Adelphoe Part 5 – Demea’s Meltdown and the Coming Storm
MI. Ego in hac re nil reperio, quam ob rem
lauder tanto opere, Hegio. Meum officium facio: quod peccatum a nobis ortumst,
corrigo.
MI. I find nothing in this matter for which I
should be so greatly praised, Hegio. I’m doing my duty: I’m correcting a wrong
that came from our side.
Nisi si me in illo credidisti esse hominum
numero, qui ita putant, sibi fieri iniuriam ultro, si quam fecerint ipsi expostules,
et ultro accusant. Id quia a me non est factum, agis gratias?
Unless you thought I belonged to that kind of
men who think they’re being wronged if you call them out for a wrong they
themselves have done, and who even go so far as to accuse you in return. Are
you thanking me just because I didn’t do that?
HE. Ah, minime: numquam te aliter atque es
esse animum induxi meum. Sed quaeso, Micio, ut mecum una eas ad matrem virginis
atque istaec eadem mihi quae dixisti tute dicas mulieri: suspicionem hanc propter
fratrem esse, eius esse illam psaltriam.
HE. Oh no, never: I never brought myself to
think you were any different than you are. But I ask you, Micio, to come with
me to the girl’s mother and tell her yourself the same things you told me—that
this suspicion is because of your brother, that the harpist girl belongs to
him.
Nam et illi iam relevabis animum, quae dolore
ac miseria tabescit, et tuom officium fueris functus.
For you’ll both relieve her mind—she’s wasting
away from grief and misery—and you’ll have done your duty.
Sed si aliter putas, egomet narrabo quae mihi
dixisti.
But if you think otherwise, I’ll tell her
myself what you told me.
MI. Immo ego ibo.
MI. No, I’ll go.
HE. Bene facis: omnes, quibus res sunt minus
secundae, magis sunt nescio quo modo suspiciosi: ad contumeliam omnia accipiunt
magis: propter suam impotentiam se semper credunt ludier.
HE. That’s good of you: everyone whose
fortunes are worse is somehow more suspicious—they take everything as an
insult, and because of their helplessness they always think they’re being
mocked.
Quapropter te ipsum purgare ipsi coram
placabilius est.
That’s why it’s better to clear yourself in
person, face to face with her.
MI. Et recte et verum dicis.
MI. You’re both right and truthful.
HE. Sequere me ergo hac intro.
HE. So follow me in this way now.
MI. Discrucior animi: hocin mihi mali de
improviso obici, tantum, ut neque quid ego de me faciam nec quid agam certum
siet!
MI. I’m torn up in my mind: that such a
disaster should suddenly be thrown at me—so much that I don’t know what to make
of myself or what to do!
Membra mihi metu debilia sunt: animus timore
obstipuit: pectorī consistere nil consili quit.
My limbs are weak with fear, my mind stunned
with dread: no plan can take hold in my heart.
Quo modo hac me expediam turba?
How can I get myself out of this mess?
Tanta nunc suspicio de me incidit—vah!—neque
ea immerito.
Such great suspicion has now fallen on
me—ugh!—and not without reason.
Sostrata credit mihi me psaltriam emisse hanc:
id anus mi indicium fecit.
Sostrata believes I’m the one who bought that
harpist girl: the old woman gave me away.
Nam ut hinc forte ea ad obstetricem erat
missa, ubi eam vidi, ilico accedo: rogito, Pamphila quid agat, iam partus
adsideat, eone obstetricem arcessat.
For since she happened to be sent from here to
the midwife, when I saw her, I went up right away and asked how Pamphila was
doing, whether she was close to childbirth, whether she was fetching the
midwife for that.
Illa exclamat: "Abi, abi iam, Aeschine:
satis diu dedisti verba, sat adhuc tua nos frustratast fides."
She exclaimed: "Go, go now, Aeschinus!
You've been giving us empty words long enough; your promise has deceived us
quite enough already."
