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Plautus · Pseudolus §1086-1146

Simo's Premature Relief and Arrival of Real Harpax

Passage 18 of 21 · Latin

Summary

Simo and Ballio rejoice in their apparent victory over Pseudolus, planning to send him to the mills. Meanwhile, the real Harpax arrives searching for the pimp Ballio and prepares to knock on his door.

§1087Quid est? quid non metuam ab eo? id audire expeto.
Simo: What is it? Why should I not fear him? I desire to hear that.
§1088Quia numquam abducet mulierem iam, nec potest, §1089a me.
Ballio: Because he will never take the woman away from me now, nor can he.
meministin tibi me dudum dicere, §1090eam véniisse militi Macedonio?
Do you remember me telling you a short while ago that she had been sold to the Macedonian soldier?
§1091Memini.
Simo: I remember.
§1091bEm íllius servos húc ad me argentum attulit §1092et obsignatum sumbolum, §1092bQuid postea?
Ballio: Look, his servant brought the money here to me, and the sealed token, Simo: What happened then?
§1093Qui inter me atque illum militem convenerat: §1094is secum abduxit mulierem hau multo prius.
Ballio: Which had been agreed upon between me and that soldier; he took the woman away with him not long ago.
§1095Bonan fide istuc dicis?
Simo: Do you say this in good faith?
§1095bVnde ea sit mihi?
Ballio: Where should that come to me from?
§1096Vide módo, ne illic sit contechnatus quippiam.
Simo: Only take care, lest that fellow has devised some trick.
§1097Epistula atque imago me certum facit; §1098quin illam in Sicyonem ex urbe abduxit modo.
Ballio: The letter and the portrait make me certain; nay, he has just taken her from the city into Sicyon.
§1099Bene hercle factum.
Simo: By Hercules, well done!
quid ego cesso Pseudolum §1100facere ut det nomen ad molas coloniam?
Why do I delay to make Pseudolus register his name for the colony at the mills?
§1101sed quis hic homo est chlamydatus?
But who is this man in the cloak?
§1101bNon edepol scio, §1102nisi ut observemus quó eat aut quam rem gerat.
Ballio: By Pollux, I do not know, except that we should observe where he goes or what he is doing.
§1103Malus ét nequam est homo quí nihili eri ímperium sui sérvos facit, §1104nihilíst autem suom qui ófficium facere ímmemor est, nisi est ádmonitus.
Harpax: Bad and worthless is the servant who sets at naught his master's command, and he is of no account who is unmindful of his duty, unless he is admonished.
§1105nam quí liberós ilicó se arbitrantur, §1106ex cónspectu erí si suí se abdidérunt, §1107lúxantur, lustrántur, comedunt quód habent, ei nomén diu §1108sérvitutís ferunt.
For those who think themselves free on the spot, if they have hidden themselves from their master's sight, and live in luxury, frequent brothels, and consume what they have, they for a long time bear the name of slavery.
§1109néc boni ingeni quícquam in is inest, §1110nisi ut improbis se artibus teneant. †
Nor is there any good disposition in them, except that they maintain themselves by dishonest arts.
§1111cum hís mihi néc locus §1112nec sérmo convenít neque is úmquam nobilís fui.
With these, neither place nor conversation suits me, nor was I ever known to them.
§1113ego, ut mi ímperatumst, étsi abest, híc adesse erum árbitror.
I, as I was commanded, even if he is absent, consider my master to be present here.
§1114núnc ego illum metuo, §1115quom hic nón adest, ne quom ádsiet métuam.
Now I fear him while he is not here, so that I may not fear him when he is present.
ei rei operám dabo.
I will apply myself to that matter.
§1116nam ín taberna úsque adhuc, sí venirét Syrus, §1117cui dedi sumbolum, mansi, uti iusserat: §1118leno ubi esset domi, me aibat arcessere; §1119vérum ubi is nón venit néc vocat, §1120venio húc ultro, ut sciam, quíd rei sit, ne illíc homo me ludíficetur.
For up to this time, I remained in the tavern, waiting to see if Syrus should come, to whom I gave the token, as he had ordered: he said he would summon me when the pimp was at home; but since he does not come and does not call, I come here of my own accord, to know how the matter stands, lest that fellow make a fool of me.
§1121neque quícquamst melius, quam út hoc pultém atque aliquem évocem hinc íntus.
And there is nothing better than that I should knock on this door and call someone out from within.
§1122léno argentum hóc volo §1123á me accipiat átque amittat múlierem mecúm simul.
I wish the pimp to receive this money from me, and at the same time to let the woman go with me.
§1124Heús tu.
Ballio: Hey you.
§1124bQuid vis?
Simo: What do you want?
§1124cHíc homo meus est.
Ballio: This man is mine.
§1124dQuídum?
Simo: How so?
§1124eQuia praeda haec meast: §1125scórtum quaerit, hábet argentum.
Ballio: Because this prey is mine: he seeks a mistress, he has money.
iam ádmordere hunc míhi lubet.
Now I have a mind to bite into him.
§1126Iamne íllum coméssurus és?
Simo: Are you going to devour him already?
§1126bDum recéns est §1127datór, dum calét, devorári decét iam.
Ballio: While the giver is fresh, while he is warm, he ought to be swallowed down at once.
§1128boní me virí pauperánt, improbi aúgent; §1129popló strenuí, mi improbí usuí sunt.
Good men impoverish me, wicked ones enrich me; active men are of use to the public, wicked ones to me.
§1130Malúm quod tibí di dabúnt, sic sceléstu’s.
Simo: May the gods give you a curse, you are so wicked.
§1131Me nunc commoror, quom has foris non ferio, ut sciam, §1131asítne Ballió domi.
Harpax: I am delaying myself now by not knocking on this door, so that I may know if Ballio is at home.
§1132Vénus mi haec bona dat, quom hós huc adigit §1133lúcrifugas, damnícupidos, qui sé suamque aetatém bene curant, §1134édunt, bibunt, scortántur: illi súnt alio ingenio átque tu,
Ballio: Venus gives me these good things, when she drives here these runaways from profit, desirous of loss, who take good care of themselves and their youth, eat, drink, and wench.
§1135quí neque tibi bene ésse patere et íllis quibus est ínvides.
They are of a different disposition from you, who neither allow yourself to enjoy life, nor fail to envy those who do.
§1136Heús ubi estis vós?
Harpax: Hey, where are you?
§1136bHic quidem ad me récta habet rectám viam.
Ballio: This fellow is making his way straight to me.
§1138bene ego ab hoc praedatus ibo; novi, bona scaevast mihi.
I shall go away well-bootied from this fellow; I know it, I have a good omen.
§1139Ecquis hoc áperit?
Harpax: Does anyone open this?
§1139bHeus chlamydate, quid istic debetur tibi?
Ballio: Hey, cloaked man, what is owed to you there?
§1140Aedium dominum lenonem Ballionem quaerito.
Harpax: I am looking for the master of the house, the pimp Ballio.
§1141Quisquis es, adulescens, operam fac compendi quaerere.
Simo: Whoever you are, young man, save yourself the trouble of searching.
§1142Quid iam?
Harpax: Why so?
§1142bQuia tute ipsus ipsum praesens praesentem vides.
Simo: Because you yourself, present, see him present in person.
§1143Tune is es?
Harpax: Are you he?
§1143bChlamydate, cáve sis tibi a curvo infortunio §1144atque in hunc intende digitum: hic leno est.
Simo: Cloaked man, beware, if you please, of curved misfortune, and point your finger at this man: he is the pimp.
§1144bAt hic est vir bonus.
Harpax: But this one is a gentleman.
§1145sed, tu, bone vir, flagitare saepe clamore in foro, §1146quom libella nusquamst, nisi quid leno hic subvenit tibi.
Simo: But you, my good gentleman, will often be loudly dunned in the forum, when there is not a penny anywhere, unless this pimp here gives you some help.

