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Terence · Heauton Timorumenos §900b..-960..

The Deception Revealed and Chremes's Rage

Passage 18 of 20 · Latin

Summary

Menedemus reveals to Chremes that Clitipho and Bacchis retired into a private bedroom together. Hearing this, Chremes realizes that Bacchis is his own son Clitipho's mistress, and in his rage, he devises a plan to punish both his son and the slave Syrus.

§900b..Mitto iam osculari atque amplexari: id nihil puto.
[Menedemus] I pass over now their kissing and embracing; I think that is nothing.
§901..Quid est, quod amplius simuletur?
What is there that could be further simulated?
§901b..Vah!
[Chremes] Alas!
§901c..Quid est?
[Menedemus] What is it?
§901d..Audi modo:
Just listen:
§902..Est mihi ultimis conclave in aedibus quoddam retro: §903..Huc est intro latus lectus; vestimentis stratus est.
I have a certain back chamber in the innermost part of my house; into this place a bed was carried; it was spread with coverlets.
§904..Quid postquam hoc est factum?
[Chremes] What after this was done?
§904b..Dictum factum, huc abiit Clitipho.
[Menedemus] No sooner said than done, Clitipho went in there.
§905..Solus?
[Chremes] Alone?
§905b..Solus.
[Menedemus] Alone.
§905c..Timeo.
[Chremes] I fear.
§905d..Bacchis consecuta est ilico.
[Menedemus] Bacchis followed immediately.
§906..Sola?
[Chremes] Alone?
§906b..Sola.
[Menedemus] Alone.
§906c..Perii.
[Chremes] I am ruined.
§906d..Ubi abiere intro, operuere ostium.
[Menedemus] When they went inside, they shut the door.
§906e..Hem,
[Chremes] Ah!
§907..Clinia haec fieri videbat?
Was Clinia watching this happen?
§907b..Quidni? mecum una simul.
[Menedemus] Why not? Together with me at the same time.
§908..Fili est amica Bacchis, Menedeme.
[Chremes] Bacchis is my son's mistress, Menedemus!
Occidi.
I am undone!
§909..Quamobrem?
[Menedemus] Why so?
§909b..Decem dierum vix mihi est familia.
[Chremes] My estate will hardly last ten days.
§910..Quid? istuc times quod ille operam amico dat suo?
[Menedemus] What? Are you afraid of that, because he is helping his friend?
§911..Immo quod amicae.
[Chremes] No, because he is helping his own mistress!
§911b..Si dat.
[Menedemus] If he is.
§911c..An dubium id tibi est?
[Chremes] Is that doubtful to you?
§912..Quemquamne animo tam communi esse, aut leni putas, §913..Qui se vidente amicam patiatur suam?—
Do you think anyone is of so easy-going or tolerant a mind, that he would allow his own mistress [to be taken] with himself watching?
§914..Quidni? quo verba facilius dentur mihi.
[Menedemus] Why not? So that I might be more easily deceived.
§915..Derides merito.
[Chremes] You mock me deservedly.
Mihi nunc ego succenseo.
I am angry at myself now.
§916..Quot res dedere ubi possem persentiscere,
How many signs occurred by which I could have perceived it, if I were not a stone!
§917..Nisi essem lapis? Quae vidi! Vae misero mihi.
What things I saw! Woe to miserable me!
§918..At nae illud haud inultum, si vivo, ferent:
But truly, they shall not carry that off unpunished, if I live!
§919..Nam iam- §919b..Non tu te cohibes? non te respicis?
For now— [Menedemus] Will you not restrain yourself? Will you not look at yourself?
§920..Non tibi ego exempli satis sum?
Am I not enough of an example for you?
§920b..Prae iracundia, §921..Menedeme, non sum apud me.
[Chremes] Because of anger, Menedemus, I am not in my right mind.
§921b..Tene istuc loqui?
[Menedemus] To think that you should say that!
§922..Nonne id flagitium est, te aliis consilium dare, §923..Foris sapere, tibi non posse auxiliarier?
Is it not a shame that you give advice to others, are wise abroad, but cannot help yourself?
§924..Quid faciam?
[Chremes] What should I do?
§924b..Id quod me fecisse aiebas parum.
[Menedemus] That which you said I did too little.
§925..Fac te patrem esse sentiat; fac ut audeat
§926..Tibi credere omnia, abs te petere et poscere; §927..Ne quam aliam quaerat copiam, ac te deserat.
Make him feel that you are a father; make him dare to trust you with everything, to ask and demand from you; lest he seek some other resource and desert you.
§928..Immo abeat multo malo quovis gentium, §929..Quam hic per flagitium ad inopiam redigat patrem:
[Chremes] Nay, I would much rather he go to any part of the world, than that he should reduce his father here to poverty through his shameful behavior.
§930..Nam, si illi pergo suppeditare sumtibus,
§931..Menedeme, mihi illaec vero ad rastros res redit.
For, if I continue to supply his expenses, Menedemus, indeed my situation will come back to the rake.
§932..Quot incommoditates in hac re accipies, nisi caves?
[Menedemus] You must beware, otherwise how many inconveniences you will receive in this matter.
§933..Difficilem ostendes te esse, et ignosces tamen §934..Post; et id ingratum.
You will show yourself to be harsh, and yet you will forgive him afterwards; and that will be without thanks.
§934b..Ah, nescis quam doleam.
[Chremes] Ah, you don't know how I suffer.
§934c..Ut libet.
[Menedemus] As you please.
§935..Quid hoc quod volo, ut illa nubat nostro? nisi quid est §936..Quod mavis.
What about this which I wish, that she marry our son? Unless there is something you prefer.
§936b..Immo et gener et affines placent.
[Chremes] Nay, both the son-in-law and the in-laws please me.
§937..Quid dotis dicam te dixisse filio?
[Menedemus] What dowry shall I say you have named to your son?
§938..Quid obticuisti?
Why have you become silent?
§938b..Dotis?
[Chremes] Dowry?
§938c..Ita dico.
[Menedemus] So I say.
§938d..Ah!
[Chremes] Ah!
§938e..Chreme, §939..Ne quid vereare si minus: nihil nos dos movet.
[Menedemus] Chremes, don't fear if it is less: the dowry does not move us at all.
§940..Duo talenta pro re nostra ego esse decrevi satis.
[Chremes] I have decided that two talents is enough, considering my circumstances.
§941..Sed ita dictu opus est, si me vis salvum esse, rem, et filium, §942..Me mea omnia bona doti dixisse illi.
But it is necessary to say this, if you wish me, my estate, and my son to be safe: that I have promised all my goods to her as a dowry.
§942b..Quam rem agis?
[Menedemus] What are you doing?
§943..Id mirari te simulato, et illum hoc rogitato simul,
[Chremes] Pretend that you wonder at it, and at the same time ask him why I would do that.
§944..Quamobrem id faciam.
§944b..Quin ego vero quamobrem id facias nescio.
[Menedemus] Indeed, I myself do not know why you are doing it.
§945..Egone? ut eius animum, qui nunc luxuria et lascivia §946..Diffluit, retundam, redigam ut quo se vertat nesciat.
[Chremes] I? So that I may blunt his mind, which now overflows with luxury and wantonness, and reduce him so that he does not know where to turn.
§947..Quid agis?
[Menedemus] What are you doing?
§947b..Mitte; sine me in hac re gerere mihi morem.
[Chremes] Let it be; allow me to have my own way in this matter.
§947c..Sino.
[Menedemus] I allow it.
§948..Itane vis?
Do you really wish it so?
§948b..Ita.
[Chremes] Yes.
§948c..Fiat.
[Menedemus] So be it.
§948d..Age iam uxorem ut arcessat paret.
[Chremes] Come now, let him prepare to summon his wife.
§949..Hic ita ut liberos est aequum dictis confutabitur.
He will be put down by words in such a way as is fair for freeborn children.
§950..Sed Syrum.
But Syrus...
§950b..Quid eum?
[Menedemus] What of him?
§950c..Egone? si vivo, adeo exornatum dabo, §951..Adeo depexum, ut dum vivat meminerit semper mei;
[Chremes] I? If I live, I will dress him out so well, and comb him down so well, that he will always remember me as long as he lives;
§952..Qui sibi me pro ridiculo ac delectamento putat.
he who thinks of me as a laughing-stock and a plaything.
§953..Non, ita me Di ament, auderet haec facere viduae mulieri, §954..Quae in me fecit.
So help me Gods, he would not dare do to a widowed woman what he has done to me.
§954b..Itane tandem quaeso, Menedeme, ut pater §955..Tam in brevi spatio omnem de me eiecerit animum patris?
[Clitipho] Is it really true, I ask you, Menedemus, that my father in so short a space of time has cast off all a father's feeling for me?
§956..Quodnam ob facinus? quid ego tantum sceleris admisi miser?
For what misdeed? What great crime have I, wretched one, committed?
§957..Vulgo faciunt.
Young men do it commonly.
§957b..Scio tibi esse hoc gravius multo ac durius, §958..Cui fit; verum ego haud minus aegre patior.
[Menedemus] I know this is much heavier and harder for you, to whom it happens; but indeed I suffer no less painfully.
Id qui nescio, §959..Nec rationem capio, nisi quod tibi bene ex animo volo.
I who do not know the reason, nor do I understand it, except that I wish you well from my heart.
§960..Hic patrem adstare aibas?
[Clitipho] Did you say my father was standing here?

