Perde 1
[Textpart 1]
The young men have given me the name of the mistress,
ERGASILUS
for this reason, because invocatedBecause invocated: Invocatus. The following Note is extracted from Thornton’s Translation of this Play:—The reader’s indulgence for the coinage of a new term (and perhaps not quite so much out of character from the mouth of a Parasite) is here requested in the use of the word ‘invocated’ in a sense, which it is owned, there is no authority for, but without it no way occurs to explain the poet’s meaning—which, such as it is, and involved in such a pun, is all that can be aimed at. The word ‘invocatus’ means both ‘called upon’ and ‘not called upon.’ Ergasilus here quibbles upon it; for, though at entertainments he attends, as it is the common character of Parasites to do, without invitation, that is ‘not called upon;’ and as mistresses are ‘called upon’ that their names so invoked may make their lovers throw the dice with success; still, according to the double sense of the word, they may be compared to each other, as they are both, according to the Latin idiom, ‘invocati.’ I am wont to attend at the banquet. I know that buffoonsThat buffoons: Derisores, buffoons. By this word he means, that particular class of Parasites who earned their dinners by their repartees and bon-mots. say that this is absurdly said, but I affirm that it is rightly said. For at the banquet the lover, when he throws the dice, invokes his mistressInvokes his mistress: It was the Grecian custom, when they threw dice at an entertainment, for the thrower to call his mistress by name, which invocation was considered to bring good luck.. Is she then invocated, or is she not? She is, most clearly.
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But, i’ faith, we Parasites with better reason are so called, whom no person ever either invites or invokes, and who, like mice, are always eating the victuals of another person. When business is laid asideWhen business is laid aside: Ubi res prolatae sunt. Meaning thereby in vacation-time. In the heat of summer the courts of justice were closed, and the more wealthy portion of the Romans retired into the country, or to the seaside. Cicero mentions this vacation as rerum prolatio. The allusion in the previous line is probably derived from a saying of the Cynic Diogenes: when he saw mice creeping under the table, he used to say, See the Parasites of Diogenes., when people repair to the country, at that same moment is business laid aside for our teeth.
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Just as, when it is hot weather, snails lie hidden in secret, and live upon their own juices, if the dew doesn’t fall; so, when business is laid aside, do Parasites lie hidden in retirement, and miserably live upon their own juices, while in the country the persons are rusticating whom they sponge upon.
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When business is laid aside, we Parasites are greyhounds; when business recommences, like mastiffsLike mastiffs: Molossici. Literally, dogs of Molossus, a country of Epirus., we are annoying-like and very troublesome-likeAnnoying-like and very troublesome-like: Odiosici— incommodestici. These are two extravagant forms of the words odiosi and incommodi, coined by the author for the occasion.. And here, indeed, unless, i’ faith, any Parasite is able to endure cuffs with the fist, and pots to be brokenPots to be broken: By Meursius we are informed that these practical jokes were played upon the unfortunate Parasites with pots filled with cinders, which were sometimes scattered over their clothes, to the great amusement of their fellow-guests. about his head,
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why he may e’en go with his wallet outside the Trigeminian GateThe Trigeminian Gate: The Ostian Gate was so called because the Horatii left the city by that gate to fight the Curiatii. The brothers being born at one birth were trigemini, whence the gate received its name. The beggars with their wallets were seated there. See the Trinummus, l. 423, and the Note to the passage.. That this may prove my lot, there is some danger. For since my patronSince my patron: Rex; literally, king. The Parasites were in the habit of so calling their entertainers. has fallen into the hands of the enemy—(such warfare are the Aetolians now waging with the Eleans; for this is Aetolia; this Philopolemus has been made captive in Elis, the son of this old man Hegio
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who lives here (pointing to the house)—a house which to me is a house of woe, and which so oft as I look upon, I weep). Now, for the sake of his son, has he commenced this dishonorable traffic, very much against his own inclination.
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He buys up men that have been made captives, if perchance he may be able to find some one for whom to gain his son in exchange. An object which I really do much desire that he may gain. For unless he finds him, there’s nowhere for me to find myself. I have no hopes in the young men; they are all too fond of themselves.
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He, in fine, is a youth with the old-fashioned nanners, whose countenance I never rendered cheerful without a return. His father is worthily matched, as endowed with like manners. Now I’ll go to him;—but his door is opening, the door from which full oft I’ve sallied forth drunk with excess of cheer.
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[Textpart 2]
Now, give attention you, if you please. Those two captives whom I purchased yesterday of the Quaestors out of the spoil, put upon them chains of light weightChtains of light weight: Singularias. This word may admit of three interpretations, and it is impossible to decide which is the right one. It may mean chains weighing a single libra, or pound; it may signify chains for the captives singly, in contradistinction to those by which they were fastened to each other; or it may mean single chains, in opposition to double ones. In the Acts of the Apostles, ch. 12, v. 6, we read that St. Peter was bound with two chains; and in ch. 13, v. 33, the chief captain orders St. Paul to be bound with two chains.; take off those greater ones with which they are bound. Permit them to walk, if they wish, out of doors, or if in-doors,
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HEGIO
but so that they are watched with the greatest care. A captive at liberty is like a bird that’s wild; if opportunity is once given for escaping, ‘tis enough; after that, you can never catch him.
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A SLAVE
Doubtless we all are free men more willingly than we live the life of slaves.
HEGIO
You, indeed, don’t seem to think soDon’t seem to think so: Hegio means to say that the slave does not seem to think liberty so very desirable, or he would try more to please his master and do his duty, which might probably be the right method for gaining his liberty. As the slave could generally ransom himself out of his peculium, or savings, if they were sufficient, the slave here either thinks, or pretends to think, that Hegio is censuring him for not taking those means, and answers, accordingly, that he has nothing to offer..
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A SLAVE
If I have nothing to give, should you like me to give myself to flightGive myself to flight: Dem in pedes. Literally, give myself to my feet, meaning thereby to run away. He puns upon this meaning of dare, and its common signification of to give or to offer to give.?
HEGIO
If you do so give yourself, I shall at once have something to be giving to you.
A SLAVE
I’ll make myself just like the wild bird you were telling of.
HEGIO
’Tis just as you say; for if you do so, I’ll be giving you to the cageGiving you to the cage: In cavearn. He plays on the word cavea, which meaning a cage for a bird might also mean confinement for a prisoner..
But enough of prating; take you care of what I’ve ordered, and be off. (The SLAVE goes into the house.) I’ll away to my brother’s, to my other captives; I’ll go see whether they’ve been making any disturbance last night. From there I shall forthwith betake myself home again.
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ERGASILUS
It grieves me that this unhappy old man is following the trade of a slave-dealer,
by reason of the misfortune of his son. But, if by any means he can be brought back here, I could even endure for him to become an executioner.
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