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The PROLOGUE, spoken by CHARINUS.
CHARINUS
Two things have I now resolved to do at the same time; both the subject and my own amours will I disclose. I am not doing like as I have seen other lovers do in Comedies, who relate their woes either to the night or to the day, or to the Sun or to the Moon; who, faith, I don't suppose pay much regard to the complaints of mortals, either what they wish or what they don't wish. To yourselves in preference will I now relate my woes. In the Greek this Play is called the Emporos1 of Philemon; the same in the Latin is the Mercator of Marcus Accius. My father sent me hence to trade at Rhodes. Two years have now passed since I left home. There I began to love a fair one of remarkable beauty. But how I was captivated by her, I'll tell you, if you'll lend ear, and if you'll have the kindness to give your attention to this. And yet in this, but little have I followed the method of our forefathers in my own person, and on the spot as a tell- tale2 of my own amours am I represented before you. But all these failings are wont to attend on love--care, trouble, and refinement overmuch. Not only him who loves, but every one to whom this latter fault extends, him with a great and weighty evil does it affect; nor by my troth, in fact, does any one aim at refinement, beyond what his means allow of, without heavy disaster. But to love as well are these evils incident, which I have not as yet recounted--sleeplessness, a troubled mind, confusion, terror, and apprehension, trifling, and folly even, rashness too, thoughtlessness, foolhardy impudence, wantonness, lust, and malevolence; covetousness is inherent as well, idleness, injustice, want, contumely and wastefulness, talkativeness or moody silence. This latter is the fact, because things which relate not to the purpose, nor are of utility, the same does the lover give utterance to full oft at an unseasonable moment; and yet again, this moody silence for this reason do I commend, because no lover is ever so skilled in eloquence, as to be enabled to give utterance to that which is for his own interest. You, then, must not be offended with myself for my babbling; Venus bestowed it upon me on that same day on which this passion. To that point am I resolved to return, that what I commenced upon I may disclose. In the first place, when in life I had passed from my boyish days, and my disposition was weaned from childish pursuits, I began distractedly to love a Courtesan in this place. Forthwith, unknown to my father, my means went to be wasted upon her; an exacting Procurer, the owner of this damsel, by every method that he could, grasped everything into his own possession3. Night and day my father censured me for this; represented the perfidy, the wickedness of Procurers; how that his own property was being forcibly rent in pieces, while that of this Procurer was increasing; this too in the loudest tones; sometimes muttering to himself; refusing to speak to me; even denying that I was his child; crying aloud through all the city and proclaiming that all should withhold from trusting me when desiring to borrow; that love had allured many a one to ruin; that I, passing all bounds, regardless of decency, and acting wrongfully, laid hands upon and tore whatever I could from him at home; that 'twas a most vile system that those choice possessions which he, by enduring every hardship, had acquired, should all be squandered away and parted with through the violence of my desire. That now for so many years he had supported myself, a reproach to him; that were I not ashamed, I ought not to desire to live. That he himself, at the very moment after he had passed his boyish days, did not, like me, devote his attention to love or indolence in slothfulness, nor, indeed, had he the control of himself, so very strictly by his father was he held in check; that in the various sordid pursuits of the country he was employed, and that only every fifth year even was he then enabled to visit the city, and that immediately after he had had a sight of the Festival4, back again instantly into the country was he wont to be driven by his father. That there by far the most of all the household did he toil, while thus his father would say to him: "For yourself you are ploughing, for yourself you harrow, for yourself you sow, for your own self too do you reap; for yourself, in fine, will this labour be productive of happiness." That after life had left his father's body, he had sold the farm, and with that money had bought for himself a bark of fifteen tons5, and with the same had transported merchandize to every quarter, even until he had acquired the property which he then possessed. That I ought to do the same, if I would be as it behoved me to be. I, when I found that I was disliked by my father and was an object of hate to him whom I was bound to please, distracted and in love as I was, resolutely made up my mind. I said that I would go to traffic, if he pleased; that I would renounce my amour, so as to be obedient to him. He gave me thanks, and praised my good feeling, but failed not to exact my promise; he built a merchant-ship6, and purchased merchandize; the ship ready, he placed it on board; besides, to myself with his own hand he paid down a talent of silver; with me he sent a servant, who formerly had been my tutor from the time when I was a little child, to be as though a guardian to me. These things completed, we set sail; we came to Rhodes, where the merchandize which I had brought I sold to my mind according as I wished; I made great profits, beyond the estimate of the merchandize which my father had given me; and so I made a large sum. But while in the harbour I was walking there, a certain stranger recognized me, and invited me to dinner. I went, and took my place at table, being merrily and handsomely entertained. When at night we went to rest, behold, a female came to me, than whom not another female is there more charming. That night, by order of my entertainer, did she pass with me; consider your own selves, how very much he gratified me. Next day, I went to my host; I begged him to sell her to me; I said that for his kindnesses I should ever be grateful and obliged. What need is there of talking? I bought her, and yesterday I brought her hither. I don't wish my father to come to know I've brought her. For the present, I've left her and a servant in the harbour on board the ship. But why do I see my servant running hither from the harbour, whom I forbade to leave the ship? I dread what the reason may be. Stands aside.
