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Plautus · Rudens §358b-418

Tale of the Shipwreck and Ampelisca Seeking Water

Passage 6 of 22 · Latin

Summary

Trachalio and Ampelisca discuss the details of last night's shipwreck and Palaestra's grief over her lost chest containing her recognition tokens. Ampelisca then goes to the neighboring house to ask for water as instructed by the priestess, where she meets Sceparnio, a slave who shows an interest in her.

§358bOh, Neptune lepide, salve,
Oh, delightful Neptune, greetings!
§359nec te aleator nullus est sapientior; profecto §360nimis lépide iecisti bolum: periurum perdidisti.
No gambler is wiser than you; indeed, you have cast your throw most delightfully: you have destroyed the perjurer.
§361sed nunc ubi est leno Labrax?
But where is the pimp Labrax now?
§361bPeriit potando, opinor.
He died of drinking, I think.
§362Neptunus magnis poculis hac nocte eum invitavit.
Neptune invited him to drink from large cups last night.
§363Credo hercle anancaeo datum quod biberet.
By Hercules, I believe he was given a bumper of necessity to drink.
ut ego amo te, §364mea Ampelisca, ut dulcis es, ut mulsa dicta dicis.
How I love you, my Ampelisca, how sweet you are, how like mead is the speech you utter!
§365sed tu et Palaestra quomodo salvae estis?
But how did you and Palaestra escape safely?
§365bScibis faxo.
I will make you know.
§366de navi timidae ambae in scapham insiluimus, quia videmus §367ad saxa navem ferrier; properans exsolvi restim, §368dum illi timent;
Both of us, terrified, jumped from the ship into the skiff, because we saw the ship was being carried toward the rocks; while they were afraid, I quickly untied the rope.
nos cum scapha tempestas dextrovorsum §369differt ab illis.
The storm drifted us with the skiff to the right, away from them.
itaque nos ventisque fluctibusque §370iactatae exemplis plurimis miserae perpetuam noctem; §371vix hodie ad litus pertulit nos ventus exanimatas.
And so we, tossed by the winds and waves, miserable ones, in countless painful ways throughout the entire night; scarcely today did the wind bring us, half-dead, to the shore.
§372Novi, Neptunus ita solet, quamvis fastidiosus §373aedilis est: si quae improbae sunt merces, iactat omnis.
I know, Neptune is accustomed to do so; he is an extremely fastidious aedile: if there are any bad goods, he throws them all overboard.
§374_375Vae capiti atque aetati tuae.
Plague on your head and life!
§374_375bTuo, mea Ampelisca.
On yours, my Ampelisca.
§376scivi lenonem facere hóc, quod fecit, saepe dixi; §377capillum promittam optimumst occipiamque hariolari.
I knew the pimp would do this which he did, I said it often; it is best that I let my hair grow and start playing the prophet.
§378Cavistis ergo tu atque erus ne abiret, cum scibatis.
So you and your master did not take precautions lest he should escape, when you knew it?
§379Quid faceret?
What was he to do?
§379bSí amabat, rogas, quid faceret? adservaret
If he loved her, do you ask what he was to do?
§380dies nóctesque, in custodia esset semper.
He should have watched her day and night, always kept her under guard.
verum ecastor §381ut multi fecit ita probe curavit Plesidippus.
But indeed, Plesidippus cared for her 'superbly', just as many others do!
§382Cur tu istuc dicis?
Why do you say that?
§382bRes palam est.
The thing is obvious.
§382cScin tu? etiam qui it lavatum
Don't you know?
§383in balineas, cum ibi sedulo sua vestimenta servat, §384tamen surripiuntur, quippe qui quem illorum observet falsust; §385fur facile qui observat videt: custos qui fur sit nescit.
Even one who goes to bathe in the baths, although he carefully guards his clothes there, still they are stolen, because he is mistaken about which of them to watch; the thief easily sees the one who is watching, but the guard does not know who is the thief.
§386sed duce me ad illam ubi est.
But lead me to where she is.
§386bI sane in Veneris fanum huc intro, §387sedentem flentemque opprimes.
Go inside here into the temple of Venus; you will find her sitting and weeping.
§387bVt iam istuc mihi molestumst.
How distressing that is to me already!
§388sed quid flet?
But why is she weeping?
§388bEgo dicam tibi: hoc sése excruciat animi, §389quia leno ademit cistulam ei, quam habebat ubique habebat §390qui suos parentis noscere possét: eam veretur §391ne perierit.
I will tell you: she tortures herself in her mind with this, because the pimp took away from her a little chest, which she possessed and kept everywhere, by which she might be able to recognize her parents; she fears lest it has perished.
§391bVbinam ea fuit cistellula?
Where was that little chest?
§391cIbidem in navi.
In the same place, in the ship.
§392conclusit ipse in vidulum, ne copia esset eius, §393qui suos parentes nosceret.
He himself shut it up in a leather bag, so that there would be no means for her to recognize her parents.
§393bO facinus impudicum,
Oh, shameless deed!
§394quam liberam esse oporteat servire postulare.
To demand that one who ought to be free should serve!
§395Nunc eam cum navi scilicet abiisse pessum in altum.
Now, of course, it has gone to the bottom into the deep along with the ship.
§396et aurum et argentum fuit lenonis omne ibidem.
And all the gold and silver of the pimp was in the same place.
§397Credo aliquem immersisse atque eum excepisse.
I believe someone dived and recovered it.
§397bId misera maestast, §398sibi eorum evenisse inopiam.
That is why the poor girl is sad, because the loss of them has come upon her.
§398bIam istoc magis usus factost, §399ut eam intro consolerque eam, ne sic se excruciet animi; §400nam multa praeter spem scio multis bona evenisse.
Then there is all the more need for action, so that I may go inside and comfort her, lest she should torture herself so in her mind; for I know that many good things have happened to many beyond expectation.
§401At ego étiam, qui speraverint spem decepisse multos.
But I also know that hope has deceived many who had hoped.
§402Ergo animus aequos optimum est aerumnae condimentum.
Therefore, an even mind is the best seasoning for trouble.
§403ego eo intro, nisi quid vis. — §403bEas.
I am going inside, unless you want something.— Go.
ego quod mihi imperavit §404sacerdos, id faciam atque aquam hinc de proximo rogabo; §405nam extemplo, si verbis suis peterem, daturos dixit.
I will do what the priestess ordered me, and I will ask for water from the next-door house; for she said they would give it immediately, if I asked in her name.
§406neque digniorem censeo vidisse anum me quemquam, §407cui deos atque homines censeam bene facere magis decere.
And I do not think I have seen any old woman more worthy, for whom I think it more fitting that gods and men should do well.
§408ut lepide, ut liberaliter, ut honeste atque haud gravate §409timidas egentes uvidas eiectas exanimatas §410accepit ad sese, haud secus quam si ex se simus natae; §411ut eapse sic succincta aquam calefactat, ut lavemus.
How delightfully, how generously, how honorably and without grudge, did she receive into her care us, terrified, needy, wet, cast out, half-dead, just as if we had been born from her; how she herself, thus girt up, is warming water so that we may wash!
§412nunc ne morae illi sim, petam hinc aquam, unde mi imperavit.
Now, lest I keep her waiting, I will seek water from where she ordered me.
§413heus ecquis in víllast? ecquis hoc recludit? ecquis prodit?
Hello, is anyone in the villa? Is anyone opening this? Is anyone coming out?
§414Quís est qui nostris tám proterve fóribus facit iniúriam?
Who is it that does injury to our doors so insolently?
§415Égo sum.
It is I.
§415bHem, quid hoc boni est? eu edepol specie lepida mulierem.
Ha, what good thing is this? By Pollux, a woman of delightful appearance!
§416Salve, adulescens.
Greetings, young man.
§416bEt tu multum salveto, adulescentula.
And very hearty greetings to you, young woman.
§417Ad vos venio.
I come to you.
§417bAccipiam hospitio, si mox venies §418item ut adfectam; nam nunc nihil est qui te manem
I will receive you hospitably, if you will come soon in the same way as I am inclined to treat you; for now there is nothing by which I may hold you.

