§387Nempe hoc sic esse opinor: dicturum patrem, §388Ducas volo hodie uxorem:
tu,
ducam,
inquies: §389Cedo quid iurgabit tecum? Hic reddes omnia
\nIndeed I think it is thus: that your father will say,\n\n"I want you to marry a wife today"; you, on your part, will say "I will marry her."\n\nTell me, what will he quarrel with you about?
§390Quae nunc sunt certa ei consilia incerta ut sient, §391Sine omni periclo: nam hocce haud dubium est quin Chremes §392Tibi non det gnatam.
Here you will make all\n\nhis plans, which are now certain to him, to be uncertain,\n\nwithout any danger; for there is no doubt of this, that Chremes\n\nwill not give you his daughter.
Nec tu ea causa minueris §393Haec quae facis ne is mutet suam sententiam. §394Patri dic velle, ut cum velit tibi iure irasci non queat. §395Nam quod tu speres propulsabo facile.
Nor, on that account, should you lessen\n\nthese things which you are doing, lest he should change his mind.\n\nTell your father that you are willing, so that when he wishes to be angry with you, he cannot do so with justice.\n\nFor what you hope, I will easily ward off.
Uxorem his moribus §396Dabit nemo; inveniet inopem potius quam te corrumpi sinat. §397Sed si te aequo animo ferre accipiet, neglegentem feceris: §398Aliam otiosus quaeret: interea aliquid acciderit boni. §399Itan credis? §399bHaud dubium id quidem est. §399cVide quo me inducas. §399dQuin taces? §400Dicam.
"A wife, to one of these habits,\n\nno one will give; he will find a poor woman rather than allow you to be ruined."\n\nBut if he hears that you bear it with an easy mind, you will make him careless;\n\nat his leisure he will look for another; meanwhile something good will happen.\n\nDo you believe so?\n\nIndeed there is no doubt of that.\n\nSee where you are leading me.\n\nWhy don't you hold your tongue?\n\nI will say it.
Puerum autem ne resciscat mihi esse ex illa cautio est: §401Nam pollicitus sum suscepturum. §401bO facinus audax! §401cHanc fidem §402Sibi me obsecravit qui se sciret non deserturum ut darem. §403Curabitur.
But I must take care that my father does not find out that I have a child by her;\n\nfor I have promised that I will bring it up.\n\nOh, audacious deed!\n\nThis pledge\n\nshe besought me to give her, so that she might know that she would not be abandoned.\n\nIt shall be cared for.
Sed pater adest.
But your father is here.
Cave te esse tristem sentiat. §404Reviso quid agant aut quid captent consili. §405Hic nunc non dubitat quin te ducturum neges. §406Venit meditatus alicunde ex solo loco: §407Orationem sperat invenisse se §408Qui differat te: proin tu fac apud te ut sies. §409Modo ut possim Dave. §409bCrede inquam hoc mihi Pamphile, §410Numquam hodie tecum commutaturum patrem §411Unum esse verbum si te dices ducere. §412Herus me relictis rebus iussit Pamphilum §413Hodie observare, ut quid ageret de nuptiis §414Scirem: id propterea nunc hunc venientem sequor. §415Ipsum adeo praesto video cum Davo: hoc agam. §416Utrumque adesse video. §416bHem, serva. §416cPamphile! §417Quasi de inproviso respice ad eum. §417bEhem pater. §418Probe. §418bHodie uxorem ducas ut dixi volo. §419Nunc nostrae timeo parti quid hic respondeat. §420Neque istic neque alibi tibi erit usquam in me mora. §420bHem. §421Obmutuit. §421bQuid dixit? §421cFacis ut te decet §422Cum istuc quod postulo impetro cum gratia. §423Sum verus? §423bHerus, quantum audio, uxore excidit. §424I nunc iam intro; ne in mora cum opus sit sies. §425Eo. §425bNullane in re esse homini cuiquam fidem? §426Verum illud verbum est, vulgo quod dici solet, §427Omnes sibi malle melius esse quam alteri. §428Ego illam vidi virginem; forma bona §429Memini videre: quo aequior sum Pamphilo, §430Si se illam in somnis quam illum amplecti maluit. §431Renuntiabo, ut pro hoc malo mihi det malum. §432Hic nunc me credit aliquam sibi fallaciam §433Portare, et ea me hic restitisse gratia. §434Quid Davus narrat? §434bAeque quicquam nunc quidem. §435Nihilne? hem. §435bNihil prorsus.
