Parmeno [apart] —I've come here to be on the lookout, that when there is an
opportunity
I may take the presents.
Universal Anthology - v05
In a few steps they reached the prison ; she begged Glaucus to bring her the Roman's answer as quickly as possible, declared herself quite ready to remain in the dark, — since she perceived that the light of a lamp might betray her, and she was not afraid of the dark, — and suffered herself to be locked in.
As she heard the iron bolt creak in its brass socket a shiver ran through her, and although the room in which she found her self was neither worse nor smaller than that in which she and
128 TO SAVE A SISTER.
her sister lived in the temple, still it oppressed her, and she even felt as if an indescribable something hindered her breath ing, as she said to herself that she was locked in and no longer free to come and go. A dim light penetrated into her prison through the single barred window that opened on to the court, and she could see a little bench of palm-branches, on which she sat down to seek the repose she so sorely needed. All sense of discomfort gradually vanished before the new feeling of rest and refreshment, and pleasant hopes and anticipations were just be ginning to mingle themselves with the remembrance of the hor rors she had just experienced, when suddenly there was a stir and a bustle just in front of the prison — and she could hear, outside, the clatter of harness and words of command. She rose from her seat and saw that about twenty horsemen, whose golden
helmets and armor reflected the light of the lanterns, cleared the wide court by driving the men before them, as the flames drive the game from a fired hedge, and by forcing them into a second court from which again they proceeded to expel them. At least Klea could hear them shouting " In the king's name " there as they had before done close to her. Presently the horse men returned and placed themselves, ten and ten, as guards at each of the passages leading into the court. It was not without interest that Klea looked on at this scene, which was perfectly new to her ; and when one of the fine horses, dazzled by the light of the lanterns, turned restive and shied, leaping and rear ing and threatening his rider with a fall, — when the horseman checked and soothed it, and brought it to a standstill, — the Macedonian warrior was transfigured in her eyes to Publius, who no doubt could manage a horse no less well than this man.
No sooner was the court completely cleared of men by the mounted guard than a new incident claimed Klea's attention. First she heard footsteps in the room adjoining her prison, then bright streaks of light fell through the cracks of the slight par tition which divided her place of retreat from the other room, then the two window-openings close to hers were closed with heavy shutters, then seats or benches were dragged about and various objects were laid upon a table, and finally the door of the adjoining room was thrown open and slammed to again so violently that the door which closed hers and the bench near which she was standing trembled and jarred.
At the same moment a deep, sonorous voice called out with a loud and hearty shout of laughter : —
TO SAVE A SISTER. 129
"A mirror — give me a mirror, Eulaeus. By heaven! I do not look much like prison fare — more like a man in whose strong brain there is no lack of deep schemes, who can throttle his antagonist with a grip of his fist, and who is prompt to avail himself of all the spoil that comes in his way, so that he may compress the pleasures of a whole day into every hour, and enjoy them to the utmost ! As surely as my name is Euergetes my uncle Antiochus was right in liking to mix among the populace. The splendid puppets who surround us kings, and cover every portion of their own bodies in wrappings and swaddling bands, also stifle the expression of every genuine sentiment ; and it is enough to turn our brain to reflect that, if we would not be deceived, every word that we hear — and, oh dear ! how many words we must needs hear — must be pon dered in our minds. Now, the mob, on the contrary — who think themselves beautifully dressed in a threadbare cloth hanging round their brown loins — are far better off. If one of them says to another of his own class — a naked wretch who wears about him everything he happens to possess — that he is a dog, he answers with a blow of his fist in the other's face, and what can be plainer than that ! If on the other hand he tells him he is a splendid fellow, he believes it without reservation, and has a perfect right to believe it.
" Did you see how that stunted little fellow with a snub nose and bandy legs, who is as broad as he is long, showed all his teeth in a delighted grin when I praised his steady hand ? He laughs like a hyena, and every respectable father of a family looks on the fellow as a god-forsaken monster ; but the immortals must think him worth something to have given him such mag nificent grinders in his ugly mouth, and to have preserved him mercifully for fifty years — for that is about the rascal's age. If that fellow's dagger breaks, he can kill his victim with those teeth, as a"fox does a duck, or smash his bones with his fist. "
But, my lord," replied Eulaeus, dryly and with a certain matter-of-fact gravity, to King Euergetes — for he it was who had come with him into the room adjoining Klea's retreat, '* the dry little Egyptian with the thin straight hair is even more trust worthy and tougher and nimbler than his companion, and, so far, more estimable. One flings himself on his prey with a rush like a block of stone hurled from a roof, but the other, without being seen, strikes his poisoned fang into his flesh like an adder hidden in the sand. The third, on whom I had set great hopes,
vol. v. — 0
130 TO SAVE A SISTER.
was beheaded the day before yesterday without my knowledge ; but the pair whom you have condescended to inspect with your own eyes are sufficient. They must use neither dagger nor lance, but they will easily achieve their end with slings and hooks and poisoned needles, which leave wounds that resemble the sting of an adder. We may safely depend on these fellows. " Once more Euergetes laughed loudly, and exclaimed: —
" What an elaborate criticism ! Exactly as if these blood hounds were tragic actors, of which one could best produce his effects by fire and pathos, and the other by the subtlety of con ception. I call that an unprejudiced judgment. And why should not a man be great even as a murderer? From what hangman's noose did you drag out the neck of one, and from what heads man's block did you rescue the other, when you found them ?
