Part 29
(_angrily_) Now look at that! the bold way he stands up to me!
_Tynd._
Decet innocentem servom atque innoxium confidentem esse, suom apud erum potissimum.
A guiltless, harmless slave ought to face his own master boldly, his own master, of all men.
_Hegio_
Adstringite isti sultis vehementer manus.
(_to overseers_) Fasten his hands, tight, mind you!
_Tynd._
Tuos sum, tu has quidem vel praecidi iube. sed quid negoti est, quam ob rem suscenses mihi?
I am yours. Have them cut off, even, for that matter. But what does this mean? Why this rage at me?
_Hegio_
Quia me meamque rem, quod in te uno fuit, 670 tuis scelestis falsidicis fallaciis deartuasti dilaceravisti atque opes confecisti omnes, res ac rationes meas: ita mi exemisti Philocratem fallaciis. illum esse servom credidi, te liberum: ita vosmet aiebatis itaque nomina inter vos permutastis.
Because as far as in you lay you’ve sent me and my hopes to smash, demolished me, with your rascally deceitful dodges, and spoiled all my chances, all my prospects and plans. That’s the way you, got Philocrates off--by swindling me! I supposed he was the slave and you the freeman; that’s what you said yourselves; that’s how you exchanged names.
_Tynd._
Fateor, omnia facta esse ita ut tu dicis, et fallaciis abiisse eum abs te mea opera atque astutia; an, obsecro hercle te, id nunc suscenses mihi? 680
(_coolly_) I admit it: it is all as you say--yes, you were swindled out of him, and it was my support and my scheming that did it. But heavens and earth, that isn’t what sets you raging at me, is it?
_Hegio_
At cum cruciatu maxumo id factumst tuo.
You shall pay for doing it, though, pay for it with your own best blood!
_Tynd._
Dum ne ob male facta, peream, parvi aestumo. si ego hic peribo, ast ille ut dixit non redit, at erit mi hoc factum mortuo memorabile, me meum erum captum ex servitute atque hostibus reducem fecisse liberum in patriam ad patrem, meumque potius me caput periculo praeoptavisse, quam is periret, ponere.
(_simply_) Provided it is not for wrongdoing, let me die--it matters little. If I myself do die here, and if he does fail to return, as he said he would, what I have done, at least, will be remembered when I am gone--men will tell how I saved my captured master from slavery and from his enemies, restored him, a free man, to his home and his father, and how I chose to put my own life in peril rather than let him die.
_Hegio_
Facito ergo ut Acherunti clueas gloria.
Well then, you can look in the next world for that glorious name of yours.
_Tynd._
Qui per virtutem, periit, at non interit. 690
The man that dies in a worthy cause does not perish utterly.
_Hegio_
Quando ego te exemplis pessumis cruciavero atque ob sutelas tuas te morti misero, vel te interiisse vel periisse praedicent; dum pereas, nihil intererit: dicant vivere.
After I’ve tortured you in the most excruciating ways possible, and sent you to perdition for the lies you’ve patched up, let ’em announce that you’ve perished utterly, or that you’ve merely died; so long as you’re dead, no matter--they can say you’re living, for all I care.
_Tynd._
Pol si istuc faxis, haud sine poena feceris, si ille hue rebitet, sicut confido affore.
You do that, sir, and I swear it will cost you dear, if my master comes back, as I expect him to do.
_Arist._
Pro di immortales, nunc ego teneo, nunc scio quid hoc sit negoti. meus sodalis Philocrates in libertate est ad patrem in patria. bene est, nec quisquam est mihi, aeque melius cui velim. 700 sed hoc mihi aegre est, me huic dedisse operam malam, qui nunc propter me meaque verba vinctus est.
(_aside_) Great God! Now I see it! Now I understand what it all means! My chum Philocrates is free, has gone home to his father. Good! And not a friend have I got that I wish better luck to, either. But I do feel bad about the cursed way I’ve treated Tyndarus here! He’s got me and my tongue to thank for being strapped up at this moment.
_Hegio_
Votuin te quicquam mi hodie falsum proloqui?
