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Terence · Eunuchus §794b-853

Thraso's Retreat and Thais Catching Chaerea

Passage 16 of 20 · Latin

Summary

After a tense standoff between Thraso and Chremes, Thraso's forces temporarily withdraw. Shortly after, Thais learns that the girl she entrusted was violated by Chaerea disguised as a eunuch, and catches Chaerea as he attempts to flee.

§794bEt cum eo clam te subduxti mihi?
And did you steal away from me with him in secret?
§795Libuit.
It was my pleasure.
§795bPamphilam ergo huc redde, nisi vi mavis eripi.
Therefore, return Pamphila here, unless you prefer her to be snatched by force.
§796Tibi illam reddat? aut tu illam tangas omnium—?
Return her to you? Or should you of all people touch her—?
§796bAh, quid agis? tace.
Ah, what are you doing? Be silent.
§797Quid tu tibi vis? ego non tangam meam?
What do you want for yourself? Am I not to touch my own?
§797bTuam autem furcifer!
Your own indeed, you scoundrel!
§798Cave sis; nescis cui nunc male dicas viro.
Take care, please; you do not know to what sort of man you are now speaking ill.
§798bNon tu hinc abis?
Won't you get away from here?
§799Scin tu ut tibi res se habeat? Si quicquam hodie hic turbae coeperis, §800Faciam ut huius loci, dieique, meique, semper memineris.
Do you know how your situation stands? If you start any trouble here today, I will make you remember this place, this day, and me forever.
§801Miseret tui me qui hunc tantum hominem facias inimicum tibi.
I pity you who make such a great man an enemy to yourself.
§802Diminuam ego caput tuum hodie, nisi abis.
I will break your head today, unless you depart.
§802bAin vero, canis?
Do you really say so, you dog?
§803Sicine agis?
Is this how you act?
§803bQuis tu es homo? quid tibi vis? quid cum illa rei tibi est?
What man are you? What do you want? What business have you with her?
§804Scibis: principio eam esse dico liberam.
You shall know: in the first place, I say she is freeborn.
§804bTem!
Indeed!
§804cCivem Atticam.
An Athenian citizen.
§804dHui!
Oh!
§805Meam sororem.
My sister.
§805bOs durum!
What impudence!
§805cMiles, nunc adeo edico tibi §806Ne vim facias ullam in illam.
Soldier, now indeed I warn you not to use any force against her.
Thais, ego eo ad Sophronam §807Nutricem, ut ean adducam, et signa ostendam haec.
Thais, I am going to Sophrona, the nurse, to bring her here and show her these tokens.
§807bTun me prohibeas §808Meam ne tangam?
Would you prevent me from touching my own?
§808bProhibeo, inquam.
I do prevent you, I say.
§808cAudin tu? hic furti se alligat.
Do you hear? This fellow implicates himself in theft.
§809Satis hoc tibi est.
This is enough for you.
§809bIdem hoc tu ais, Thais?
Do you say this same thing, Thais?
§809cQuaere qui respondeat.
Look for someone else to answer you.
§810Quid nunc agimus?
What do we do now?
§810bQuin redimus? Iam haec tibi aderit supplicans §811Ultro.
Why don't we return? Soon she will be here, begging you of her own accord.
§811bCredin?
Do you think so?
§811cImmo certe.
Nay, certainly.
Novi ingenium mulierum: §812Nolunt ubi velis; ubi nolis cupiunt ultro.
I know the disposition of women: they will not when you wish; when you do not wish, they desire of their own accord.
§812bBene putas.
You think well.
§813Iam dimitto exercitum?
Shall I now dismiss the army?
§813bUbi vis.
When you wish.
§813cSanga, ita uti fortes decet §814Milites, domi focique fac vicissim ut memineris.
Sanga, just as becomes brave soldiers, see that you in turn remember your home and hearth.
§815Iamdudum animus est in patinis.
For a long time my mind has been on the dishes.
§815bFrugi es.
You are a worthy fellow.
§815cVos me hac sequimini.
You, follow me this way.
§816Pergin scelesta mecum perplexe loqui?
Do you go on speaking to me obscurely, you wicked girl?
§817"Scio; nescio; abiit; audivi; ego non affui. " §818Non tu istuc mihi dictura aperte es quicquid est?
"I know; I don't know; he is gone; I heard; I was not present." Aren't you going to tell me openly whatever it is?
§819Virgo conscissa veste lacrimans obticet.
The girl, with her clothes torn, weeping, keeps silence.
§820Eunuchus abiit;
The eunuch has gone; for what reason?
quamobrem? quid factum est? taces?
What has happened? Are you silent?
§821Quid tibi ego dicam misera? Illum eunuchum negant §822Fuisse.
What can I, wretched girl, say to you? They say that eunuch was not one.
§822bQuis fuit igitur?
Who was he then?