" It is a lucky hour in which we first see something new to
I never before in the whole course of my life saw such villains as these. I do not regret having gone to see them and talked to them as if I were their equal. Now, take this torn coat off me, and help me to undress. Before I go to the feast I will take a hasty plunge in my bath, for I twitch in
toils. "
Klea could hear every word of this frightful conversation,
and clasped her hand over her brow with a shudder, for she found it difficult to believe in the reality of the hideous images that it brought before her mind. Was she awake or was she a prey to some horrid dream?
She hardly knew, and, indeed, she scarcely understood half of all she heard till the Roman's name was mentioned. She felt as if the point of a thin, keen knife was being driven obliquely through her brain from right to left, as it now flashed through her mind that it was against him, against Publius, that the wild beasts, disguised in human form, were directed by Eulaeus, and face to face with this — the most hideous, the most incredible of horrors — she suddenly recovered the full use of her senses. She softly slipped close to that rift in the partition through which the broadest beam of light fell into the room, put her ear close to and drank in, with fearful atten tion, word for word the report made by the eunuch to his iniqui tous superior, who frequently interrupted him with remarks,
us, and, by Heracles !
every limb, I feel as if I had got dirty in their company.
" There lie my clothes and my sandals ; strap them on for me, and tell me as you do it how you lured the Roman into the
it,
TO SAVE A SISTER. 131
words of approval, or a short laugh — drank them in, as a man
perishing in the desert drinks the loathsome waters of a salt
pool.
And what she heard was indeed well fitted to deprive her
of her senses, but the more definite the facts to which the words referred that she could overhear, the more keenly she listened, and the more resolutely she collected her thoughts. Eulaeus had used her own name to induce the Roman to keep an assig nation at midnight in the desert close to the Apis tombs. He repeated the words that he had written to this effect on a tile, and which requested Publius to come quite alone to the spot indicated, since she dare not speak with him in the temple. Finally, he was invited to write his answer on the other side of the square of clay. As Klea heard these words, put into her own mouth by a villain, she could have sobbed aloud heartily with anguish, shame, and rage ; but the point now was to keep her ears wide open, for Euergetes asked his odious tool, " And what was the Roman's answer ? "
Eulaeus must have handed the tile to the king, for he laughed loudly again, and cried out : —
" So he will walk into the trap — will arrive by half an hour after midnight at the latest, and greets Klea from her sister Irene. He carries on love-making and abduction wholesale, and buys water-bearers by the pair, like doves in the market or sandals in a shoemaker's stall. Only see how the simpleton writes Greek ; in these few words there are two mistakes, two regular schoolboy's blunders.
" The fellow must have had a very pleasant day of since he must have been reckoning on not unsuccessful evening — but the gods have an ugly habit of clenching the hand with which they have long caressed their favorites, and striking him with their fist.
"Amalthea's horn has been poured out on him to-day; first he snapped up, under my very nose, my little Hebe, the Irene of Irenes, whom hope to-morrow to inherit from him then he got the gift of my best Cyrenaean horses, and at the same time the flattering assurance of my valuable friendship then he had audience of my fair sister — and goes more to the heart of republican than you would believe when crowned heads are graciously disposed toward him finally the sister of his pretty sweetheart invites him to an assignation, and she, you and Zoe speak the truth, beauty in the grand style. Now
is a
;
; if
;
I
it a
a
it,
132 TO SAVE A SISTER.
these are really too many good things for one inhabitant of this most stingily provided world ; and in one single day, too, which, once begun, is so soon ended ; and justice requires that we should lend a helping hand to destiny, and cut off the head of this poppy that aspires to rise above its brethren ; the thou sands who have less good fortune than he would otherwise have great cause to complain of neglect. "
"I am happy to see you in such good humor," said Eu- lffiUS.
" My humor is as may be," interrupted the king. " I believe I am only whistling a merry tune to keep up my spirits in the dark. If I were on more familiar terms with what other men call fear, I should have ample reason to be afraid ; for in the quail-fight we have gone in for I have wagered a crown — aye, and more than that even. To-morrow only will decide whether the game is lost or won, but I know already to-day that I would rather see my enterprise against Philometor fail, with all my hopes of the double crown, than our plot against the life of the Roman; for Iwas a man before Iwas a king, and a man I should remain, if my throne, which now indeed stands on only two legs, were to crash under my weight.
" My sovereign dignity is but a robe, though the costliest, to be sure, of all garments. If forgiveness were any part of my nature, I might easily forgive the man who should soil or injure that — but he who comes too near to Euergetes the man, who dares to touch this body and the spirit it contains, or to cross it in its desires and purposes — him I will crush unhesitatingly to the earth, I will see him torn in pieces. Sentence is passed on the Roman, and if your ruffians do their duty, and if the gods accept the holocaust that I had slain before them at sun set for the success of my project, in a couple of hours Publius Cornelius Scipio will have bled to death. — — I,
"He is in a position to laugh at me as a man but therefore, — as a man — have the right, and — as a king — have the power, to make sure that that laugh shall be his last. If I could murder Rome as I can him how glad should I be ! for Rome alone hinders me from being the greatest of all the great kings of our time ; and yet I shall rejoice to-morrow when they tell me 'Publius Cornelius Scipio has been torn by wild beasts, and his body is so mutilated that his own mother could not recognize it ' more than if a messenger were to bring me the news that Carthage had broken the power of Rome. "
TO SAVE A SISTER. 133
Euergetes had spoken the last words in a voice that sounded like the roll of thunder as it growls in a rapidly approaching storm, louder, deeper, and more furious each instant. When at last he was silent, Eulaeus said : —
" The immortals, my lord, will not deny you this happiness. The brave fellows whom you condescended to see and to talk to strike as certainly as the bolt of our father Zeus, and as we have learned from the Roman's horse-keeper where he has hidden Irene, she will no more elude your grasp than the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. Now, allow me to put on your mantle, and then to call the bodyguard, that they may escort you as you return to your residence. "
"One thing more," cried the king, detaining Eulaeus. " There are always troops by the Tombs of Apis, placed there to guard the sacred places; may not they prove a hindrance to your friends ? "
"I have withdrawn all the soldiers and armed" guards to Memphis, down to the last man," replied Eulaeus, and quar tered them within the White Wall. Early to-morrow, before you proceed to business, they will be replaced by a stronger division, so that they may not prove a reenforcement to your brother's troops here, if things come to fighting. "
"I shall know how to reward your foresight," said Euer getes as Eulaeus quitted the room.