Didn’t I tell you not to deceive me in the slightest
## particular?
_Tynd._
Votuisti.
Yes.
_Hegio_
Cur es ausus mentiri mihi?
Then why did you dare lie to me?
_Tynd._
Quia vera obessent illi quoi operam dabam: nunc falsa prosunt.
Because the truth would have harmed the person I was trying to help: as it is, deceit has served his turn.
_Hegio_
At tibi oberunt.
It won’t serve yours, however.
_Tynd._
Optumest. at erum servavi, quem servatum gaudeo. cui me custodem addiderat erus maior meus. sed malene id factum arbitrare?
Very well, sir. I saved my master, at any rate, and I’m happy in having saved the man that my older master put in my care. Really now, do you think this was a wrong act?
_Hegio_
Pessume.
Atrocious!
_Tynd._
At ego aio recte. qui abs te sorsum sentio. 710 nam cogitato, si quis hoc gnato tuo tuos servos faxit, qualem haberes gratiam? emitteresne necne eum servom manu? essetne apud te is servos aceeptissimus? responde.
Well, sir, I differ with you--I say it was right. Why, just think! if a slave of yours did the same thing for your own son, what would be your feeling toward him? Would you set this slave free, or not? Wouldn’t this slave be your favourite? Answer me that.
_Hegio_
Opinor.
(_reluctantly_) I suppose so.
_Tynd._
Cur ergo iratus mihi es?
Why are you angry at me, then?
_Hegio_
Quia illi fuisti quam mihi fidelior.
Because you have been more faithful to him than to me.
_Tynd._
Quid? tu una nocte postulavisti et die recens captum hominem, nuperum novicium, te perdocere ut melius consulerem tibi, quam illi, quicum una a puero aetatem exegeram? 720
What? Did you expect in a single night and day to teach a man just recently captured, a slave you had hardly bought, to consult your interests more than those of the master I grew up from boyhood with?
_Hegio_
Ergo ab eo petito gratiam istam. ducite, ubi ponderosas crassas capiat compedes. inde ibis porro in latomias lapidarias. ibi quom alii octonos lapides effodiunt, nisi cotidiano sesquiopus confeceris, Sescentoplago nomen indetur tibi.
Well then, look to him for your thanks for it. (_to overseers_) Off with him and have him shackled--heavy ones, solid ones! (_to Tyndarus_) After that you shall go straight to the stone quarries. There, while the rest of them are digging out their eight blocks a day, you’re to do half as much again, or you’ll be dubbed The Cracks-collector.
_Arist._
Per deos atque homines ego te obtestor, Hegio, ne tu istunc hominem perduis.
Hegio! for God’s sake don’t let the man be utterly lost!
_Hegio_
Curabitur; nam noctu nervo vinctus custodibitur, interdius sub terra lapides eximet: 730 diu ego hunc cruciabo, non uno absolvam die.
Lost? We’ll see to that! Why, at night he’ll be chained up in a cell and guarded, and in the daytime he’ll be under ground hewing out stone. It’s agony long drawn out he’ll get from me; I won’t end it for him all in one day.
_Arist._
Certumne est tibi istuc?
(_distressed_) Is this your fixed intention, sir?
_Hegio_
Non moriri certius. abducite istum actutum ad Hippolytum fabrum, iubete huic crassas compedes impingier; inde extra portam ad meum libertum Cordalum in lapicidinas facite deductus siet: atque hunc me velle dicite ita curarier, ne qui deterius huic sit quam cui pessume est.
Fixed as death! (_to overseers_) Quick! March him off to Hippolytus the blacksmith and have some solid irons forged on him; then he’s to be escorted outside the city to my freedman Cordalus and the quarries. Yes, and tell Cordalus I want it seen to that he be treated quite as well as the man that’s treated (_ferociously_) worst.
_Tynd._
Cur ego te invito me esse salvom postulem? periclum vitae meae tuo stat periculo. 740 post mortem in morte nihil est quod metuam mali. etsi pervivo usque ad summam aetatem, tamen breve spatium est perferundi quae minitas mihi.
