§576cMihi.
To me.
§576dSatis tuto tamen.
Safe enough, indeed.
§577Edicit ne vir quisquam ad eam adeat; et mihi ne abscedam imperat,
She gave orders that no man should approach her; and she commanded me not to leave, to remain in the inner room, alone with her.
I nodded, looking down modestly at the ground.
§579bMiser!
Poor fellow!
§579c"Ego," inquit, "ad coenam hine eo. " §580Abducit secum ancillas: paucae quae circum illam essent manent
"I," she said, "am going from here to dinner." She took her maids with her; only a few new-bought girls remained to attend her.
§581Novitiae puellae: continuo haec adornant ut lavet.
Straightway they made preparations for her bath.
§582Adhortor properent: dum apparatur, virgo in conclavi sedet, §583Suspectans tabulam quandam pictam, ubi inerat pictura haec: §584Quo pacto Danaae misisse aiunt quondam in gremium imbirem aureum.
I urged them to hurry; while it was being prepared, the girl sat in the room, gazing up at a certain painting, which represented this scene: how they say Jupiter once sent a golden shower into the bosom of Danae.
§585Egomet quoque id spectare coepi; et, quia consimilem luserat §586Iam olim ille ludum, impendio magis animus gaudebat mihi; §587Deum sese in hominem convertisse, atque in alienas tegulas §588Venisse clanculum per impluvium, fucum factum mulieri.
I too began to gaze at it; and, because that god had once played a very similar game, my heart rejoiced exceedingly the more; that a god should have changed himself into a man, and come secretly through the opening in another's roof, through the skylight, and deceived the woman.
§589At quem Deum? qui templa coeli summa sonitu concutit.
And what a god! He who shakes the highest temples of heaven with his thunder.
§590Ego homuncio hoc non facerem? ego illud vero ita feci ac lubens.
Should I, a mere pygmy of a man, not do the same? I indeed did it, and gladly too.
§591Dum haec mecum reputo, arcessitur lavatum interea virgo: §592It, lavit, rediit: deinde eam in lectum illae collocant.
While I was turning these things over in my mind, the girl in the meantime was called to her bath: she went, bathed, and returned; then they laid her upon the couch.
§593Sto exspectans si quid mihi imperent.
I stood waiting to see if they had any orders for me.
Venit una; "Heus tu," inquit, "Dore §594Cape hoc flabellum et ventulum huic sic facito, dum lavamus: §595Ubi nos laverimus si voles lavato. "Accipio tristis.
One of them came up; "Hey you," she said, "Dorus, take this fan and fan her a little like this while we are bathing: when we have bathed, you may bathe too if you like." I took it with a gloomy look.
§596Tum equidem istuc os tuum impudens videre nimium vellem; §597Qui esset status, flabellum tenere te asinum tantum.
I would have given anything then to see that impudent face of yours; what a figure you cut, a great ass like you holding a fan.
§598Vix elocuta est hoc, foras simul omnes proruunt se: §599Abeunt lavatum: perstrepunt, ita ut fit domini ubi absunt.
She had scarcely spoken this, when they all rushed out of doors together: they went to bathe; they made a great noise, as is the way when masters are absent.
§600Interea somnus virginem opprimit; ego limis specto §601Sic per flabellum clanculum; simul alia circumspecto
Meanwhile sleep overcame the girl; I looked askance thus through the fan, secretly; at the same time I looked around at other things to see if all was safe.
§602Satin explorata sint. Video esse; pessulum ostio obdo.
I saw it was; I barred the door.
§603Quid tum?
What then?
§603bQuid? quid tum? fatue.
What? What then, you fool?
§603cFateor.
I admit it.
Should I let slip such an opportunity offered to me, so great, so brief, so wished-for, so unexpected?
§605Amitterem? tum pol ego is essem vere qui simulabar.
If I had, then by Pollux I should have been truly the one I was pretending to be.
§606Sane hercle ut dicis: sed interim de symbolis quid actum est?
Indeed, by Hercules, as you say; but in the meantime, what about the club-dinner?
§607Paratum est.
It is all prepared.
§607bFrugi es.
Good for you!
Ubi? domino?
Where? At home?
§607cImmo apud libortum Discumn.
No, at the house of Discus, the freedman.
§608Perlonge est: sed tanto ocius properenus; muta vestem.
That is a long way off; but let us hurry all the faster; change your clothes.
§609Ubi mutem? perii;
Where can I change them?
nam domo exulo nunc: metuo fratrem §610Ne intus sit; porro autem pater ne rure redierit iam.
I am ruined; for I am an exile from home now; I fear my brother lest he be inside; and further, my father, lest he have already returned from the country.
§611Eamus ad me: ibi proximum est ubi mutes.
Let us go to my house; that is the nearest place for you to change.
§611bRecte dicis §612Eamus; et de istac simul, quo pacto porro possim §613Potiri, consilium volo capere una tecum.
You are right; let us go; and at the same time, I want to take counsel with you how I may secure her hereafter.
§613bFiat.
Very well.
§614Ita me Di ament, quantum ego illum vidi, nonnihil timeo misera §615Ne quam ille hodie insanus turbam faciat, aut vim Thaidi.
As the gods love me, from what I saw of him, I am not a little afraid, poor me, lest that madman should make some disturbance today, or offer some violence to Thais.
§616Nam postquam iste advenit Chremes adolescens, frater virginis, §617Militem rogat ut illum admitti iubeat: ille continuo irasci, §618Neque negare audere: Thais porro instare ut hominem invitet.
For after that young Chremes arrived, the brother of the girl, she asked the soldier to order him to be admitted; he immediately began to be angry, yet did not dare to refuse; Thais, moreover, kept pressing him to invite the man.
§619Id faciebat retinendi illius causa, quia illa quae cupiebat §620De sorore eius indicare ad eam rem tempus non erat.
She did this for the sake of detaining him, because there was no time then to reveal what she wished about his sister.
§621Invitat tristis; mansit: ibi illa cum illo sermonem occipit.
He invited him with a gloomy air; he stayed; there she began a conversation with him.
But the soldier thought that a rival had been brought before his eyes: he wished to vex her in return.
Heus! inquit, puer, Pamphilam §624Arcesse, ut delectet hic nos. Illa exclamat, "Minime gentium!
"Ho there!" he said, "boy, go fetch Pamphila, to delight us here." She cried out, "Not for the world!
§625In convivium illam?" Miles tendere: inde ad iurgium.
Bring her into the banquet?" The soldier persisted; hence it came to a quarrel.
§626Interea aurum sibi clam mulier demit; dat mihi ut auferam.
Meanwhile the woman secretly took off her gold ornaments; she gave them to me to carry away.
§627Hoc est signi; ubi primum poterit se illinc subducet, scio.
This is a sign; as soon as she can, she will steal away from there, I know.
§628Dum rus eo coepi egomet mecum inter vias, §629Ita ut fit ubi quid in animo est molestiae, §630Aliam rem ex alia cogitare, et ea omnia in
While I was going to the country, I began on the way by myself, as is usual when there is some trouble in the mind, to turn over one thing after another, and all of them in