Again Klea heard a door open, and the sound of many hoofs on the pavement of the courtyard, and when she went, all trembling, up to the window, she saw Euergetes himself, and the powerfully knit horse that was led in for him. The tyrant twisted his hand in the mane of the restless and pawing steed, and Klea thought that the monstrous mass could never mount on to the horse's back without the aid of many men ; but she was mistaken, for with a mighty spring the giant flung himself high in the air and on to the horse, and then, guiding his pant ing steed by the pressure of his knees alone, he bounded out of the prison yard surrounded by his splendid train.
For some minutes the courtyard remained empty, then a man hurriedly crossed unlocked the door of the room where Klea was, and informed her that he was subaltern under Glaucus, and had brought her message from him.
" My lord," said the veteran soldier to the girl, " bid me greet you, and say that he found neither the Roman, Publius Scipio, nor his friend the Corinthian at home. He prevented from
is
a
it, a
134 TO SAVE A SISTER.
coming to you himself; he has his hands full of business, for soldiers in the service of both the kings are quartered within the White Wall, and all sorts of squabbles break out between them. Still, you cannot remain in this room, for it will shortly be occupied by a party of young officers who began the fray. Glaucus proposes for your choice that you should either allow me to conduct you to his wife or return to the temple to which you are attached. In the latter case a chariot shall convey you as far as the second tavern in Khakem on the borders of the desert — for the city is full of drunken soldiery. There you may probably find an escort, if you explain to the host who you are. But the chariot must be back again in less than an hour, for it is one of the king's, and when the banquet is over there may be a scarcity of chariots. "
" Yes — I will go back to the place I came from," said Klea
eagerly, interrupting the messenger. " Take me at once to the chariot. "
" Follow me, then," said the old man.
" But I have no veil," observed Klea, " and have only this thin robe on. Rough soldiers snatched my wrapper from my face, and my cloak from off my shoulders. "
" I will bring you the captain's cloak which is lying here in the orderly's room, and his traveling hat too; tbat will hide your face with its broad flap. You are so tall that you might be taken for a man, and that is well, for a woman leaving the palace at this hour would hardly pass unmolested. A slave shall fetch the things from your temple to-morrow. I may inform you that my master ordered me to take as much care of you as if you were his own daughter. And he told me too — and I had almost forgotten it — to tell you that your sister was carried off by the Roman, and not by that other dangerous man —you would know whom he meant. Now please wait till I
I shall not be
return ;
In a few minutes the guard returned with a large cloak, in
which he wrapped Klea, and a broad-brimmed traveling hat which she pressed on her head ; then led her to the quarter of the palace where the king's stables were. She kept close to the officer, and was soon seated on a chariot, and then conducted by the driver — who took her for a young Macedonian noble tempted out at night by an assignation — as far as the second tavern on the road back to the Serapeum.
gone long. "
BRAGGART AND PARASITE. 135
BRAGGART AND PARASITE. By TERENCE.
(From " The Eunuch. ")
[P. Tehentius Afer was a Carthaginian, born probably b. c. 185 ; brought to Rome early, it is said, as a slave ; was emancipated, became a protege' of the younger Scipio, exhibited his first play at nineteen, wrote five others in the next six years, and died b. c. 159 at twenty-six, one of the world's great classics from the purity and delicacy of his art, the universality of his types of character, the charm of his grace and humane irony. His work was largely a close imitation of the Greek Menander, and he combined scenes from other Greek originals ; but his own contribution, like Virgil's to the epic, was still greater than his borrowing. The names of his"plays are: "Andria" "(The Maid of Andros), "Eunuchus" (The Eunuch), Heautontimorumenos (The Self -Tormentor), "Adelphi" (The Brothers), "Hecyra" (The Mother- in-Law), "Phormio. "]
Chief Dramatis Persons : Gnatho, a parasite ; Thraso, a military officer, braggart, and coxcomb ; Laches, an old Athenian gentleman, with two sons, Phsdria and Chxrea, the former having a servant Parmeno; Chbbmes, an Athenian youth ; Thais, a courtesan admired by Thraso, and one of the two heroines of the piece, the other being Pamphila, sister of Chremes, who is second only to Mrs. Grundy as a curious stage heroine, for the latter never appears at all, while Pamphila appears but once, and never opens her mouth. She is a slave girl, originally of good family, who has been kidnapped when a baby and brought up by Thais' courtesan mother with her own daughter in Rhodes ; Thais goes to Athens, her mother dies, and Pamphila is bought by Thraso, who intends giving her to Thais at Athens as a present, not knowing their old relations. He finds Thais in liaison with Phaedria, and will not give her the girl till she has discarded her new lover ; she, finding who the girl is and having discovered from Chremes' talk that she must be his sister, is determined to get her back, but not to give up Phaedria, whom she likes much better than Thraso. Finally she induces Phaedria to leave Thraso a clear field for two days, promising to throw him over as soon as
she has the girl in her possession ; he agrees, and sends her a eunuch and a negro girl by Parmeno, while Thraso sends Pamphila by his lickspittle Gnatho. Chaerea sees and admires Pamphila ; his brother's servant, Par meno, dresses him in the eunuch's clothes and lets him into the house as her guardian, where he takes full advantage of the situation. Thraso quarrels with Thais, and comes with a train to demand Pamphila back, but cannot get her. Finally Pamphila is recognized by Chremes, and Chaerea makes amends by marrying her — the standpoint of Clarissa Harlowe not being intelligible then or usual at any time.
