Adelphoe Part 4 – Confession, Forgiveness, and a Feast in the Making
Sed quis illic est, quem video procul? estne
Hegio tribulis noster?
But who is that I see in the distance? Is it
Hegio, our fellow tribesman?
si satis cerno, is est hercle: vah, homo
amicus nobis iam inde a puero—o di boni, ne illius modi iam magna nobis civium
penuriast—homo antiqua virtute ac fide.
If I see clearly enough, by Hercules, it is
he: oh, a man who has been a friend to us since childhood—oh, good gods, lest
there now be a great scarcity of citizens of that sort for us—a man of ancient
virtue and fidelity.
Haud cito mali quid ortum ex hoc sit publice.
No evil could quickly arise publicly from such
a man.
Quam gaudeo, ubi etiam huius generis reliquias
restare video! ah, vivere etiam nunc lubet.
How I rejoice when I see that remnants of this
kind still remain! Ah, it is still pleasant to live.
Opperiar hominem hic, ut salutem et conloquar.
I will wait for the man here, so that I may
greet and converse with him.
HE. Pro di immortales, facinus indignum, Geta,
quod narras!
HE. By immortal gods, what an unworthy deed,
Geta, that you relate!
GE. Sic est factum.
GE. So it happened.
HE. Ex illan familia tam inliberale esse ortum
facinus! o Aeschine, pol haud paternum istuc dedisti.
HE. From that family, for so illiberal a deed
to have sprung! Oh Aeschinus, by Pollux, you have not shown a father's nature
in that.
DE. Videlicet de psaltria haec audiuit: id illi
nunc dolet alieno.
DE. Evidently he has heard these things about
the musician: that now grieves him for another's sake.
At pater? is nihili pendit: ei mihi, utinam
hic prope adesset alicubi atque audiret haec!
But the father? He values it as nothing: alas
for me, would that he were somewhere nearby and heard these things!
HE. Nisi facient quae illos aequomst, haud sic
auferent.
HE. Unless they do what is right for them,
they shall not get away with it thus.
GE. In te spes omnis, Hegio, nobis sitast: te solum
habemus, tu es patronus, tu pater: tibi moriens ille nos commendavit senex: si
deseris tu, periimus.
GE. All our hope, Hegio, is placed in you: we
have you alone, you are our patron, our father: that old man commended us to
you dying: if you abandon us, we are ruined.
HE. Cave dixeris: neque faciam neque me satis
pie posse arbitror.
HE. Beware of saying that: I will neither do
so nor do I think I can with enough piety.
DE. Adibo. Salvere Hegionem plurimum iubeo.
DE. I will approach. I bid Hegio a most hearty
welcome.
HE. Oh, te quaerebam ipsum: salve, Demea.
HE. Oh, I was looking for you yourself:
greetings, Demea.
DE. Quid autem?
DE. What is it?
HE. Maior filius tuos Aeschinus, quem
adoptandum dedisti fratri, neque boni neque liberalis functus officiumst
viri.
HE. Your elder son Aeschinus, whom you gave to
your brother for adoption, has not fulfilled the duty of either a good or a
generous man.
DE. Quid istuc est?
DE. What is that?
HE. Nostrum amicum vestrum Simulum
aequalem?
HE. Our friend, your peer Simulus?
DE. Quid ni?
DE. Why not?
HE. Filiam eius virginem vitiavit.
HE. He dishonored his virgin daughter.
DE. Hem!
DE. What!
HE. Mane: nondum audisti, Demea, quod est
gravissimum.
HE. Wait: you haven't yet heard, Demea, what
is most serious.
DE. An quicquam etiam est amplius?
DE. Is there anything even more?
HE. Vero amplius: nam hoc quidem ferundum
aliquo modost: amor persuasit, nox, vinum, adulescentia: humanumst.
HE. Indeed, more: for this at least can be
borne in some way—love persuaded, night, wine, youth: it is human.
Ubi scit factum, ad matrem virginis venit
ipsus ultro, lacrimans, orans, obsecrans, fidem dans, iurans se illam ducturum
domum.
When he learned what had happened, he himself
came unprompted to the girl's mother, weeping, begging, imploring, pledging his
word, swearing he would take her home as his wife.