Notes

  1. 363anancaeo — A dative singular of a noun derived from Greek ἀναγκαῖον (necessary, forced), referring to a large 'cup of necessity' or 'penalty cup' that one was forced to drain at a banquet. This continues the metaphor from the previous line where Neptune 'invited him with large cups' (i.e., drowned him).
  2. 365bScibis faxo — Scibis is an archaic form of the future tense scies. faxo is an archaic future perfect (acting as a simple future) contracted from fecero. The phrase function as 'I will see to it that you know,' i.e., 'I will let you know.'
  3. 388bhoc sese excruciat animi — animi is a locative (or genitive of specification) meaning 'in mind' or 'in spirit,' commonly used in early Latin with verbs of mental suffering or anxiety such as excruciare or pendere.
  4. 394quam liberam esse oporteat servire postulare — A complex exclamatory structure with nested infinitives. postulare (to demand) has the pimp as its omitted subject, and the accusative-with-infinitve clause [eam] servire (that she serve) as its object. The relative pronoun quam introduces the clause governed by oporteat, whose subject is [eam] liberam esse (that she be free). The whole structure means: 'To demand that she serve, whom it is fitting to be free!'
  5. 417bnihil est qui te manem — qui is an archaic ablative form of the relative pronoun equivalent to quo (by which). manem is an archaic subjunctive present form of maneam (to hold back, wait for). The clause expresses purpose or means: 'there is nothing by which I can hold you.'

Cite this passage

Plautus, Rudens §358b-418. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0119.phi017.humanitext-lat2:358b-418

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