Act II. — Scene III.
Enter Gnatho at a distance, leading Pamphila.
Gnatho [to himself] — Immortal Gods I how much does one man excel another I What a difference there is between a
136 BRAGGART AND PARASITE.
wise person and a fool ! This strongly came into my mind from the following circumstance. As I was coming along to-day, I met a certain person of this place, of my own rank and station, no mean fellow, one who, like myself, had guttled
I saw him, shabby, dirty, sickly, beset away his paternal estate ;" "
with rags and years ; — What's the meaning of this garb ?
"
; he answered, Because, wretch that I am, I've lost
said I
what I possessed : see to what I am reduced, — all my acquaint ances and friends forsake me. " On this I felt contempt for him in comparison with myself. " What I " said I, " you piti ful sluggard, have you so managed matters as to have no hope left? Have you lost your wits together with your estate? Don't you see me, who have risen from the same condition ? What a complexion I have, how spruce and well dressed, what portliness of person? I have everything, yet have nothing; and although I possess nothing, still, of nothing am I in want. " " But I," said he, " unhappily, can neither be a butt nor submit to blows. " "What ! " said I, "do you suppose it is managed by those means ? You are quite mistaken. Once upon a time, in the early ages, there was a calling for that class : this is a new mode of coney-catching ; I, in fact, have been the first to strike into this path. There is a class of men who strive to be the first in everything, but are not ; to these I make my court ; I do not present myself to them to be laughed at ; but I am the
first to laugh with them, and at the same time to admire their parts ; whatever they say, I commend ; if they contradict that selfsame thing, I commend again. Does any one deny? I
I affirm : in fine, I have so trained myself as to humor them in everything. This calling is now by far
deny : does he affirm ?
the most productive. "
Parmeno [apart] — A clever fellow, upon my faith ! From
being fools he makes men mad outright.
Gnatho [to himself, continuing] — While we were thus
talking, in the meantime we arrived at the market place ; over joyed, all the confectioners ran at once to meet me; fish mongers, butchers, cooks, sausage makers, and fishermen, whom, both when my fortunes were flourishing and when they were ruined, I had served, and often serve still : they complimented me, asked me to dinner, and gave me a hearty welcome. When this poor hungry wretch saw that I was in such great esteem, and that I obtained a living so easily, then the fellow began to entreat me that I would allow him to learn this method of me ;
BRAGGART AND PARASITE. 137
I bade him become my follower if he could ; as the disciples of the Philosophers take their names from the Philosophers them selves, so, too, the Parasites ought to be called Gnathonics.
Parmeno [apart to the Audience] — Do you see the effects of ease and feeding at another's cost?
Gnatho [to himself, continuing] — But why do I delay to take this girl to Thais, and to ask her to come to dinner? [Aside, on seeing Parmeno. ] But I see Parmeno, our rival's
servant, waiting before the door of Thais with a sorrowful air ; all's safe ; no doubt these people are finding a cold welcome. I'm resolved to have some sport with this knave.
Parmeno [aside] — They fancy that, through this present,
Thais is quite their own. —
With his very best wishes Gnatho greets Parmeno, his very good friend. — What are you
Gnatho [accosting Parmeno]
doing? — Parmeno
I'm standing.
Gnatho — So I perceive. Pray, do you see anything here
that don't please you ? Parmeno — Yourself.
Gnatho — I believe you — but anything else, pray ? Parmeno — Why so ?
Gnatho — Because you are out of spirits. Parmeno — Not in the least.
Gnatho — Well, don't be so; but what think you of this slave ? [Pointing to her.
Parmeno — Really, not amiss.
Gnatho [aside] — I've galled the fellow.
Parmeno [aside, on overhearing him] — How mistaken you are in your notion !
Gnatho — How far do you suppose this gift will prove ac
ceptable to Thais ?
Parmeno — It's this you mean to say now, that we are dis
carded there. Hark you, there are vicissitudes in all things. Gnatho — For the next six months, Parmeno, I'll set you at ease ; you shan't have to be running to and fro, or sitting up
till daylight. — Don't I make you happy ? Parmeno Me ? O prodigiously !
Gnatho — That's my way with my friends. Parmeno — I commend you.
Gnatho — I'm detaining you ; perhaps you were about to go somewhere else.
138 BRAGGART AND PARASITE.
Parmeno — Nowhere.
Gnatho — In that case, then, lend me your services a little ;
let me be introduced to her.