Enter ACANTHIO, at a distance, in haste.
ACANTHIO
to himself . With your utmost power and might always try and endeavour that your younger master7 may by your aid be preserved. Come then, Acanthio, away with weariness from you; take care and be on your guard against sloth. At the same time put an end to this panting; troth, I can hardly fetch my breath; at the same time, too, drive right full against all those persons who come in the way, shove them aside, and push them into the road. This custom here is a very bad one; no one thinks it proper for him to give way to one who is running and in haste; and thus three things must be done at the same moment, when you have commenced upon but one; you must both run and fight, and squabble as well, upon the road. CHARINUS
apart . What's the reason of this, that he's requiring speed for himself at a rate so rapid? I have some anxiety, what the business is, or what news he brings. ACANTHIO
to himself . I'm trifling about it. The more I stop, the greater the risk that's run. CHARINUS
apart . He brings news of some misfortune, I know not what. ACANTHIO
to himself . His knees are failing this runner. I'm undone, my spleen is in rebellion8, it's taking possession of my breast. I'm done up, I can't draw my breath. A very worthless piper should I be. I' faith, not all the baths will ever remove this lassitude from me. Am I to say that my master Charinus is at home or abroad? CHARINUS
apart . I'm doubtful in my mind what the matter is; I'd like for myself to learn of him, that I may become acquainted with it. ACANTHIO
to himself . But why still standing here? Why still hesitating to make splinters of this door? Knocks at the door of DEMIPHO'S house, and calls. Open the door, some one. Where's my master, Charinus? Is he at home or abroad? Does any one think fit to come to the door? CHARINUS
presenting himself . Why, here am I, whom you're looking for, Acanthio. ACANTHIO
not seeing him . There is nowhere a more lazy management than in his house. CHARINUS
What matter is afflicting you so terribly? ACANTHIO
turning round . Many, master, both yourself and me. CHARINUS
What's the matter? ACANTHIO
We are undone. CHARINUS
That beginning do you present unto our foes. ACANTHIO
But your own self it has befallen, as fate would have it. CHARINUS
Tell me this matter, whatever it is. ACANTHIO
Quietly--I want to take a rest. He pants. CHARINUS
But, i' faith, do take the skirt of your coat9, and wipe the sweat from off you. ACANTHIO
For your sake, I've burst the veins of my lungs; I'm spitting blood already. He spits. CHARINUS
Swallow Ægyptian resin with honey; you'll make it all right. ACANTHIO
Then, i' faith, do you drink hot pitch10; then your troubles will vanish. CHARINUS
I know no one a more tetchy fellow than yourself. ACANTHIO
And I know no one more abusive than yourself CHARINUS
But what if I'm persuading you to that which I take to be for your benefit? ACANTHIO
Away with benefit of that sort, that's accompanied with pain. CHARINUS
Tell me, is there any good at all that any one can enjoy entirely without evil; or where you mustn't endure labour when you wish to enjoy it? ACANTHIO
I don't understand these things; I never learnt to philosophize, and don't know how. I don't want any good to be given me, to which evil is an accompaniment. CHARINUS
extending his hand . Come now, Acanthio, give me your right hand. ACANTHIO
It shall be given; there then, take it. Gives his hand. CHARINUS
Do you intend yourself to be obedient to me, or don't you intend it? ACANTHIO
You may judge by experience, as I've ruptured myself with running for your sake, in order that what I knew, you might have the means of knowing directly. CHARINUS
I'll make you a free man within a few months. ACANTHIO
You are smoothing me down. CHARINUS
What, should I presume ever to make mention of an untrue thing to you? On the contrary, before I said so, you knew already whether I intend to utter an untruth. ACANTHIO
Ah! your words, upon my faith, are increasing my weakness. You are worrying me to death! CHARINUS
What, is this the way you're obedient to me? ACANTHIO
What do you want me to do? CHARINUS
What, you? What I want is this---- ACANTHIO
What is it then that you do want? CHARINUS
I'll tell you. ACANTHIO
Tell me, then. CHARINUS
But still, I'd like to do it in a quiet way. ACANTHIO
Are you afraid lest you should wake the drowsy Spectators11 from their nap? CHARINUS
Woe be to you! ACANTHIO
For my part, that same am I bringing to you from the harbour. CHARINUS
What are you bringing? Tell me. ACANTHIO
Violence, alarm, torture, care, strife, and beggary. CHARINUS
I'm undone! You really are bringing me hither a store of evils. I'm ruined outright. ACANTHIO
Why, yes, you are---- CHARINUS
I know it already; you'll be saying I'm wretched. ACANTHIO
'Tis you have said so; I'm mum. CHARINUS
What mishap is this? ACANTHIO
Don't enquire. It is a very great calamity. CHARINUS