"hem, quid istuc, obsecro," inquam,
"est?"—"Valeas, habeas illam quae placet."
"What in the world is this?" I said.
"Farewell, have the one who pleases you."
Sensi ilico id illas suspicari: sed me
reprehendi tamen, nequid de fratre garrulae illi dicerem ac fieret palam.
I immediately sensed they suspected that—but I
still held myself back, lest I say anything to that chatterbox about my brother
and it become known.
Nunc quid faciam? dicam fratris esse hanc?
quod minumest opus usquam ecferri.
Now what should I do? Say that she belongs to
my brother? That’s the very last thing that ought to be revealed anywhere.
Age, mitto: fieri potis est ut nequa exeat.
Well then, I’ll drop it: it’s possible nothing
will leak out.
Ipsud id metuo ut credant: tot concurrunt veri
similia—egomet rapui ipse, egomet solvi argentum, ad me abductast domum.
But I’m afraid they’ll believe it: so many
plausible things line up—I’m the one who seized her, I paid the money, she was
brought to my house.
Haec adeo mea culpa fieri fateor. Non me hanc
rem patri, utut erat gesta, indicasse!
I admit, these things happened entirely
through my own fault—because I didn’t tell my father about this matter, however
it came about!
Exorassem ut eam ducerem.
I could have begged him to let me marry her.
Cessatum usque adhuc est. Nunc porro,
Aeschine, expergiscere!
There’s been delay up to now. But now,
Aeschinus, wake up!
Nunc hoc primumst: ad illas ibo, ut purgem me.
Accedam ad fores.
The first thing now is this: I’ll go to the
women and clear myself. I’ll approach the door.
Perii! Horresco semper ubi pultare hasce
occipio miser.
I’m done for! I always shudder, poor wretch
that I am, whenever I start to knock on this door.
Heus, heus! Aeschinus sum ego: aperite aliquis
actutum ostium.
Hey, hey! It’s me, Aeschinus: someone open the
door quickly!
Prodit nescio quis: concedam huc.
Someone’s coming out—I’ll step aside over
here.
MI. Ita uti dixi, Sostrata, facite: ego
Aeschinum conveniam, ut quo modo acta haec sint sciat.
MI. As I said, Sostrata, do as I instructed:
I’ll speak to Aeschinus, so he’ll know how these things happened.
Sed quis ostium hoc pulsavit?
But who knocked at this door?
AE. Pater hercle est, perii.
AE. By Hercules, it’s my father—I’m ruined!
MI. Aeschine.
MI. Aeschinus.
AE. Quid huic hic negotist?
AE. What business does he have here?
MI. Tune has pepulisti fores?
MI. Did you knock on this door?
AE. Tacet. Quor non ludo hunc aliquantisper?
melius est, quandoquidem hoc numquam mi ipse voluit credere.
AE. He’s silent. Why don’t I play with him a
bit? It’s better this way, since he never wanted to believe me about this.
Nil mihi respondes?
You don’t answer me?
AE. Non equidem istas, quod sciam.
AE. Not that door, as far as I know.
MI. Ita? Nam mirabar quid hic negoti esset
tibi. Erubuit: salva res est.
MI. Really? I was wondering what business you
had here. He blushed—things are safe.
AE. Dic, sodes, pater, o tibi vero quid istic
est rei?
AE. Tell me, please, father—what business do
you really have there?
MI. Nil mihi quidem: amicus quidam me a foro
abduxit modo huc advocatum sibi.
MI. Nothing really: a certain friend just
pulled me away from the forum to have me advocate for him here.
AE. Quid?
AE. What?
MI. Ego dicam tibi. Habitant hic quaedam
mulieres pauperculae: ut opinor, eas non nosse te, et certo scio; neque enim
diu huc migrarunt.
MI. I’ll explain. Some poor women live here: I
suppose you don’t know them, and I’m sure of it—they haven’t lived here long.