Parmeno — Very well [Gnatho knocks at the door, which
immediately opens] ; now the door is open for you [aside] because you are bringing her.
Gnatho [going into the house of Thais, ironically] — Should you like any one to be called out from here ?
[ Goes in with Pamphila, and shuts the door.
Act III. — Scene I.
Enter Thraso and Gnatho.
Thraso — Did Thais really return me many thanks ?
Ghnatho — Exceeding thanks.
Thraso — Was she delighted, say you ?
Gnatho — Not so much, indeed, at the present itself, as be
cause it was given by you ; really, in right earnest, she does exult at that.
Enter Parmeno unseen, from Laches' house.
Parmeno [apart] —I've come here to be on the lookout, that when there is an opportunity I may take the presents. But see, here's the Captain.
Thraso — Undoubtedly it is the case with me, that every thing I do is a cause for thankfulness.
Ghnatho — Upon my faith, I've observed it.
Thraso — The most mighty King, even, always used to give me especial thanks for whatever I did; but not so to others.
Ghnatho — He who has the wit that you have, often by his words appropriates to himself the glory that has been achieved by the labor of others.
Thraso — You've just hit it.
Gnatho — The king, then, kept you in his eye. Thraso —Just so.
Gnatho — To enjoy your society.
Thraso — True; he intrusted to me all his army, all his state secrets.
Gnatho — Astonishing !
taste. — Thraso
BRAGGART AND PARASITE. 139
Thraso — Then, if on any occasion a surfeit of society, or a dislike of business, came upon him, when he was desirous to take some recreation ; just as though — you understand ?
Gnatho — I know ; just as though on occasion he would rid his mind of those anxieties.
Thraso — You have it. Then he used to take me aside as his only boon companion.
Gnatho — Whew I You are telling of a king of refined
Aye, he is a person of that sort ; a man of but very few acquaintanceships.
Gnatho [aside] — Indeed, of none, I fancy, if he's on inti mate terms with you.
Thraso — All the people envied me, and attacked me pri vately. I didn't care one straw. They envied me dreadfully ; but one in particular, whom the King had appointed over the Indian elephants. Once, when he became particularly trouble some, " Prithee, Strato," said I, " are you so fierce because you hold command over the wild beasts ? "
Gnatho — Cleverly said, upon my faith, and shrewdly. As tounding ! You did give the fellow a home thrust. What said he ?
Thraso — Dumf ounded, instantaneously. Gnatho — How could he be otherwise ?
Parmeno [apart] — Ye Gods, by our trust in you I a lost and miserable fellow the one, and the other a scoundrel.
Thraso — Well then, about that matter, Gnatho, the way in which I touched up the Rhodian at a banquet — did I never
tell you ? — Never; Gnatho
but pray, do tell me. [Aside. ] I've heard it more than a thousand times already.
Thraso — There was in my company at a banquet, this young man of Rhodes, whom I'm speaking of. By chance I had a mistress there ; he began to toy with her, and to annoy me. " What are you doing, sir impudence ? " said I to the fellow ; " a hare yourself, and looking out for game ? "
Gnatho [pretending to laugh very heartily] — Ha, ha, ha ! Thraso — What's the matter ?
Gnatho — How apt, how smart, how clever ; nothing could
be more excellent. Prithee, was this a saying of yours ? I fancied it was an old one.
Thraso — Did you ever hear it before ?
140 BRAGGART AND PARASITE.
Ghnatho — Many a time ; and it is mentioned among the first-rate ones.
Thraso — It's my own.
Ghnatho — I'm sorry though that it was said to a thought less young man, and one of respectability.
Parmeno [apart] — May the Gods confound you !
Gnaiho — Pray, what did he do ?
Thraso — Quite disconcerted. All who were present were
dying with laughter ; in short, they were all quite afraid of me.
Thraso — But hark you, had I best clear myself of this to Thais, as to her suspicion that I'm fond of this girl ?
Gnatho — By no means : on the contrary, rather increase her jealousy. —
Thraso Why so?
Gnatho — Do you ask me ? Don't you see, if on any occa sion she makes mention of Phaedria or commends him, to pro voke you
Gnatho — Not without reason.
Thraso —Iunderstand.
Ghnatho — That such may not be the case, this method is the only remedy. When she speaks of Phaedria, do you instantly mention Pamphila. If at any time she says, " Let's invite Phaedria to make one," do you say, " Let's ask Pamphila to sing. " If she praises his good looks, do you, on the other hand, praise hers. In short, do you return like for like, which will mortify her.
Thraso — If, indeed, she loved me, this might be of some use, Gnatho.
Gnatho — Since she is impatient for and loves that which you give her, she already loves you ; as it is, then, it is an easy matter for her to feel vexed. She will be always afraid lest the presents which she herself is now getting, you may on some occasion be taking elsewhere.
Thraso — Well said ; that never came into my mind.
Gnatho — Nonsense. You never thought about it ; else how much more readily would you yourself have hit upon Thraso
I
it,
BRAGGART AND PARASITE. 141
Scene II.
Enter Thais from her house, attended by Pythias.
TJiais [as she comes out] — I thought I just now heard the Captain's voice. And look, here he is. Welcome, my dear
Thraso. — Thraso
O my Thais, my sweet one, how are you ? How much do you love me in return for that music girl ?
Parmeno [apart] — How polite ! What a beginning he has made on meeting her I
Thais — Very much, as you deserve.
Ghnatho — Let's go to dinner then. [To Thraso. ] What do you stand here for ?