Prithee, do relieve me at once. Too long a time have I been in suspense. ACANTHIO
Softly; I still wish to make many enquiries before I'm beaten. CHARINUS
By my troth, you assuredly will be beaten, unless you say at once, or get away from here. ACANTHIO
Do look at that, please, how he does coax me; there's no one more flattering when he sets about it. CHARINUS
By heavens, I do entreat and beseech you to disclose to me at once what it is; inasmuch as I see that I must be the suppliant of my own servant. ACANTHIO
And do I seem so unworthy of it? CHARINUS
Oh no, quite worthy. ACANTHIO
Well, so I thought. CHARINUS
Prithee, is the ship lost? ACANTHIO
The ship's all right; don't fear about that. CHARINUS
Well then, the rest of the cargo? ACANTHIO
That's right and tight. CHARINUS
Why then don't you tell me what it is, for which, just now, running through the city, you were seeking me? ACANTHIO
Really, you are taking the words out of my mouth. CHARINUS
I'll hold my tongue. ACANTHIO
Do hold your tongue. I doubt, if I brought you any good news, you'd be dreadfully pressing, who are now insisting upon my speaking out, when you must hear bad news. CHARINUS
Troth then, prithee do you let me know what this misfortune is. ACANTHIO
Since you beg of me, I'll tell you. Your father---- CHARINUS
My father did what? ACANTHIO
Your mistress---- CHARINUS
What about her? ACANTHIO
He has seen her. CHARINUS
Seen her? Ah wretch that I am! What I ask you, answer me. ACANTHIO
Nay, but do you ask me, if you want anything. CHARINUS
How could he see her? ACANTHIO
With his eyes. CHARINUS
In what way? ACANTHIO
Wide open. CHARINUS
Away hence and be hanged. You are trifling, when my life's at stake. ACANTHIO
How the plague am I trifling, if I answer you what you ask me? CHARINUS
Did he see her for certain? ACANTHIO
Aye, troth, as certainly as I see you and you see me. CHARINUS
Where did he see her? ACANTHIO
Down on board the ship, as he stood near the prow and chatted with her. CHARINUS
Father, you have undone me. Come now, you, come now, you sir? Why, you whip-rascal, didn't you take care that he mightn't see her? Why, villain, didn't you stow her away, that my father mightn't perceive her? ACANTHIO
Because we were busily employed about our business; we were engaged in packing up and arranging the cargo. While these things were being done, your father was brought alongside in a very small boat; and not an individual beheld the man until he was aboard the ship. CHARINUS
In vain have I escaped the sea with its dreadful tempests! Just now I really did suppose that I was both ashore and in a place of safety; but I see that by the raging waves I am being hurried towards the rocks. Say on; what took place? ACANTHIO
After he espied the woman, he began to ask her to whom she belonged. CHARINUS
What did she answer? ACANTHIO
That instant I ran up and interposed, saying that you had bought her as a maid-servant for your mother. CHARINUS
Did he seem to believe you in that? ACANTHIO
Do you e'en ask me that? Why the rogue began to take liberties with her. CHARINUS
Prithee, what, with her? ACANTHIO
'Twere a wonder if he had taken liberties with myself. CHARINUS
By heavens, my heart is saddened, which, drop by drop is melting away, just as though you were to put salt in water. I'm undone. ACANTHIO
Aye, aye, that one expression have you most truly uttered. CHARINUS
This is mere folly. What shall I do? I do think. my father won't believe me if I say that I bought her for my mother; and then, besides, it seems to me a shame that I should tell a lie to my parent. He'll neither believe, nor indeed is it credible, that I bought this woman of surpassing beauty as a maid-servant for my mother. ACANTHIO
Won't you be quiet, you most silly man? Troth, he will believe it, for he just now believed me. CHARINUS
I'm dreadfully afraid that a suspicion will reach my father how the matter really stands. Prithee, answer me this that I ask you. ACANTHIO
What do you ask? CHARINUS
Did he seem to suspect that she was my mistress? ACANTHIO
He did not seem. On the contrary, in everything, just as I said it, he believed me. CHARINUS
As being true-as he seemed to yourself at least. ACANTHIO
Not so; but he really did believe me. CHARINUS
Ah! wretched man that I am! I'm ruined! But why do I kill myself here with repining, and don't be off to the ship? Follow me. Hastening along. ACANTHIO
If you go that way, you'll conveniently come slap upon your father. As soon as he shall see you, dismayed and out of spirits, at once he'll be stopping you, and enquiring where you bought her, and for how much you bought her; he'll be trying you in your dismay. CHARINUS
turning about . I'll go this way in preference. Do you think that by this my father has left the harbour? ACANTHIO
Why, it was for that reason I ran before him hither, that he mightn't come upon you unawares and fish it out of you. CHARINUS
Very properly done. (Exeunt.)