§822cIste Chaerea.
That Chaerea.
§823Qui Chaerea?
Which Chaerea?
§823bIste ephebus, frater Phaedriae.
That youth, the brother of Phaedria.
§824Quid ais venefica?
What do you say, you sorceress?
§824bAtqui certo comperi.
And yet I found out for certain.
§825Quid is obsecro ad nos? quamobrem adductus est?
What, I pray, is he to us? Why was he brought?
§825bNescio; §826Nisi amasse credo Pamphilam.
I don't know; except that I believe he loved Pamphila.
§826bHem, misera occidi; §827Infelix, siquidem tu istaec vera praedicas.
Ah, wretched me, I am ruined; unhappy, if indeed you speak these things as true.
§828Num id lacrimat virgo?
Is it for that the girl is weeping?
§828bId opinor.
I think so.
§828cQuid ais sacrilega?
What do you say, you impious girl?
§829Istucine interminata sum hinc abiens tibi?
Is this what I threatened you with when I was leaving here?
§830Quid facerem? ita ut tu iusti soli credita est.
What was I to do? She was entrusted to him alone, just as you ordered.
§831Scelesta lupo ovem commisisti.
You wicked girl, you committed the sheep to the wolf.
Dispudet §832Sic mihi data esse verba.
I am thoroughly ashamed that I have been so deceived.
Quid illic hominis est?
What kind of man is that there?
§833Hera mea tace; tace obsecro; salvae sumus:
My mistress, be silent; be silent, I pray; we are safe: we have the man himself.
§834Habemus hominem ipsum. §834bUbi is est?
Where is he?
§834cHem ad sinistram: §835Viden?
Look, to the left: do you see?
§835bVideo.
I see.
§835cComprehendi iube quantum potest.
Order him to be seized as quickly as possible.
§836Quid illo faciemus stulta?
What shall we do with him, foolish girl?
§836bQuid facias rogas?
Do you ask what to do?
§837Vide amabo si non, qutun adspicias, os impudens
Look, please, if his face, when you look at it, does not seem impudent: isn't it?
§838Videtur: non est? tum quae eius confidentia est!
Then what confidence he has!
§839Apud Antiphonem uterque, mater et pater, §840Quasi dedita opera domi erant, ut nullo modo §841Introire possem quin viderent me.
At Antipho's house, both of them, mother and father, were at home as if on purpose, so that in no way could I enter without them seeing me.
Interim §842Dum ante ostium sto, notus mihi quidam obviam §843Venit.
Meanwhile, while I was standing before the door, someone I knew came to meet me.
Ubi vidi, ego me in pedes quantum queo §844In angiportum quoddam desertum; inde item §845In aliud, inde in aliud: ita miserrimus §846Fui fugitando ne quis me cognosceret.
When I saw him, I took to my heels as fast as I could into a certain deserted alley; thence likewise into another, thence into another: thus most wretchedly was I running away lest anyone should recognize me.
§847Sed estne haec Thais quam video? Ipsa est.
But is this Thais whom I see? It is she herself.
Haereo.
I am stuck.
§848Quid faciam? quid mea autem? quid faciet mihi?
What shall I do? But what does it matter to me? What will she do to me?
§849Adeamus. Bone vir Dore salve.
Let us go to her. Good man Dorus, greetings.
Die mihi, §850Aufugistine?
Tell me, did you run away?
§850bHera, factum.
Mistress, it is done.
§850cSatin id tibi placet?
Are you quite pleased with that?
§851Non.
No.
§851bCredin te impune habiturum?
Do you believe you will get off unpunished?
§851cUnam hanc noxiam §852Mitte: si aliam admisero umquam, occidito.
Forgive this one offense: if I ever commit another, kill me.
§853Num meam saevitiam veritus es?
Did you fear my cruelty?

Notes

  1. 801Miseret tui me — A construction with the impersonal verb miseret. The person who feels pity (here, Gnatho himself) is expressed in the accusative me, and the object of pity (Chremes) in the genitive tui.
  2. 830tu iusti — iusti is a colloquial syncopated form of iussisti (from the verb iubere, 'to order'). Thus it has the same meaning as tu iussisti ('just as you ordered').
  3. 832data esse verba — The passive perfect of the idiom verba dare ('to give words', meaning 'to deceive'). It means 'that I have been deceived', functioning as an infinitive of exclamation/regret.
  4. 836Quid illo faciemus — An idiomatic construction where facere takes an ablative (here illo, 'with him') to mean 'what to do with' or 'how to deal with' someone. quid functions as the accusative.

Cite this passage

Terence, Eunuchus §794b-853. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0134.phi003.humanitext-lat2:794b-853

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