Parmeno [apart] — Then there's the other one ; you would declare that he was born for his belly's sake.
I shan't delay.
Thraso — When you please ;
Parmeno [apart] — I'll accost them, and pretend as though
I had just come out. [He comes forward. ] Are you going anywhere, Thais?
Thais — Ha ! Parmeno ; well done ; just going out for the
day. Parmeno — Where ! —
Thais [aside, pointing at Thraso] him ?
Why I don't you see
Parmeno [aside] — I see him, and I'm sorry for it. [Aloud. ] Phaedria's presents are ready for you when you please.
Thraso [impatiently] — Why are we to stand here ? Why
don't we be off ? —
Troth now, pray, do let us, with your leave, present to her the things we intend, and accost and
speak to her.
Thraso [ironically] — Very fine presents, I suppose, or at
least equal to mine.
Parmeno — The fact will prove itself. [Goes to the door
of Laches' house and calls. ] Ho there ! bid those people come out of doors at once, as I ordered.
Enter from the house a Black Girl.
Parmeno [to Thraso]
Parmeno — Do you step forward this way. She comes all the way from Ethiopia.
[To Thais. ]
142 BRAGGART AND PARASITE.
Thraso [contemptuously] —Here are some three minae in value.
Chuatho — Hardly so much.
Parmeno — Where are you, Dorus ? Step this way.
Enter Chorea from the house dressed like the Eunuch.
Parmeno — There's a eunuch for you — of what a genteel appearance ! of what a prime age !
Thais — God bless me, he's handsome.
Parmeno — What say you, Gnatho ? Do you see anything
to find fault with? And what say you, Thraso?
They hold their tongues ; they praise him sufficiently thereby. [ To Thais. ] Make trial of him in literature, try him in ex ercises and in music ; I'll warrant him well skilled in what it becomes a gentleman to know.
request that you will live for him alone, and that for his own sake others may be excluded ; he neither tells of battles nor shows his scars, nor does he restrict you as [looking at Thraso] a certain person does; but when it is not incon venient, whenever you think fit, whenever you have the time, he is satisfied to be admitted. —
Thraso — If there were no women present, I
Parmeno — And he who has sent these things makes no
[Aside. ]
It appears that this is the servant of some beggarly, wretched master.
Thraso [to Gnatho, contemptuously]
Ghmtho — Why, faith, no person, I'm quite sure of that, could possibly put up with him, who had the means to get another.
Parmeno — You hold your tongue — a fellow whom I con sider beneath all men of the very lowest grade : for when you can bring yourself to flatter that fellow [pointing at Thraso], I do believe you could pick your victuals off the funeral pyre.
Thraso — Are we to go now ?
Thais — I'll take these indoors first [pointing to Chorea and the ^Ethiopian], and at the same time I'll order what I wish ; after that I'll return immediately.
[Goes into the house with Pythias, Chorea, and the Slave.
Thraso [to Gnatho] — I shall be off. Do you wait for her.
at home. — Chnatho
Very well.
Act IV. — Scene VIII.
[Exit.
BRAGGART AND PARASITE. 143
Parmeno — It is not a proper thing for a general to be walking in the street with a mistress.
Thraso — Why should I use many words with you? You are the very ape of your master. [Exit Parmeno.
Chnatho [laughing] — Ha, ha, ha !
Thraso — What are you laughing at?
Chnatho —At what you were mentioning just now; that
saying, too, about the Rhodian, recurred to my mind. But Thais is coming out.
Thraso — You go before ; take care that everything is ready
Enter Thraso, followed by Gnatho, Sanga, and other Attendants.
Thraso — Am I to submit, Gnatho, to such a glaring affront as this being put upon me ? I'd die sooner. Simalio, Donax, Syriscus, follow me ! First, I'll storm the house.
Chnatho — Quite right.
Thraso — I'll carry off the girl.
Ghnatho — Very good.
Thraso — I'll give her own self a mauling. Gnatho — Very proper. —
Thraso [arranging the men]
Advance hither to the main body, Donax, with your crowbar ; you, Simalio, to the left
wing ; you, Syriscus, to the right. Bring up the rest ; where's the centurion Sanga, and his maniple of rogues ?
Sanga [coming forward] — See, here he is.
Thraso — What, you booby, do you think of fighting with
a dishclout, to be bringing that here ?
Sanga — What, I ? I knew the valor of the general, and
the prowess of the soldiers ; and that this could not possibly go on without bloodshed ; how was I to wipe the wounds ?
Thraso — Where are the others ?
Sanga — Plague on you, what others ? Sannio is the only one left on guard at home. —
Thraso [to Gnatho] Do you draw up your men in battle order ; I'll be behind the second rank ; from that posi tion I'll give the word to all.
[ Takes his place behind the second rank.
144 BRAGGART AND PARASITE.
Ghnatho [aside] — That's showing prudence ; as soon as he has drawn them up, he secures a retreat for himself.
Thraso [pointing to the arrangements] —This is just the way Pyrrhus used to proceed.
Chbemes and Thais appear above at a window.
Chremes — Do you see, Thais, what plan he is upon ? Assuredly, that advice of mine about closing the door was
good. — Thais
He who now seems to you to be a hero, is in reality a mere vaporer ; don't be alarmed.
Thraso [to Gnatho] — What seems best to you ?
Ghnatho — I could very much like a sling to be given you just now, that you might pelt them from here on the sly at a distance ; they would be taking to flight.
Thraso [to Gnatho] — But look [pointing], I see Thais there herself.