AE. Quid tum postea?
AE. So what then?
MI. Virgo est cum matre.
MI. There’s a young woman living here with her
mother.
AE. Perge.
AE. Go on.
MI. Haec virgo orbast patre: hic meus amicus
illi gener est proximus; huic leges cogunt nubere hanc.
MI. This girl has lost her father: this friend
of mine is her closest male relative by marriage; the law obliges her to marry
him.
AE. Perii.
AE. I'm ruined.
MI. Quid est?
MI. What’s the matter?
AE. Nil: recte. Perge.
AE. Nothing: all right. Go on.
MI. Is venit ut secum avehat: nam habitat
Mileti.
MI. He came to take her with him, for he lives
in Miletus.
AE. Hem! Virginem ut secum avehat?
AE. What! To take the girl away with him?
MI. Sic est.
MI. That’s right.
AE. Miletum usque, obsecro?
AE. All the way to Miletus, I beg you?
MI. Ita.
MI. Yes.
AE. Animo malest. Quid ipsae? quid aiunt?
AE. I feel sick. What about the women? What do
they say?
MI. Quid illas censes? nihil enim. Commentast
mater esse ex alieno viro nescio quo puerum natum: neque eum nominat: priorem
esse illum, non oportere huic dari.
MI. What do you think they say? Nothing,
really. The mother made up a story that the girl had a child by some unknown
man—not naming him—that this earlier connection existed and she ought not to be
given to this man.
AE. Eho, nonne haec iusta tibi videntur posci?
AE. Come on, don’t these sound like fair
objections to you?
MI. Non.
MI. No.
AE. Obsecro, non? an illam hinc abducet,
pater?
AE. I beg you, no? Is he really going to take
her away from here, father?
MI. Quid illam ni abducat?
MI. Why shouldn’t he take her away?
AE. Factum a vobis duriter,
immisericorditerque, atque etiam—si est, pater, dicendum magis
aperte—inliberaliter.
AE. This has been done by you harshly, without
compassion, and also—if I may say so more plainly, father—unworthily.
MI. Quam ob rem?
MI. Why?
AE. Rogas me? Quid illi tandem creditis fore
animi misero, quicum ea consuevit prius—qui infelix haud scio an illam misere
nunc amet—, quom hanc sibi videbit praesentem praesenti eripi, abduci ab
oculis? Facinus indignum, pater!
AE. You ask me? What do you think that poor
fellow will feel—he who was with her before, who perhaps, poor wretch, still
loves her desperately—when he sees her, right before his eyes, being snatched
away from him, taken out of his sight? It's an outrageous thing, father!
MI. Qua ratione istuc? Quis despondit? quis
dedit? Cui? quando nupsit? auctor his rebus quis est? Quor duxit alienam?
MI. On what grounds? Who betrothed her? Who
gave her away? To whom? When did she marry? Who’s the witness to all this? Why
did he take another man’s woman?
AE. An sedere oportuit domi virginem tam
grandem, dum cognatus huc illim veniret exspectantem? Haec, mi pater, te dicere
aequom fuit et id defendere.
AE. Was the girl supposed to just sit at home,
grown as she is, waiting for some distant relative to come from far away? It
was your place, father, to say this and stand up for it.
MI. Ridiculum: adversumne illum causam
dicerem, cui veneram advocatus? Sed quid ista, Aeschine, nostra? aut quid nobis
cum illis? Abeamus.
MI. Ridiculous! Was I to argue against the man
I came here to support in court? But what business is this of ours, Aeschinus?
What do we have to do with them? Let’s go.
AE. Quid est? Quid lacrumas?
AE. What’s the matter? Why are you crying?
AE. Pater, obsecro, ausculta.
AE. Father, I beg you, listen.
MI. Aeschine, audivi omnia et scio: nam te
amo, quo magis quae agis curae sunt mihi.