1 Emporos: The Greek word ἐμπορὸς, signifying "a merchant."
2 As a tell-tale: He apologizes for his apparent boldness in breaking in upon them, and commencing to relate his amours, without first asking their leave.
3 Grasped everything into his own possession: Rapiebat domum. Literally "he carried off home."
4 Had had a sight of the Festival: "Spectavisset peplum." Literally, "had seen the show of the garment." At the great Panathenæa, or Festival of Minerva, which was celebrated every fifth year, the "peplum" of Minerva was exposed to public view. A procession was afterwards formed, to carry it to the Temple of Minerva, or Athene Polias. The "peplum" was a garment of crocus colour, woven by virgins. On it were represented the conquest of Enceladus and the Giants by Minerva. The garment was not carried by hands, but on the mast of a ship; and this ship, which was usually kept near the Areiopagus, was moved along by machinery.
5 Of fifteen tons: "Metretas trecentas." Literally, "three hundred metretæ." The "metreta" was properly a Greek liquid measure of about nine gallons. If, as some of the books inform us, in weight it was equal to one hundred-weight, three hundred of them would make fifteen tons. It is, however, not improbable that the word really signifies a weight nearer in capacity to a ton than to a hundred-weight.
6 A merchant-ship: "Cercurum." The merchant-ships, which were called "cercuri," are said to have been so called from the island of Corcyra, or Cercyra, so famous for its traffic, where they were said to have been first built. Some writers suppose them to have originally been peculiar to the inhabitants of the Isle of Cyprus.
7 Your younger master: "Herus minor." One version renders these words, "your master when thrown down." That surely cannot be the meaning of the passage.
8 Spleen is in rebellion: He alludes to the expansion of the spleen by the act of running fast.
9 Skirt of your coat: "Laciniam." The "laciniæ" were the angular extremities of the "pallium," and the "toga," one of which was brought round over the left shoulder. It was generally tucked into the girdle, but was sometimes allowed to hang loose. From the present passage, we may conclude that it was sometimes devoted to the purposes of a pocket-handkerchief.
10 Drink hot pitch: Commentators have been at a loss to know why Acanthio should be so annoyed at the recommendation of Charinus, and why he should answer him in these terms. The ingenious Rost seems in a great measure to have hit upon the true meaning of the passage. Charinus tells him that a mixture of resin and honey is good for the lungs. Now, from what Pliny says, B. 24, ch. 6, we should have reason to suppose that some kinds of resin were used in diseases of the lungs. But, on the other hand, Aristotle, in his History of Animals, B. 8, ch. 24, mentions a certain resin called "sandonache," which was of a poisonous nature. Acanthio, then, may have been frightened from a previous knowledge of the doubtful nature of resins as a remedy; he may also have heard that the Egyptians preserved their mummies with honey and resin, and his stomach may have revolted at swallowing such a mixture; and, thinking that his master is trifling with him, he answers him in anger. The latter explanation will appear the more probable when we remember, that as honey and resin were used for the embalming of the higher classes, the bodies of the poorer persons in Egypt were preserved by being dipped in pitch; and though this did not suggest itself to Rost, it is not improbable that the servant intends by his answer to repay his master in the same coin. Perhaps he may have imagined that his master intended him to swallow the mixture in a hot, melted state, just as when it was injected into the mummies. Persons convicted of blasphemy were sometimes condemned to swallow melted pitch
11 The drowsy Spectators: No wonder if this most tiresome dialogue has sent them to sleep.
The Comedies of Plautus. Henry Thomas Riley. London. G. Bell and Sons. 1912.
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