Notes

  1. 904bDictum factum — An idiomatic expression meaning "no sooner said than done", coordinating the perfect passive participles *dictum* and *factum* to emphasize the immediate transition from words to action.
  2. 909bDecem dierum vix mihi est familia. — The genitive phrase *decem dierum* (of ten days) is a genitive of measure or quality modifying *familia* (here meaning "property" or "estate"), figuratively indicating that his fortune will last barely ten days due to Bacchis' extravagance.
  3. 921bTene istuc loqui? — An exclamatory accusative-with-infinitive construction. The accusative subject *te* (with the enclitic particle *-ne*) and the infinitive *loqui* express Menedemus' astonishment that Chremes, who was previously lecturing on rationality, is now losing his temper.
  4. 931ad rastros res redit — A proverbial expression ("the matter returns to the rakes") referring to hard agricultural labor. It figuratively implies that Chremes will be reduced to the same grueling manual farm work that Menedemus previously imposed on himself.
  5. 950cexornatum dabo, adeo depexum — A colloquial combination of the verb *do* (here *dabo*) with the perfect passive participles *exornatum* (adorned) and *depexum* (combed), emphasizing a completed future action. Sarcastic terms representing a severe thrashing or punishment.

Cite this passage

Terence, Heauton Timorumenos §900b..-960... Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0134.phi002.humanitext-lat2:900b..-960..

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