§subject_3At this point (Act i. Sc. 4) the action of the play commences.
在这一时刻（第一幕第四场），剧本的正式剧情拉开了帷幕。
Demipho comes back from Cilicia, and immediately hears the unwelcome news that his son has married a pauper; and he at once attacks Geta, Antipho having made a hasty retreat, who defends himself as best he can, and begins the second plot which they have in hand for obtaining money for Phaedria, who is now driven to the last extremity; for Dorio has given him notice that if thirty minae are not forthcoming by the next day, Pamphila, the music girl, will be sold.
德米丰从西里西亚归来，立即听到了他儿子娶了一个穷光蛋的令人不快的新闻；由于安提丰急忙溜走，德米丰立刻把矛头指向了盖塔。 盖塔尽力为自己辩护，并开始实施他们为斐德里亚筹集资金的第二个计划，此时斐德里亚已经被逼入了绝境；因为多里奥已经通知他，如果第二天还拿不出三十米纳，琴女潘菲拉就会被卖掉。
Geta pretends therefore that Phormio will be very glad to take Phanium off their hands if they will make it worth his while to do so; for he has certain debts, and is already under an engagement to marry a lady who will bring him a sufficient portion to enable him to clear them off.
因此，盖塔假装，如果给福尔米奥足够的报酬，他会很乐意帮他们摆脱法尼乌姆；因为他背负着一些债务，并且已经订婚要娶一位能给他带来足够嫁妆以偿清债务的小姐。
He must therefore have thirty minae, and he will settle the matter for them.
因此，他必须得到三十米纳，然后他就会为他们解决这件事情。
After some trouble the affair is arranged.
费了一番周折后，事情办妥了。
Phormio receives the money, and at once carries it off to Phaedria, who purchases his Pamphila at once, and is made supremely happy; while poor Antipho is more wretched than ever, and accuses Geta of blundering stupidity in thus arranging to get rid of his wife for him.
福尔米奥拿到了钱，立刻把它带给了斐德里亚，斐德里亚随即买下了他的潘菲拉，感到无比幸福；而可怜的安提丰则比以往任何时候都更加痛苦，并指责盖塔愚蠢至极，竟然以这种方式帮他摆脱妻子。
Chremes, meanwhile, has returned from Lemnos, and is in great perplexity about his wife and daughter.
与此同时，克雷墨斯已从莱姆诺斯岛归来，正为他的妻子和女儿感到非常困惑。
He is as anxious as Demipho can be to get rid of this wife of Antipho’s, and does his best to persuade his brother to arrange matters with Phormio.
他像德米丰一样急于摆脱安提丰的这个妻子，并尽最大努力说服他的兄弟与福尔米奥达成协议。
After this affair is settled he goes to make inquiries for his family from Lemnos, when he falls in with Sophrona, and finds to his unbounded astonishment that this wife of Antipho, whom they have been so anxious to get rid of, is no other than his own daughter Phanium.
在事情解决后，他去打听他从莱姆诺斯带来的家人的消息，结果遇到了索弗罗纳，并且令他无限惊讶的是，他们如此急于摆脱的安提丰的妻子，竟然就是他自己的女儿法尼乌姆。
This discovery is imparted to Demipho after an amusing scene of hints rendered necessary by the presence of Nausistrata (Act v. Sc. 3); and the two old men are now as anxious to be off their bargain with Phormio as they were to make it, and above all to get back the thirty minae which the parasite had taken as Phanium’s portion.
由于瑙西斯特拉塔在场（第五幕第三场），这一发现经过了一幕充满暗示的滑稽场景后才透露给德米丰；而这两个老人现在和当初急于达成协议一样，急于取消与福尔米奥的这笔交易，尤其是要拿回那个寄生虫作为法尼乌姆嫁妆拿走的三十米纳。
But they do not find it very easy to manage their scheme.
但他们发现要实施他们的计划并不那么容易。
Phormio is ready enough to give up Phanium, but has no intention of parting with the money; and when the old men attempt by fair means or foul to get it back, Chremes discovers to his horror that Phormio has discovered the secret of Phanium’s parentage, which Geta had overheard when Chremes first recognized his daughter in Demipho’s house.
福尔米奥很乐意放弃法尼乌姆，但根本没有把钱退回去的意图；当老人试图用一切手段（无论软硬）拿回钱时，克雷墨斯惊恐地发现，福尔米奥已经发现了法尼乌姆出身的秘密——这是克雷墨斯最初在德米丰家中认出女儿时，被盖塔无意中偷听到的。
The result of all is that Phormio tells the whole story to Nausistrata.
最终的结果是，福尔米奥把整个故事告诉了瑙西斯特拉塔。
Chremes is utterly confounded, and is quite unable to blame his son for his amour with the music girl, when Phaedria describes to Nausistrata the purpose for which the thirty minae were obtained.
克雷墨斯完全不知所措，而当斐德里亚向瑙西斯特拉塔说明获得这三十米纳的目的时，克雷墨斯也完全无法责备他的儿子与琴女的私情。
The play ends with a conditional forgiveness of Chremes, and an invitation to supper for Phormio.
全剧以克雷墨斯获得有条件的宽恕以及邀请福尔米奥共进晚餐而告终。
In the character of Phormio Terence copied from an original, in which the standing idea of the parasite was strictly observed.
在塑造福尔米奥这个角色时，特伦提乌斯模仿了原作，在原作中，寄生虫的既定形象得到了严格的遵守。
See notes on Act ii. Scene 2.
参见第二幕第二场的注释。
We have seen a very different idea, though with the same fondness for good living, worked out in the Eunuchus.
我们已经看到过一种非常不同的设计，尽管同样热爱美食，但这在《宦官》中得到了体现。
See the Introduction to that play.
参见该剧的引言。
Phormio is, however, a very capital specimen of his class, and shows far more readiness and amiability than most of the tribe.
然而，福尔米奥是他那个阶层中一个极其优异的典型，比大多数同类表现出更多的机敏和亲和力。
It is not unworthy of remark that this play is said by some to have been acted four times in one year.
值得一提的是，有人说这出戏在一年内上演了四次。
At all events, this and the Eunuchus, the two most spirited of Terence’s plays, came on the stage within six months.
无论如何，这出戏和《宦官》——特伦提乌斯最生动活泼的两部剧作——在六个月内相继登上了舞台。