Why should I ask for mercy when you refuse it? My life is risked at risk to you. After death, there is no evil in death for me to fear. And even if I live on and on to the very limits of human life, it’s still only for a short time I shall have to endure what you threaten me with.
vale atque salve, etsi aliter ut dicam meres. tu, Aristophontes, de me ut meruisti, ita vale; nam mihi propter te hoc optigit.
Farewell, sir, and God bless you, no matter if you do deserve to have me wish you something else. As for you, Aristophontes, fare you well--as well as you deserve of me; for it is all on account of you that this has happened to me.
_Hegio_
Abducite.
(_to overseers_) Off with him.
_Tynd._
At unum hoc quaeso, si huc rebitet Philocrates, ut mi eius facias conveniundi copiam.
But I do ask this one thing of you, sir: if Philocrates comes back, give me a chance to meet him.
_Hegio_
Periistis, nisi hunc iam e conspectu abducitis.
(_to overseers_) Out of my sight with him this instant, or I’ll murder you! (_they seize Tyndarus and hurry him off roughly_)
_Tynd._
Vis haec quidem hercle est, et trahi et trudi simul. 750
(_dryly_) Well, well! This is positive violence, being pushed and pulled at the same time. [EXEUNT.
_Hegio_
Illic est abductus recta in phylacam, ut dignus est. ego illis captivis aliis documentum dabo, ne tale quisquam facinus incipere audeat. quod absque hoc esset, qui mihi hoc fecit palam, usque offrenatum suis me ductarent dolis.
That rascal is bound straight for the prison cell he’s entitled to. I’ll make an example of him for the benefit of those other prisoners, so that none of them will dare engage in such deviltry. If it hadn’t been for this fellow here who disclosed it all, they’d have bitted me and led me along with their tricks till the end of time.
nunc certum est nulli posthac quicquam credere. satis sum semel deceptus. speravi miser ex servitute me exemisse filium: ea spes elapsa est. perdidi unum filium, puerum quadrimum quem mihi servos surpuit, 760 neque eum servom umquam repperi neque filium;
Never again do I trust a soul in anything, that’s settled. Once cheated is enough. (_pauses, then gloomily_) I hoped, poor fool, that I had ransomed my son from slavery--a hope that’s slipped away! I lost one son, a four-year-old boy that a slave kidnapped, and never a trace of slave or son since.
maior potitus hostium est. quod hoc est scelus? quasi in orbitatem liberos produxerim. sequere hac. reducam te ubi fuisti. neminis miserere certum est, quia mei miseret neminem.
And my older boy in the hands of enemies! What curse am I under? As if I’d begotten children so as to be left childless! (_to Aristophontes_) This way, you. (_going toward brother’s house_) Back you go where you were before. I am determined to pity no one, since no one pities me.
_Arist._
Exauspicavi ex vinclis. nunc intellego redauspicandum esse in catenas denuo.
(_wryly_) It seemed a good omen, my getting out of irons. Now I perceive I must omen myself back to chains again. [EXEUNT.
## ACTVS IV
## ACT IV
(_It is to be assumed that several hours only have elapsed._)
ENTER _Ergasilus_, ELATED.
_Erg._
Iuppiter supreme, servas me measque auges opes, maximas opimitates opiparasque offers mihi, laudem lucrum, ludum iocum, festivitatem ferias, 770 pompam penum, potationis saturitatem, gaudium, nec cuiquam homini supplicare[19] nunc certum est mihi; nam vel prodesse amico possum vel inimicum perdere, ita hic me amoenitate amoena amoenus oneravit dies, sine sacris hereditatem sum aptus effertissimam.
Great God on high, thou dost preserve me and prosper me with fatness! Boundless abundance, yea, sublime abundance dost thou bring me! Praise, profit, pleasure, jollity, festivity, feasting, trains of victuals, eatables, drinkables, satiety, joy! Never will I toady to human being more, I now resolve it. Why, I can bless my friend or blast my foe, now that this delightful day has loaded me down with its delightful delightfulness! I’ve landed a legacy stuffed fit to burst, and not a single encumbrance attached!
nunc ad senem cursum capessam hunc Hegionem, cui boni tantum affero quantum ipsus a dis optat, atque etiam amplius. nunc certa res est, eodem pacto ut comici servi solent. coniciam in collum pallium, primo ex med hanc rem ut audiat: speroque me ob hunc nuntium aeternum adepturum cibum. 780
Now for a race up to old Hegio here. I’m bringing him all the happiness he craves of Heaven, yes, and more, too. I know what I’ll do now: like slaves in the comedies, I’ll bundle my cloak round my neck and run, so that I’ll be the first man he hears this news from; and I hope to get food for ever and ever for my information.