Gnatho — How soon are we to fall to ?
Thraso — Hold [holding him back] ; it behooves a prudent person to make trial of everything before arms. How do you know but that she may do what I bid her without compulsion?
Gnatho — Ye Gods, by our trust in you, what a thing it is
to be wise I you the wiser.
I never come near you but what I
go away
from
Thraso —Thais, in the first place, answer me this. When I presented you that girl, did you not say that you would give yourself up to me alone for some days to come ?
Thraso — Do you ask the question ? You, who have been and brought your lover under my very eyes ? What business had you with him ? With him, too, you clandestinely betook yourself away from me.
Thraso —Then give me back Pamphila ; unless you had rather she were taken away by force.
Thais — Well, what then ?
Thais — I chose to do so.
Chremes — Give her back to you, or you lay hands upon her? Of all the
Gnatho — Ha ! What are you about ? Hold your tongue.
Thraso — What do you mean ? Am I not to touch my own?
Chremes — Your own, indeed, you gallows bird !
BRAGGART AND PARASITE.
145
Gnatho [to Chremes] — Have a care, if you please. You don't know what kind of man you are abusing now.
Chremes [to Gnatho] — Won't you be off from here ? Do you know how matters stand with you ?
As she heard the iron bolt creak in its brass socket a shiver ran through her, and although the room in which she found her self was neither worse nor smaller than that in which she and
128 TO SAVE A SISTER.
her sister lived in the temple, still it oppressed her, and she even felt as if an indescribable something hindered her breath ing, as she said to herself that she was locked in and no longer free to come and go. A dim light penetrated into her prison through the single barred window that opened on to the court, and she could see a little bench of palm-branches, on which she sat down to seek the repose she so sorely needed. All sense of discomfort gradually vanished before the new feeling of rest and refreshment, and pleasant hopes and anticipations were just be ginning to mingle themselves with the remembrance of the hor rors she had just experienced, when suddenly there was a stir and a bustle just in front of the prison — and she could hear, outside, the clatter of harness and words of command. She rose from her seat and saw that about twenty horsemen, whose golden
helmets and armor reflected the light of the lanterns, cleared the wide court by driving the men before them, as the flames drive the game from a fired hedge, and by forcing them into a second court from which again they proceeded to expel them. At least Klea could hear them shouting " In the king's name " there as they had before done close to her. Presently the horse men returned and placed themselves, ten and ten, as guards at each of the passages leading into the court. It was not without interest that Klea looked on at this scene, which was perfectly new to her ; and when one of the fine horses, dazzled by the light of the lanterns, turned restive and shied, leaping and rear ing and threatening his rider with a fall, — when the horseman checked and soothed it, and brought it to a standstill, — the Macedonian warrior was transfigured in her eyes to Publius, who no doubt could manage a horse no less well than this man.
No sooner was the court completely cleared of men by the mounted guard than a new incident claimed Klea's attention. First she heard footsteps in the room adjoining her prison, then bright streaks of light fell through the cracks of the slight par tition which divided her place of retreat from the other room, then the two window-openings close to hers were closed with heavy shutters, then seats or benches were dragged about and various objects were laid upon a table, and finally the door of the adjoining room was thrown open and slammed to again so violently that the door which closed hers and the bench near which she was standing trembled and jarred.
At the same moment a deep, sonorous voice called out with a loud and hearty shout of laughter : —
TO SAVE A SISTER. 129
"A mirror — give me a mirror, Eulaeus. By heaven! I do not look much like prison fare — more like a man in whose strong brain there is no lack of deep schemes, who can throttle his antagonist with a grip of his fist, and who is prompt to avail himself of all the spoil that comes in his way, so that he may compress the pleasures of a whole day into every hour, and enjoy them to the utmost ! As surely as my name is Euergetes my uncle Antiochus was right in liking to mix among the populace. The splendid puppets who surround us kings, and cover every portion of their own bodies in wrappings and swaddling bands, also stifle the expression of every genuine sentiment ; and it is enough to turn our brain to reflect that, if we would not be deceived, every word that we hear — and, oh dear ! how many words we must needs hear — must be pon dered in our minds. Now, the mob, on the contrary — who think themselves beautifully dressed in a threadbare cloth hanging round their brown loins — are far better off. If one of them says to another of his own class — a naked wretch who wears about him everything he happens to possess — that he is a dog, he answers with a blow of his fist in the other's face, and what can be plainer than that ! If on the other hand he tells him he is a splendid fellow, he believes it without reservation, and has a perfect right to believe it.
" Did you see how that stunted little fellow with a snub nose and bandy legs, who is as broad as he is long, showed all his teeth in a delighted grin when I praised his steady hand ? He laughs like a hyena, and every respectable father of a family looks on the fellow as a god-forsaken monster ; but the immortals must think him worth something to have given him such mag nificent grinders in his ugly mouth, and to have preserved him mercifully for fifty years — for that is about the rascal's age. If that fellow's dagger breaks, he can kill his victim with those teeth, as a"fox does a duck, or smash his bones with his fist. "
But, my lord," replied Eulaeus, dryly and with a certain matter-of-fact gravity, to King Euergetes — for he it was who had come with him into the room adjoining Klea's retreat, '* the dry little Egyptian with the thin straight hair is even more trust worthy and tougher and nimbler than his companion, and, so far, more estimable. One flings himself on his prey with a rush like a block of stone hurled from a roof, but the other, without being seen, strikes his poisoned fang into his flesh like an adder hidden in the sand. The third, on whom I had set great hopes,
vol. v. — 0
130 TO SAVE A SISTER.
was beheaded the day before yesterday without my knowledge ; but the pair whom you have condescended to inspect with your own eyes are sufficient. They must use neither dagger nor lance, but they will easily achieve their end with slings and hooks and poisoned needles, which leave wounds that resemble the sting of an adder. We may safely depend on these fellows. " Once more Euergetes laughed loudly, and exclaimed: —
" What an elaborate criticism ! Exactly as if these blood hounds were tragic actors, of which one could best produce his effects by fire and pathos, and the other by the subtlety of con ception. I call that an unprejudiced judgment. And why should not a man be great even as a murderer? From what hangman's noose did you drag out the neck of one, and from what heads man's block did you rescue the other, when you found them ?