Take care he does not perceive that you are sad.\n\nI am coming back to see what they are doing, or what plan they are taking.\n\nThis man now has no doubt but that you will refuse to marry.\n\nHe comes having meditated from some solitary place;\n\nhe hopes he has found a speech\n\nby which to confound you; therefore, take care that you are yourself.\n\nIf only I can, Davus.\n\nBelieve me, I say, in this, Pamphilus,\n\nthat your father will never exchange a single word\n\nwith you today, if you say you will marry.\n\nMy master ordered me, leaving all other business, to watch Pamphilus\n\ntoday, so that I might know what he was doing about the wedding;\n\nfor that reason I am now following this man as he comes.\n\nI see him himself right here at hand with Davus; I will attend to this.\n\nI see both are present.\n\nMind, hold your own.\n\nPamphilus!\n\nLook back at him as if by surprise.\n\nAh, father.\n\nCapital.\n\nI want you to marry a wife today, as I said.\n\nNow I fear for our side, what he will answer.\n\nNeither in this nor anywhere else shall you find any delay in me.\n\nAh.\n\nHe is struck dumb.\n\nWhat did he say?\n\nYou act as becomes you,\n\nsince I obtain what I request with your good will.\n\nAm I right?\n\nMy master, as far as I hear, has lost his wife.\n\nGo in now; lest you should be a hindrance when there is need.\n\nI am going.\n\nIs there no faith in any matter to any man?\n\nThat is a true saying which is commonly said,\n\n"that all had rather it should go well with themselves than with another."\n\nI saw that maiden; of a beautiful form\n\nI remember she appeared; for which reason I am more indulgent to Pamphilus,\n\nif he preferred that he should embrace her in his dreams rather than Charinus.\n\nI will report it, that he may give me a beating for this bad news.\n\nThis man now believes that I am bringing some trick\n\nto him, and that I have remained here for that reason.\n\nWhat does Davus say?\n\nJust as much as usual, just now.\n\nNothing?
§435cAtqui expectabam quidem. §436Praeter spem evenit: sentio: hoc male habet virum. §437Potin es mihi verum dicere? §437bNihil facilius. §438Num illi molestae quippiam hae sunt nuptiae §439Huiusce propter consuetudinem hospitae? §440Nihil hercle: aut, si adeo, bidui est aut tridui §441Haec sollicitudo: nosti: deinde desinet. §442Etenim ipsus secum recta reputavit via. §443Laudo. §443bDum licitum est ei, dumque aetas tulit, §444Amavit: tum id clam: cavit ne umquam infamiae §445Ea res sibi esset, ut virum fortem decet: §446Nunc uxore opus est: animum ad uxorem appulit. §447Subtristis visus est esse aliquantulum mihi. §448Nil propter hanc rem: sed est quod succenset tibi. §449Quidnam est? §449bPuerile est. §449cQuid est? §449dNihil. §449eQuin dic quid est? §450Ait nimium parce facere sumptum. §450bMene? §450cTe. §451"Vix," inquit, "drachmis est obsonatum decem: §452Num filio videtur uxorem dare?
Ah.\n\nNothing at all.\n\nAnd yet, indeed, I was expecting it.\n\nIt has turned out contrary to his expectation; I perceive it; this vexes the man.\n\nAre you able to tell me the truth?\n\nNothing is easier.\n\nIs this marriage at all disagreeable to him,\n\non account of his intimacy with this foreign woman?\n\nNothing, by Hercules; or, if at all, it is the vexation of two or three days'\n\nanxiety; you know; then it will cease.\n\nFor indeed he himself has reflected upon it in the right way.\n\nI praise him.\n\nWhile it was allowed him, and while his age permitted,\n\nhe loved; and that in secret; he took care that that matter\n\nshould ever be a source of infamy to him, as becomes a man of spirit.\n\nNow he needs a wife; he has applied his mind to a wife.\n\nHe seemed to me to be a little sad.\n\nNot at all on account of this matter; but there is something for which he is angry with you.\n\nWhat indeed is it?\n\nIt is a childish thing.\n\nWhat is it?\n\nNothing.\n\nWhy don't you say what it is?\n\nHe says you are making too sparing an expenditure.\n\nMe?\n\nYou.\n\n"Hardly," says he, "has food been bought for ten drachmas;\n\ndoes he seem to be giving a wife to his son?"