IV. 2.
## Scene 2.
ENTER _Hegio_.
_Hegio_
Quanto in pectore hanc rem meo magis volato, tanto mi aegritudo auctior est in animo. ad illum modum sublitum os esse mi hodie! neque id perspicere quivi. quod cum scibitur, tum per urbem inridebor.
(_soliloquizing moodily_) The more I think it over, the sourer I feel. The idea of their playing upon me in that style to-day! And I couldn’t see through it. When it gets known, I shall be the joke of the town.
cum extemplo ad forum advenero, omnes loquentur: “hic illest senex doctus, quoi verba data sunt.” sed Ergasilus estne his, procul quem video? conlecto quidem est pallio. quidnam acturust?
The moment I appear at the forum they’ll all be saying, “Here comes that smart old fellow that got humbugged.” (_observing Ergasilus_) But isn’t that Ergasilus I see over there? With his cloak all tucked up, too! Now what in the world is he going to do? (_steps aside_)
_Erg._
Move aps te moram atque, Ergasile, age hanc rem. 790 eminor interminorque, ne mi obstiterit obviam nisi quis satis diu vixisse sese homo arbitrabitur. nam qui obstiterit, ore sistet.
(_with burlesque importance and bustle_) No dawdling now, Ergasilus! At it, my boy, at it! I give you to wit by all the law’s pains and penalties that no man stand in my way, unless he thinks he has lived long enough. For the man that does stand in my way shall stand on his head. (_squares off and delivers lusty blows at imaginary passers-by_)
_Hegio_
Hic homo pugilatum incipit.
(_aside_) The fellow is going in for a boxing match!
_Erg._
Facere certumst. proinde ita omnes itinera insistant sua, ne quis in hanc plateam negoti conferat quicquam sui. nam meus est ballista pugnus, cubitus catapultast mihi, umerus aries, tum genu quemque icero ad terram dabo, dentilegos omnes mortales faciam, quemque offendero.
I’ll do it, I’m resolved. So everybody keep where they belong, and don’t anyone bring his business into this street! I tell you what, my fist is a siege-gun, and this forearm is my catapult, and my shoulder is a battering ram, yes, and every man I lay my knee into will bite the earth. I’ll make every man I meet a tooth-collector.
_Hegio_
Quae illaec eminatiost nam? nequeo mirari satis.
(_aside_) What on earth does all this bluster mean? Quite unaccountable!
_Erg_
Faciam ut huius diei locique meique semper meminerit.[20] 800
I’ll make him remember this day and this place and me for ever.
_Hegio_
Quid hic homo tantum incipissit facere cum tantis minis? (802)
(_aside_) What giant undertaking is the fellow at, with all this big talk?
_Erg._
Prius edico, ne quis propter culpam capiatur suam: continete vos domi, prohibete a vobis vim meam.
I give you due notice, that no one may come to grief through his own ignorance of the law: stay at home: keep away from me--I am a violent man.
_Hegio_
Mira edepol sunt, ni hic in ventrem sumpsit confidentiam. vae misero illi, cuius cibo iste factust imperiosior.
(_aside_) Bless my soul! I’ll be sworn he’s got some assurance put into his inside. Heaven help the poor wretch whose larder has set him up so!
_Erg._
Tum pistores scrofipasci, qui alunt furfuribus sues, quarum odore praeterire nemo pistrinum potest: eorum si quoiusquam scrofam in publico conspexero, ex ipsis dominis meis pugnis exculcabo furfures. 810
And as for the millers that keep sows, and feed waste stuff to their swine, that raise such a stench nobody can go by the mill,--if I spy a sow of any one of ’em on the public highway, I’ll up with my fists and stamp the stuffing out of those sows’--owners.