MI. Aeschinus, I’ve heard everything and I
know what’s going on: for I love you, and that makes me care all the more about
what you’re doing.
AE. Ita velim me promerentem ames dum vivas,
mi pater, ut me hoc delictum admisisse in me id mihi vehementer dolet et me tui
pudet.
AE. I wish you would love me as I deserve for
as long as you live, my father, just as it deeply grieves me that I committed
this fault, and I am ashamed before you.
MI. Credo hercle: nam ingenium novi tuom,
liberale: sed vereor ne indiligens nimium sies. In qua civitate tandem te
arbitrare vivere? Virginem vitiaste, quam te ius non fuerat tangere.
MI. I believe you, by Hercules: for I know
your character, generous as it is—but I fear that you are too careless. In what
kind of city do you think you live, after defiling a maiden you had no right to
touch?
Iam id peccatum primum magnum—magnum? at
humanum tamen: fecere alii saepe item boni.
Now that first offense was serious—serious?
yes, but still human: many other good men have done the same.
At postquam evenit, cedo, numquid
circumspexti? aut numquid tute prospexti tibi, quid fieret? qua fieret?
But after it happened, tell me, did you look
around at all? Or did you plan anything for yourself—what should be done, how
it should be done?
Si te ipsum mihi puduit proloqui, qua
resciscerem? Haec dum dubitas, menses abierunt decem.
If you were too ashamed to tell me yourself,
how was I to find out? While you hesitated, ten months passed by.
Prodidisti et te et illam miseram et gnatum,
quod quidem in te fuit.
You betrayed yourself, that poor girl, and the
child too—as far as lay in your power.
Quid? credebas dormienti haec tibi confecturos
deos? Et illam sine tua opera in cubiculum iri deductum domum?
What? Did you think the gods would manage all
this for you while you slept? That she would be led into a bridal chamber at
home without any effort of your own?
Nolim ceterarum rerum te socordem eodem modo.
Bono animo es: duces uxorem hanc.
I hope you won’t be so slack in other matters
too. Be of good cheer: you will marry this girl.
AE. Hem!
AE. What!
MI. Bono, inquam, animo es.
MI. I said, be of good cheer.
AE. Pater, obsecro, num ludis nunc tu me?
AE. Father, I beg you, are you mocking me now?
MI. Ego te? quam ob rem?
MI. Me? Mock you? Why would I?
AE. Nescio: quia tam misere hoc esse cupio
verum, eo vereor magis.
AE. I don’t know—because I so desperately want
this to be true, I fear it all the more.
MI. Abi domum ac deos comprecare, ut uxorem
arcessas: abi.
MI. Go home and pray to the gods so you can
bring her as your wife: go on.
AE. Quid? eam uxorem?
AE. What? That woman, as my wife?
MI. Eam.
MI. Yes, her.
AE. Iam?
AE. Now?
MI. Iam, quantum potis.
MI. Now, as soon as you can.
AE. Di me, pater, omnes oderint, ni magis te
quam oculos nunc ego amo meos.
AE. May all the gods hate me, father, if I
don't love you now more than my own eyes.
MI. Quid? quam illam?
MI. What? More than her?
AE. Aeque.
AE. Just as much.
MI. Perbenigne.
MI. Very kind of you.
AE. Quid? ille ubi est Milesius?
AE. What? Where is that man from Miletus?
MI. Periit, abiit, navem ascendit. Sed quor
cessas?
MI. He’s gone, he’s finished, he boarded a
ship. But why are you still here?
AE. Abi, pater, tu potius deos comprecare: nam
tibi eos certo scio, quo vir melior multo es quam ego, optemperaturos magis.
AE. Go, father—better you pray to the gods,
for I know for certain they’ll listen to you more, since you are a far better
man than I.
MI. Ego eo intro, ut quae opus sunt parentur:
tu fac ut dixi, si sapis.
MI. I’ll go inside now to have what’s needed prepared:
you do as I said, if you’re wise.
