Humanitext Reader

Terence · Andria §276b-332

The Promise to Chrysis and Charinus's Plea

Passage 7 of 18 · Latin

Summary

Pamphilus recounts to Mysis the solemn deathbed promise he made to Chrysis to protect Glycerium, swearing never to desert her. Meanwhile, Charinus, who is in love with Pamphilus's betrothed Philumena, arrives with his slave Byrrhia and desperately begs Pamphilus to postpone the wedding, only to learn that Pamphilus himself desires nothing more than to escape it.

§276bHaud vereor si in te solo sit situm; §277Sed ut vim queas ferre.
I do not fear at all if it were situated in you alone; But whether you can bear the pressure.
§277bAdeone me ignavum putas, §278Adeone porro ingratum, aut inhumanum, aut ferum, §279Ut neque me consuetudo neque amor neque pudor §280Commoveat neque commoneat ut servem fidem?
Do you think me so cowardly, so ungrateful furthermore, or inhuman, or savage, that neither companionship, nor love, nor shame moves me nor warns me to keep my faith?
§281Unum hoc scio, esse meritam ut memor esses sui.
This one thing I know, that she has deserved that you should be mindful of her.
§282Memor essem? o Mysis Mysis, etiam nunc mihi §283Scripta illa sunt in animo dicta Chrysidis §284De Glycerio.
Mindful of her? O Mysis, Mysis, even now to me those words of Chrysis are written in my mind concerning Glycerium.
Iam ferme moriens me vocat: §285Accessi: vos semotae: nos soli: incipit: §286"Mi Pamphile, huius formam atque aetatem vides: §287Nec clam te est quam illi utraeque res nunc utiles
Now almost dying she calls me: I approached: you were removed: we were alone: she begins: "My Pamphilus, you see her beauty and her youth: nor is it hidden from you how little useful both of those things now are to her both to protect her chastity and her property.
§288Et ad pudicitiam et ad rem tutandam sient. §289Quod ego te per hanc dextram oro et ingenium tuum, §290Per tuam fidem, perque huius solitudinem, §291Te obtestor, ne abs te hanc segreges neu deseras, §292Si te in germani fratris dilexi loco, §293Sive haec te solum semper fecit maximi, §294Seu tibi morigera fuit in rebus omnibus.
Therefore I beg you by this right hand and your character, by your faith, and by her loneliness, I adjure you, do not separate her from you nor desert her, If I have loved you in the place of a true brother, or if she has always valued you alone most highly, or if she has been obedient to you in all things.
§295Te isti virum do amicum tutorem patrem.
I give you to her as husband, friend, guardian, father.
§296Bona nostra haec tibi permitto et tuae mando fidei. " §297Hanc mihi in manum dat: mors continuo ipsam occupat.
I entrust these goods of ours to you and commit them to your faith." She puts her hand into mine: death immediately seizes her.
§298Accepi: acceptam servabo.
I accepted her: having accepted her, I will protect her.
§298bIta spero quidem.
I indeed hope so.
§299Sed cur tu abis ab illa?
But why are you leaving her?
§299bObstetricem arcesso.
I am fetching the midwife.
§299cPropera, atque audin'?
Hurry, and do you hear?
§300Verbum unum cave de nuptiis, ne ad morbum hoc etiam.
Beware of saying a single word about the wedding, lest this also add to her illness.
§300bTeneo.
I understand.
§301Quid ais Byrrhia? daturne illa Pamphilo hodie nuptum?
What do you say, Byrrhia? Is she to be given in marriage to Pamphilus today?
§301bSic est.
So it is.
§302Qui scis?
How do you know?
§302bApud forum modo e Davo audivi.
Just now at the forum I heard it from Davus.
§302cVae misero mihi.
Woe to wretched me!
§303Ut animus in spe atque in timore usque antehac attentus fuit, §304Ita postquam adempta spes est lassus cura confectus stupet.
Just as my mind was continuously held tense in hope and fear up to now, so now that hope is taken away, weary and worn out with care, it is numbed.
§305Quaeso edepol, Charine, quoniam non potest id fieri quod vis, §306Id velis quod possit.
I beg you, by Pollux, Charinus, since what you wish cannot be done, you should wish what is possible.
§306bNil volo aliud nisi Philumenam.
I wish nothing else but Philumena.
§306cAh,
Ah!
§307Quanto satius est te id dare operam qui istum amorem ex animo amoveas, §308Quam id loqui quo magis libido frustra incendatur tua.
How much better is it for you to labor to remove that love from your mind, than to say that by which your desire is further inflamed in vain.
§309Facile omnes cum valemus recta consilia aegrotis damus.
We all, when we are well, easily give good advice to the sick.
§310Tu si hic sis aliter sentias.
If you were in my place, you would think otherwise.
§310bAge age, ut libet.
Well, well, as you please.
§310cSed Pamphilum
But Pamphilus...
§311Video: omnia experiri certum est prius quam pereo.
I see him: I am determined to try everything before I perish.
§311bQuid hic agit?
What is he doing here?
§312Ipsum hunc orabo: huic supplicabo: amorem huic narrabo meum: §313Credo impetrabo ut aliquot saltem nuptiis prodat dies: §314Interea fiet aliquid, spero.
I will entreat him himself: I will supplicate him: I will tell him of my love: I believe I will obtain that he put off the wedding for at least a few days: meanwhile something will happen, I hope.
§314bId aliquid nihil est.
That "something" is nothing.
§314cByrrhia, §315Quid tibi videtur? adeon' ad eum?
Byrrhia, what does it seem to you? Shall I go to him?
§315bQuidni? Si nihil impetres, §316Ut te arbitretur sibi paratum moechum si illam duxerit?
Why not? Even if you obtain nothing, so that he may think you are prepared as an adulterer for him if he marries her?
§317Abin' hinc in malam rem cum suspicione istac, scelus?
Will you not go from here to the devil with that suspicion of yours, you scoundrel?
§318Charinum video: salve.
I see Charinus: greetings.
§318bO salve Pamphile.
Oh, greetings, Pamphilus.
§319Ad te advenio spem, salutem, auxilium, consilium expetens.
I come to you seeking hope, safety, help, and advice.
§320Neque pol consili locum habeo, neque auxili copiam.
By Pollux, I have neither room for advice, nor abundance of help.
§321Sed istuc quidnam est?
But what is that?
§321bHodie uxorem ducis?
Are you marrying today?
§321cAiunt.
They say so.
§321dPamphile, §322Si id facis hodie postremum me vides.
Pamphilus, if you do that, today you see me for the last time.
§322bQuid ita?
Why so?
§322cHei mihi,
Woe is me!
§323Vereor dicere: huic dic quaeso Byrrhia.
I am afraid to say: please tell him, Byrrhia.
§323bEgo dicam.
I will say it.
§323cQuid est?
What is it?
§324Sponsam hic tuam amat.
This man loves your bride.
§324bNae iste haud mecum sentit: Ehodum dic mihi:
Truly, he does not feel as I do!
§325Numquidnam amplius tibi cum illa fuit Charine?
Come, tell me: has there been anything more between you and her, Charinus?
§325bAh Pamphile §326Nihil.
Ah, Pamphilus, nothing.
§326bQuam vellem.
How I wish there had been!
§326cNunc te per amicitiam et per amorem obsecro §327Principio ut ne ducas.
Now I beseech you by our friendship and by love, first, that you do not marry her.
§327bDabo equidem operam.
Indeed, I will do my best.
§327cSed si id non potes, §328Aut tibi nuptiae haec sunt cordi.
But if you cannot do that, or if this wedding is dear to your heart.
§328bCordi?
Dear to my heart?
§328cSaltem aliquot dies §329Profer, dum proficiscor aliquo ne videam.
at least for a few days postpone it, while I depart somewhere so that I may not see it.
§329bAudi nunc iam.
Listen now indeed.
§330Ego Charine neutiquam officium liberi esse hominis puto §331Cum is nihil promereat postulare id gratiae adponi sibi.
Charinus, I by no means think it is the duty of a free-born man, when he deserves nothing, to demand that it be set down to him as a favor.
§332Nuptias effugere ego istas malo, quam tu adipiscier.
I prefer to escape this wedding more than you prefer to obtain it.

