This text is part of:
Enter OLYMPIO, dressed in white, with a wreath on his head, and a torch in his hand, accompanied by MUSICIANS
OLYMPIO
to one of the MUSICIANS . Come, piper, while they are escorting the new-made bride out of doors, make the whole of this street resound with a sweet wedding-tune1. He sings aloud. Io Hymen hymenæe! Io Hymen! STALINO
accosting him . How fare you, my preserver? OLYMPIO
I'm very hungry, faith; and, in fact, I'm not thirsty a little. STALINO
But I'm in love. OLYMPIO
Still, upon my faith, love, I shan't be making any trial of you. For some time past my inside has been grumbling with emptiness. STALINO
But why is she now delaying so long in-doors, just as though on purpose? The greater the haste I'm in, in so much the less is she. OLYMPIO
What if I were even to trill an hymeneal lay? STALINO
I agree to that; and I'll help you at these our common nuptials. OL. (STALING
joining, they sing). Hymen hymenæe! Io Hymen! STALINO
Upon my faith, I'm dreadfully done up; one may burst one's self with singing this hymeneal lay; if I do burst this way2, I can't burst any other, that I may make sure of. OLYMPIO
Upon my faith, for sure, if you were a horse, you'd never be broken in. STALINO
On what grounds? OLYMPIO
You are too hard-mouthed. STALINO
Have you ever found me so? OLYMPIO
The Gods forbid! But the door makes a noise; they are coming out. STALINO
I' troth, the Gods do will me to be preserved at last. I already smell Casina3 at a distance. They move to a distance.
1 Wedding-tune: "Hymenæo." The nuptial-song was called "Hymenæus," in honor of Hymen, the God of Marriage. The above words were probably the refrain, or Chorus of the song.
2 If I do burst this way: The meaning of this passage is obscure, but there is no doubt that it is of an indecent nature. The translation is consequently somewhat modified.
3 Already smell Casina: Some Commentators explain this passage as one of indecent allusion, but there is really no occasion for such a construction; no doubt, the bride was usually perfumed to the highest pitch, and Stalino may very naturally say that he smells her at a distance.
The Comedies of Plautus. Henry Thomas Riley. London. G. Bell and Sons. 1912.
NSF, NEH: Digital Libraries Initiative, Phase 2 provided support for entering this text.
This text was converted to electronic form by professional data entry and has been proofread to a medium level of accuracy.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.