Ignotumst, tacitumst, creditumst. Virgo ex eo
compressu gravida est facta (hic mensis decumus est).
It was concealed, kept quiet, believed. The
girl became pregnant from that encounter (this is the tenth month).
Ille bonus vir nobis psaltriam, si dis placet,
paravit quicum vivat, illam deserit.
That good man, if the gods permit, has
procured a lute-girl to live with, and abandons the other.
DE. Pro certon tu istaec dicis?
DE. Are you saying these things for
certain?
HE. Mater virginis in mediost, ipsa virgo, res
ipsa, hic Geta praeterea, ut captust servolorum, non malus neque iners: alit
illas, solus omnem familiam sustentat: hunc abduce, vincī, quaere rem.
HE. The maiden’s mother is here, the girl
herself, the facts are plain, and Geta here besides, who, for a slave, is
neither bad nor idle: he supports them, he alone maintains the whole
household—take him away, bind him, investigate the matter.
GE. Immo hercle extorque, nisi ita factumst,
Demea: postremo non negabit: coram ipsum cedo.
GE. Nay, by Hercules, press it out of him
unless it happened just so, Demea: in the end he won’t deny it—bring him face
to face.
DE. Pudet: nec quid agam nec quid huic
respondeam scio.
DE. I am ashamed: I don’t know what to do or
what to say to him.
PA. (intus) Me miseram, differor doloribus.
Iuno Lucina, fer opem: serva me, obsecro.
PA. (inside) Wretched me, I am torn with labor
pains. Juno Lucina, help me—save me, I beg you!
HE. Hem, numnam illa quaeso parturit?
HE. What—surely she isn’t giving birth, I ask?
GE. Certe, Hegio.
GE. Yes, certainly, Hegio.
HE. Em illaec fidem nunc vestram implorat,
Demea: quod illas vos cogit, id voluntate impetret.
HE. See, now she calls on your honor, Demea:
let her obtain by goodwill what you force upon her.
Haec primum ut fiant, deos quaeso ut vobis
decet. Sin aliter animus voster est, ego, Demea, summa vi defendam hanc atque
illum mortuom.
Let these things first be done, I beg the
gods, as is fitting for you. But if your mind is otherwise, I, Demea, will
defend her and that dead man with all my might.
Cognatus mihi erat: una a pueris parvulis
sumus educti: una semper militiae et domi fuimus: paupertatem una pertulimus
gravem.
He was my kinsman: we were brought up together
from boyhood, always together at war and at home, we bore heavy poverty
together.
Quapropter nitar, faciam, experiar, denique
animam relinquam potius quam illas deseram.
Therefore I will strive, act, do all I
can—yes, I would sooner give up my life than abandon them.
Quid mihi respondes?
What do you say to me?
DE. Fratrem conveniam, Hegio.
DE. I will meet my brother, Hegio.
HE. Sed, Demea, hoc tu facito cum animo
cogites: quam vos facillume agitis, quam estis maxime potentes, dites,
fortunati, nobiles, tam maxime vos aequa aequo animo noscere oportet, si vos
vultis perhiberi probos.
HE. But, Demea, be sure to consider this in
your mind: the easier your lives are, the more powerful, wealthy, fortunate,
and noble you are, the more you ought to recognize justice with a just
spirit—if you wish to be called upright men.
DE. Redito. Fient quae fieri aequomst omnia.
DE. Go back. Everything that ought to be done
fairly shall be done.
HE. Decet te facere. Geta, duc me intro ad
Sostratam.
HE. It is right for you to do so. Geta, take
me inside to Sostrata.
DE. Non me indicente haec fiunt: utinam hic
sit modo defunctum! Verum nimia illaec licentia profecto evadet in aliquod
magnum malum. Ibo ac requiram fratrem, ut in eum haec evomam.
DE. These things are done without my approval:
would that it ended here! But that excessive license will surely lead to some
great evil. I will go and find my brother, so I can pour this out on him.
Bono animo fac sis, Sostrata, et istam quod
potis fac consolere.
Take heart, Sostrata, and comfort her as best
you can.