Notes

  1. §277Sed ut vim queas ferre — A clause introduced by `ut` expressing apprehension, dependent on an omitted verb of fearing (such as `vereor`) implied from the preceding sentence. The construction `vereor ut` expresses a concern that something may *not* happen ("I fear that you may not be able to bear the pressure").
  2. §281esse meritam ut memor esses sui — An accusative and infinitive construction where `meritam [esse]` (with Glycerium as the implied subject) is governed by `scio`. The phrase `mereri ut` means "to deserve that...", and `sui` is the genitive object of the adjective `memor` referring back to the subject Glycerium.
  3. §287quam illi utraeque res nunc utiles ... sient — An indirect question clause introduced by `nec clam te est` ("it is not hidden from you / you well know"), with the subjunctive verb `sient` (an archaic form of `sint`). Here, `quam utiles` ("how useful") carries an ironic or rhetorical force, meaning "how little useful" (or rather, how perilous) her youth and beauty are for protecting her chastity and property without a guardian.
  4. §307te id dare operam qui istum amorem — The infinitive phrase `te id dare operam` serves as the subject of `quanto satius est` ("how much better it is"). `qui` is an archaic relative adverb (equivalent here to `quo` or `ut`), introducing a purpose or result clause with the subjunctive `amoveas` ("by which/so that you may remove that love").
  5. §330Ego Charine neutiquam officium liberi esse hominis puto — The main accusative and infinitive structure is `puto [officium esse...]`, in which the true logical subject is the infinitive `postulare` in the next line (§331). The syntax is analyzed as: "I by no means think that [to demand...] is the duty of a free-born man."

Cite this passage

Terence, Andria §276b-332. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0134.phi001.humanitext-lat2:276b-332

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