that he hasn’t even yet paid you those twenty minae for his mistress. BALLIO That which we are ashamed at is much more easily endured than that which we are vexed at. At not having paid the money, he is ashamed; I, because I have not received it, am vexed. PSEUDOLUS Still, he’ll pay it, he’ll procure it; do you only wait some days to come. But he has been afraid of this, that you’ll sell her on account of his embarrassment. BALLIO He had an opportunity, had he wished, of paying the money long ago. CALIDORUS What if I had it not? BALLIO If you had been in love, you would have found it on loan. You would have gone to the usurer To the usurer : Danista from the Greek δανίστης, an usurer. ; you would have paid the interest; or else you would have pilfered it from your father. PSEUDOLUS Ought he to have pilfered it from his father, you most shameless villain? There is no fear that you’ll point out to him anything that’s right. BALLIO That’s not like a procurer. CALIDORUS And could I possibly pilfer anything from my father, an old man so much on his guard? And besides, if I could do so, filial affection forbids. BALLIO I understand you; do you then at night embrace filial affection in place of Phœnicium. But since I see you prefer your filial affection to your love—are all men your fathers? Is there no one for you to ask to lend you some money? CALIDORUS Why, the very name of lending’s dead and gone by this. PSEUDOLUS Look you now; since, i’ faith Since, i’ faith : He alludes probably to the recent fraudulent failure of some well-known bankers. , those fellows arose from the banker’s table, with a filled skin, who, when they called in their own, paid what they had borrowed to no born creature, since then, I say, all people have been more cautious not to trust another. CALIDORUS Most wretched am I; nowhere am I able to find a coin of silver; so distractedly am I perishing both through love and want of money. BALLIO Buy oil on credit Buy oil on credit : Emito die caecâ—id vendito oculatâ die. By buying a commodity on a blind day, and selling it on one with eyes, is meant the system of credit for the purposes of business; where they who purchase on that principle have an eye only to the present time, but are blind as to the future consequences of their speculation. The intention of the procurer is to advise the young man to get oil on credit, and then sell it for anything it will fetch. , and sell it for ready money; then, i’ faith, even two hundred minae ready money might be raised. CALIDORUS There I’m done; the twenty-five year old law The twenty-five year old law : The Quinavicenarian, which was also called the Laetorian Law, forbade credit to be given to persons under the age of twenty-five years, and deprived the creditor of all right to recover his money or goods. As usual, Plautus does not scruple to refer to Roman customs, though the scene is at Athens. founders me. All are afraid to trust me. BALLIO The same law The same law : By using the word lex, he probably means that the law also applies to him, as it forbids him to give credit; or he may simply mean that it is his rule and custom not to give credit. have I. I’m afraid to trust you. PSEUDOLUS To trust him, indeed! How now, do you repent of the great profit he has been to you? BALLIO No lover is a profitable one, except him who keeps continually making presents. Either let him be always giving, or when he has nothing, let him at the same time cease to be in love. CALIDORUS And don’t you pity me at all? BALLIO You come empty-handed; words don’t chink. But I wish you life and health. PSEUDOLUS Heyday! Is he dead already? BALLIO However he is, to me indeed, at all events, with these speeches, he is dead. Then, does a lover really live, when he comes begging to a procurer? Do you always come to me with a complaint that brings Complaim that brings : Cum argentatâ querimomâ. Literally, with a silvery complaint. He probably alludes to the chinking of silver. its money. As for that, which you are now lamenting about, that you have got no money, complain of it to your stepmother To your stepmother : Stepmothers, in ancient times, were proverbially notorious for their unfeeling conduct to their step-children. Ballio ironically tells him to go and look for sympathy from his stepmother, on which Pseudolus retorts by implying that Ballio is as unfeeling as any stepmother can be. . PSEUDOLUS Why, have you ever been married to his father, pray? BALLIO May the Gods grant better things. PSEUDOLUS Do what we ask you, Ballio, on my credit, if you are afraid to trust him. Within the next three days, from some quarter, in some way, either by land or sea, I’ll rout up this money for you. BALLIO I, trust you? PSEUDOLUS Why not? BALLIO Because, i’ faith, on the same principle that I trust you, on that principle I should tie a run-away dog to a lamb’s fry.