Ego Micionem, si apud forumst, conveniam atque
ut res gesta est narrabo ordine: si est is facturus ut sit officium suom,
faciat: sin aliter de hac re est eius sententia, respondeat mi, ut quid agam
quam primum sciam.
I will go to Micio, if he is at the forum, and
tell him how everything happened, step by step. If he intends to act as his
duty demands, let him do so. But if he thinks otherwise on this matter, let him
give me his answer, so I may know as soon as possible what I should do.
CT. Ain patrem hinc abisse rus?
CT. Did you say my father has gone to the
country?
SY. Iam dudum.
SY. A good while ago.
CT. Dic sodes.
CT. Please, tell me.
SY. Apud villamst nunc, quom maxime operis
aliquid facere credo.
SY. He’s at the estate now—I believe he’s hard
at work on something at this very moment.
CT. Utinam quidem! Quod cum salute eius fiat,
ita se defetigarit velim, ut triduo hoc perpetuo prorsum e lecto nequeat
surgere.
CT. If only! Provided it’s not harmful to his
health, I hope he wears himself out so badly he can’t get out of bed for the
next three days straight.
SY. Ita fiat, et istoc siqui potis est
rectius.
SY. So may it be, or even better than that if
it can be.
CT. Ita: nam hunc diem misere nimis cupio, ut
coepi, perpetuum laetitia degere.
CT. Yes, for I desperately want to spend this
whole day in joy, just as I began.
Et illud rus nulla alia causa tam male odi,
nisi quia propest: quod si abesset longius, prius nox oppressisset illum, quam
huc reverti posset iterum.
And I hate that countryside so much for no
other reason than that it's close by: for if it were further away, night would
have overtaken him before he could return here again.
Nunc ubi me illi non videbit, iam huc
recurret, sat scio: rogitabit me ubi fuerim: ego hoc “te toto non vidi die”:
quid dicam?
Now, when he doesn't see me there, he'll rush
back here, I know full well: he'll ask me where I've been: I'll say, "I
haven't seen you all day": what shall I say?
SY. Nilne in mentemst?
SY. Nothing comes to mind?
CT. Numquam quicquam.
CT. Never anything.
SY. Tanto nequior. Cluens amicus hospes nemo
est vobis?
SY. All the worse. Don’t you have any client,
friend, or guest?
CT. Sunt: quid postea?
CT. I do: what of it?
SY. Hisce opera ut data sit.
SY. That you’ve been attending to them.
CT. Quae non data sit? non potest fieri.
CT. That I haven’t already done? That’s not
possible.
SY. Potest.
SY. It is.
CT. Interdius: sed si hic pernocto, causae
quid dicam, Syre?
CT. During the day, yes: but if I spend the
night here, what excuse can I give, Syrus?
SY. Vah, quam vellem etiam noctu amicis operam
mos esset dari!
SY. Bah, how I wish it were the custom to
attend to friends even at night!
Quin tu otiosus esto: ego illius sensum pulcre
calleo.
Just relax: I know his temperament very well.
Quom feruit maxime, tam placidum quam ovem
reddo.
When he’s angriest, I make him as calm as a
lamb.
CT. Quo modo?
CT. How?
SY. Laudari per te audit lubenter: facio te
apud illum deum; virtutes narro.
SY. He loves to hear himself praised through
you: I make you out to be a god to him; I talk up your virtues.
CT. Meas?
CT. Mine?
SY. Tuas: homini ilico lacrumae cadunt, quasi
puero gaudio.
SY. Yours: the tears fall from the man at
once, like from a boy in joy.
Em tibi autem!
Look at that!
CT. Quidnam est?
CT. What is it?
SY. Lupus in fabula.
SY. Speak of the devil. (Literally, the wolf
in the story.)
CT. Pater est?
CT. Is it father?
SY. Is est ipsus.
SY. It’s him himself.
CT. Syre, quid agimus?
CT. Syrus, what do we do?
SY. Fuge modo intro, ego videro.
SY. Just run inside, I’ll handle it.
CT. Siquid rogabit, nusquam tu me: audistin?
CT. If he asks anything, you haven’t seen me
anywhere: did you hear?
SY. Potin ut desinas?
SY. Can you stop?