_Hegio_
Basilicas edictiones atque imperiosas habet: satur homost, habet profecto in ventre confidentiam.
(_aside_) Right royal and imperious pronunciamentos. The man is gorged: he certainly has got some assurance stowed away inside.
_Erg._
Tum piscatores, qui praebent populo pisces foetidos, qui advehuntur quadrupedanti crucianti cantherio, quorum odos subbasilicanos omnes abigit in forum, eis ego ora verberabo surpiculis piscariis, ut sciant, alieno naso quam exhibeant molestiam.
Then the fishmongers that travel around on a jogging, jolting gelding, and offer folk stale fish so strong it drives every last lounger in the arcade out into the forum-- I’ll whack their faces with their own fish baskets, just to teach ’em what an abomination they are to the public nose.
tum lanii autem, qui concinnant liberis orbas oves, qui locant caedundos agnos et duplam agninam danunt, qui petroni nomen indunt verveci sectario, 820 eum ego si in via petronem publica conspexero et petronem et dominum reddam mortales miserrumos.
Yes, and the butchers, too, that bereave sheep of their little ones, that engage to sell you lambs fit for slaughter, and then give you lamb as old as two lambs, and pass off a tough old ram as a prime wether--if I spy that ram on a city thoroughfare, I’ll make ram and owner the saddest men alive!
_Hegio_
Eugepae, edictiones aedilicias hic quidem habet, mirumque adeost ni hunc fecere sibi Aetoli agoranomum.
(_aside_) Splendid! Why, he is issuing edicts like a Comptroller of the Victualling: I shouldn’t be surprised if the Aetolians have made him market inspector.
_Erg._
Non ego nunc parasitus sum, sed regum rex regalior, tantus ventri commeatus meo adest in portu cibus sed ego cesso hunc Hegionem onerare laetitia senem, quo homine hominum adaeque nemo vivit fortunatior?
I’m no parasite now, not I! I’m a precious potent potentate of potentates, with all that invoice at the harbour for my belly--food, food! But I must hurry and load old Hegio here with ecstasy. There’s not a luckier man alive than he!
_Hegio_
Quae illaec est laetitia, quam illic laetus largitur mihi?
(_aside_) What ecstasy is it this ecstatic creature is going to lavish on me?
_Erg._
Heus ubi estis? ecquis hic est? ecquis hoc aperit ostium? 830
(_pounding on Hegio’s door_) Hi! Where are you? Anybody here? Anybody going to open this door?
_Hegio_
Hic homo ad cenam recipit se ad me.
(_aside_) The fellow is coming to dine with me.
_Erg._
Aperite hasce ambas fores prius quam pultando assulatim foribus exitium adfero.
Open this door--both doors--before I knock ’em to flinders and finish ’em for good and all!
_Hegio_
Perlubet hunc hominem colloqui. Ergasile.
(_aside_) I should quite enjoy a word with him. (_aloud_) Ergasilus!
_Erg._
Ergasilum qui vocat?
(_still pounding_) Who calls Ergasilus?
_Hegio_
Respice.
Vouchsafe me a look, sir.
_Erg._
Fortuna quod tibi nec facit nec faciet, me iubes. sed quis est?
(_without turning his head_) Vouchsafe you a look, eh! That is more than Good Luck does for you, or ever will do, either! Who is it, though?
_Hegio_
Respice ad me, Hegio sum.
Look around this way. It’s Hegio.
_Erg._
Oh mihi, quantum est hominum optumorum optume, in tempore advenis.
(_rushing up_) Oh! oh! You best of all the best men that tread the earth, you come just in time!
_Hegio_
Nescio quem ad portum nactus es ubi cenes, eo fastidis.
You have hit upon some one or other at the harbour to dine with: that’s why you are so haughty.
_Erg._
Cedo manum.
(_rapturously_) Give me your hand!
_Hegio_
Manum?
My hand?
_Erg._
Manum, inquam, cedo tuam actutum.
Your hand, I say--give me your hand this instant!
_Hegio_
Tene.
