Surely, they are mine. SCEPARNIO Surely, I know nothing about that. LABRAX Of what appearance are they? SCEPARNIO Good-looking; I could even fall in love with either of them, if I were well liquored. LABRAX Surely, they are the damsels. SCEPARNIO Surely, you are a nuisance; be off, go in and see, if you like. LABRAX These must be my wenches in here, my dear Charmides. CHARMIDES Jupiter confound you, both if they are and still if they are not. LABRAX I’ll straightway burst into this Temple of Venus here. CHARMIDES Into the bottomless pit, I would rather. (LABRAX rushes into the Temple, and shuts the door.) Prithee, stranger, show me some spot where I may go to sleep. SCEPARNIO Go to sleep there, wherever you please (points to the ground) ; no one hinders, it’s free to the public. CHARMIDES (pointing to his clothes.) But do you see me, in what wet clothes I’m dressed? Do take me under shelter; lend me some dry clothes, while my own are drying; on some occasion I’ll return you the favour. SCEPARNIO See, here’s my outer coat, which alone is dry; that, if you like, I’ll lend you. (Takes it off and holds it out to him.) In that same I’m wont to be clothed, by that same protected, when it rains. Do you give me those clothes of yours; I’ll soon have them dried. CHARMIDES How now, are you afraid that, as I’ve been washed bare Washed bare : The poor joke here turns on the double meaning of the word eluo, which, in the passive, means to be shipwrecked, and in the active, either to bathe or to be ruined in one’s fortunes. It is not very dissimilar to an expression common with us, and might be rendered, I wasn’t cleaned out enough at sea fast night, but you want to clean me out still more. Sceparnio takes the word in the sense of to bathe, and says, Bathe or anoint yourself; I don’t care a fig. Anointing followed immediately after bathing, last night at sea, I mayn’t be made bare again here upon shore? SCEPARNIO Wash you bare, or anoint you well, I don’t care one fig One fig : Ciccum. Ciccum was the thin skin in the pomegranate that divided the kernels. . I shall never entrust anything to you unless upon a pledge being taken. Do you either sweat away or perish with cold, be you either sick or well. I’ll put up with no stranger-guest in my house; I’ve had disagreements enough. (Puts on his coat again, and goes into the house of DAEMONES.) CHARMIDES What, are you off? (A pause.) He’s a trafficker in slaves for money For money : His meaning is, he is so inhuman, that surely he is a slave-dealer, and nothing less. ; whoever he is, he has no bowels Has no bowels : Non est misericors. Literally, he is not merciful. of compassion. But why in my wretchedness am I standing here, soaking? Why don’t I rather go away from here into the Temple of Venus, that I may sleep off this debauch which I got with drinking last night against the bent of my inclination? Neptune has been drenching us with salt water as though we were Greek wines Were Greek wines : He uses this comparison because it was the custom of the ancients to mix sea-water with all the Greek wines, except the Chian, which Horace styles maris expers, unmixed with the sea. , and so he hoped that our stomachs might be vomited up with his salt draughts. What need of words? If he had persisted in inviting us a little longer, we should have gone fast asleep there; as it is, hardly alive has he sent us off home. Now I’ll go see the Procurer, my boon companion, what he’s doing within. (Goes into the Temple.) (Enter DAEMONES, from his house.) DAEMONES (to himnself.) In wondrous ways In wondrous ways : It is somewhat singular that the same three lines as this and the two following occur in the Mercator, at the beginning of Act II. do the Gods make sport of men, in wondrous fashions do they send dreams in sleep. Not the sleeping, even, do they allow to rest. As, for example, I, this last night which has gone by, dreamed a wonderful and a curious dream. A she-ape seemed to be endeavouring to climb up to a swallow’s nest; and she was not able thence to take them out. After that, the ape seemed to come to me to beg me to lend a ladder to her. I in these terms gave answer to the ape, that swallows are the descendants of Philomela Of Philomela : The Poets generally represent Progne as changed into a swallow, and Philomela into a nightingale. Ovid, however, on one occasion, mentions Philomela as being changed into a swallow. They were the daughters of Pandion, king of Athens , the native place of Daemones. and of Progne. I expostulated with her, that she might not hurt those of my country. But then she began to be much more violent, and seemed gratuitously to be threatening me with vengeance. She summoned me to a court of justice. Then, in my anger, I seemed to seize hold of the ape by the middle, in what fashion I know not; and I fastened up with chains this most worthless beast. Now to what purpose I shall say that this dream tends, never have I this day been able to come to any conclusion. (A loud noise is heard in the Temple.) But what’s this noise that arises in this Temple of Venus, my neighbour? My mind’s in wonder about it. (Enter TRACHALIO, in haste, from the Temple.) TRACHALIO (aloud.) O citizens of Cyrene , I implore your aid, countrymen, you who are near neighbours to these spots, bring aid to helplessness, and utterly crush a most vile attempt. Inflict vengeance, that the power of the wicked, who wish themselves to be distinguished by crimes, may not be stronger than of the guiltless. Make an example for the shameless man, give its reward to modest virtue; cause that one may be allowed to live here rather under the control of the laws than of brute force. Hasten hither into the Temple of Venus; again do I implore your aid, you who are here at hand and who hear my cries. Bring assistance to those who, after the recognized usage, have entrusted their lives to Venus and to the Priestess of Venus, under their protection. Wring ye the neck of iniquity before it reaches yourselves. DAEMONES What’s all this to-do? TRACHALIO (embracing his knees.) By these knees of yours, I do entreat you, old gentleman, whoever you are—