc in malam crucem, §790prius quam hínc optorto collo ad praetorem trahor?
But why do I hesitate to flee from here to a bad end, before I am dragged from here by the neck to the praetor?
§791eheu, quom ego habui háriolos haruspices;
Alas, what soothsayers and diviners I have had!
§792qui si quid bene promittunt, perspisso evenit, §793id quod mali promittunt, praesentarium est.
who if they promise anything good, it happens very slowly, that which of evil they promise, is immediate.
§794nunc ibo, amicos consulam, quo me modo §795suspendere aequom censeant potissimum. — §796Age tu progredere, ut videant te ire istinc foras.
Now I will go, consult my friends, in what way they think it is most fitting for me to hang myself.— Come, you go forward, so that they may see you coming out from there.
§797estne hic meus servos?
Is this my servant?
§797bSum hercle vero, Agorastocles.
By Hercules, indeed I am, Agorastocles.
§798Quid nunc, sceleste leno?
What now, wicked pimp?
§798bQuicum litigas §799apscessit.
The one with whom you are litigating has departed.
§799bVtinam hinc abierit malam crucem.
Would that he had gone from here to a bad end.
§800Ita nos velle aequom est.
It is fitting for us to wish so.

Notes

  1. §728bCenseo — censeo is used here as an expression of agreement, meaning "I agree" or "I recommend so".
  2. §729bPanem frangito — A wordplay on pultem (subjunctive of pultare "to knock"), which sounds like or evokes puls ("porridge"). The witness jokes that if he is going to make/stir porridge (pultem), he should "break some bread" (panem frangito) to go with it.
  3. §737fúrti — furti is a genitive of charge depending on adstringet ("will bind himself to a charge of theft").
  4. §738Quantum quantum — Quantum quantum is a reduplicated relative pronoun acting as an indefinite/concessive pronoun equivalent to quantumcumque ("however much").
  5. §747quam ego illis posthac quod loquantur creduam — quam introduces a comparison depending on the implied preference in §746 (equivalent to potius quam), taking the subjunctive creduam (an archaic form of credam), meaning "rather than that I should believe what they say."
  6. §755Valeant apud te quos volo; atque haud te volo. — quos volo refers to "those whom I wish (to be well)" (i.e., Adelphasium and her sister), while haud te volo is a biting exclusion of the pimp himself ("I do not wish you well").
  7. §770id nunc his cerebrum uritur — id is an adverbial accusative ("at this" or "because of this"), and his is a dative of reference ("for them"). cerebrum uritur literally means "their brain is burned" (i.e., they are vexed/envious).

Cite this passage

Plautus, Poenulus §727-800. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0119.phi015.humanitext-lat2:727-800

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