(_doing so_) Take it. (_Ergasilus shakes it vigorously_)
_Erg._
Gaude.
Rejoice!
_Hegio_
Quid ego gaudeam?
Rejoice--I? What for?
_Erg._
Quia ego impero, age gaude modo.
Because I bid you to. Come now, rejoice!
_Hegio_
Pol maerores mi antevortunt gaudiis.[21] 840
Good Lord, man! grief takes precedence of joy in my case.
_Erg._
Iam ego ex corpore exigam omnis maculas maerorum tibi. gaude audacter.
I will remove every grief spot from off your person for you this minute. Rejoice, rejoice boldly!
_Hegio_
Gaudeo, etsi nil scio quod gaudeam.
Well, I am rejoicing, although I haven’t the least idea why I should.
_Erg._
Bene facis. iube--
Much obliged! Order--
_Hegio_
Quid iubeam?
(_suspiciously_) Order what?
_Erg._
Ignem ingentem fieri.
--a fire to be built, an enormous fire.
_Hegio_
Ignem ingentem?
An enormous fire?
_Erg._
Ita dico, magnus ut sit.
That’s what I say--make it a big one.
_Hegio_
Quid? me, volturi, tuan causa aedis incensurum censes?
(_angry_) How’s that? Do you think I’m going to burn my house down for your benefit, you vulture?
_Erg._
Noli irascier. iuben an non iubes astitui aulas, patinas elui, [22]laridum atque epulas foveri foculis ferventibus? alium pisces praestinatum abire?
Calm yourself, sir. Will you order the pots to be set near the oven, or won’t you--and the platters washed--and bacon and lovely things to eat to be warmed up in fire-pans piping hot? And some one to go and lay in fish?
_Hegio_
Hic vigilans somniat.
Day dreams, poor fellow!
_Erg._
Alium porcinam atque agninam et pullos gallinaceos?
And some one else to get pork and lamb and spring chicken?
_Hegio_
Scis bene esse, si sit unde.
You know how to enjoy yourself--given the wherewithal.
_Erg._
[23]Pernam atque ophthalmiam, 850 horaeum, scombrum et trygonum et cetum, et mollem caseum?
And ham and river-lamprey and pickled fish, mackerel and sting ray and tunny, and nice soft cheese?
_Hegio_
Nominandi istorum tibi erit magis quam edundi copia his apud me, Ergasile.
You will have more of an opportunity to mention those viands, Ergasilus, than to masticate them here at my house.
_Erg._
Mean me causa hoc censes dicere?
Do you suppose I’m saying this on my own account?
_Hegio_
Nec nihil hodie nec multo plus tu hic edes, ne frustra sis. proin tu tui cottidiani victi ventrem ad me afferas.
What you get here to-day will be a cross between nothing and next to nothing; make no mistake about that. So bring me a stomach that is ready for your ordinary fare.
_Erg._
Quin ita faciam. ut tute cupias facere sumptum, etsi ego vetem.
Why, I’ll make you long to squander money, you yourself, even though I should forbid it.
_Hegio_
Egone?
Me?
_Erg._
Tune.
Yes, sir, you!
_Hegio_
Tum tu mi igitur erus es.
Then you are my master, I take it.
_Erg._
Immo benevolens. vin te faciam fortunatum?
No, no, your whole-souled friend. Do you want me to make you a fortunate man?
_Hegio_
Malim quam miserum quidem.
Rather than unfortunate, why, yes.
_Erg._
Cedo manum.
Give me your hand.
_Hegio_
Em manum.
Here it is. (_Ergasilus again shakes it fervently_)
_Erg._
Di te omnes adiuvant.
The gods are with you!
_Hegio_
Nil sentio.
I wouldn’t know it.
_Erg._
Non enim es in senticeto, eo non sentis. sed iube 860 vasa tibi pura apparari ad rem divinam cito, atque agnum afferri proprium pinguem.
You wouldn’t? Well, you’re out of the wood; that’s why you don’t twig it. But see they get the holy vessels ready for worship--quick! Yes, and have a special lamb brought in, a fat one.
_Hegio_
Cur?
Why?
_Erg._