Notes

  1. 1095bVnde ea sit mihi? — The feminine singular demonstrative pronoun 'ea' refers back to 'bona fides' (good faith) in Simo's previous line. 'sit' is a potential or deliberative subjunctive, expressing rhetorical doubt. Ballio ironically acknowledges his lack of integrity.
  2. 1100facere ut det nomen ad molas coloniam — The construction 'facere ut' introduces a noun clause of result or command containing the subjunctive 'det'. The phrase 'nomen dare ad + accusative' is an official, military/civil term meaning 'to register one's name for a colony', but is used here with 'molas' (mills) as a humorous and absurd metaphor for sending a slave to hard labor.
  3. 1115ne quom adsiet metuam — 'ne metuam' is a clause of purpose, modifying 'ei rei operam dabo' ('I will strive so that I may not fear...'). 'quom' (cum) with the subjunctive 'adsiet' (an archaic form of 'adsit') functions as a temporal-circumstantial clause. It portrays the typical self-preserving attitude of a slave in Roman comedy: fearing the master in his absence so as not to be caught off guard when he arrives.
  4. 1145flagitare — 'flagitare' is the second-person singular present passive indicative, where the archaic/poetic ending '-re' is used instead of the standard '-ris' (i.e., equivalent to 'flagitaris'). The subject is 'tu' (with the vocative 'bone vir'). It is not an active infinitive. Simo's address 'bone vir' (good gentleman) is an ironic retort to Harpax's previous praise, warning him that he will be loudly dunned in the forum by creditors.

Cite this passage

Plautus, Pseudolus §1086-1146. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0119.phi016.humanitext-lat2:1086-1146

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