" It is a lucky hour in which we first see something new to
I never before in the whole course of my life saw such villains as these. I do not regret having gone to see them and talked to them as if I were their equal. Now, take this torn coat off me, and help me to undress. Before I go to the feast I will take a hasty plunge in my bath, for I twitch in
toils. "
Klea could hear every word of this frightful conversation,
and clasped her hand over her brow with a shudder, for she found it difficult to believe in the reality of the hideous images that it brought before her mind. Was she awake or was she a prey to some horrid dream?
She hardly knew, and, indeed, she scarcely understood half of all she heard till the Roman's name was mentioned. She felt as if the point of a thin, keen knife was being driven obliquely through her brain from right to left, as it now flashed through her mind that it was against him, against Publius, that the wild beasts, disguised in human form, were directed by Eulaeus, and face to face with this — the most hideous, the most incredible of horrors — she suddenly recovered the full use of her senses. She softly slipped close to that rift in the partition through which the broadest beam of light fell into the room, put her ear close to and drank in, with fearful atten tion, word for word the report made by the eunuch to his iniqui tous superior, who frequently interrupted him with remarks,
us, and, by Heracles !
every limb, I feel as if I had got dirty in their company.
" There lie my clothes and my sandals ; strap them on for me, and tell me as you do it how you lured the Roman into the
it,
TO SAVE A SISTER. 131
words of approval, or a short laugh — drank them in, as a man
perishing in the desert drinks the loathsome waters of a salt
pool.
And what she heard was indeed well fitted to deprive her
of her senses, but the more definite the facts to which the words referred that she could overhear, the more keenly she listened, and the more resolutely she collected her thoughts. Eulaeus had used her own name to induce the Roman to keep an assig nation at midnight in the desert close to the Apis tombs. He repeated the words that he had written to this effect on a tile, and which requested Publius to come quite alone to the spot indicated, since she dare not speak with him in the temple. Finally, he was invited to write his answer on the other side of the square of clay. As Klea heard these words, put into her own mouth by a villain, she could have sobbed aloud heartily with anguish, shame, and rage ; but the point now was to keep her ears wide open, for Euergetes asked his odious tool, " And what was the Roman's answer ? "
Eulaeus must have handed the tile to the king, for he laughed loudly again, and cried out : —
" So he will walk into the trap — will arrive by half an hour after midnight at the latest, and greets Klea from her sister Irene. He carries on love-making and abduction wholesale, and buys water-bearers by the pair, like doves in the market or sandals in a shoemaker's stall. Only see how the simpleton writes Greek ; in these few words there are two mistakes, two regular schoolboy's blunders.
" The fellow must have had a very pleasant day of since he must have been reckoning on not unsuccessful evening — but the gods have an ugly habit of clenching the hand with which they have long caressed their favorites, and striking him with their fist.
"Amalthea's horn has been poured out on him to-day; first he snapped up, under my very nose, my little Hebe, the Irene of Irenes, whom hope to-morrow to inherit from him then he got the gift of my best Cyrenaean horses, and at the same time the flattering assurance of my valuable friendship then he had audience of my fair sister — and goes more to the heart of republican than you would believe when crowned heads are graciously disposed toward him finally the sister of his pretty sweetheart invites him to an assignation, and she, you and Zoe speak the truth, beauty in the grand style. Now
is a
;
; if
;
I
it a
a
it,
132 TO SAVE A SISTER.
these are really too many good things for one inhabitant of this most stingily provided world ; and in one single day, too, which, once begun, is so soon ended ; and justice requires that we should lend a helping hand to destiny, and cut off the head of this poppy that aspires to rise above its brethren ; the thou sands who have less good fortune than he would otherwise have great cause to complain of neglect. "
"I am happy to see you in such good humor," said Eu- lffiUS.
" My humor is as may be," interrupted the king. " I believe I am only whistling a merry tune to keep up my spirits in the dark. If I were on more familiar terms with what other men call fear, I should have ample reason to be afraid ; for in the quail-fight we have gone in for I have wagered a crown — aye, and more than that even. To-morrow only will decide whether the game is lost or won, but I know already to-day that I would rather see my enterprise against Philometor fail, with all my hopes of the double crown, than our plot against the life of the Roman; for Iwas a man before Iwas a king, and a man I should remain, if my throne, which now indeed stands on only two legs, were to crash under my weight.
" My sovereign dignity is but a robe, though the costliest, to be sure, of all garments. If forgiveness were any part of my nature, I might easily forgive the man who should soil or injure that — but he who comes too near to Euergetes the man, who dares to touch this body and the spirit it contains, or to cross it in its desires and purposes — him I will crush unhesitatingly to the earth, I will see him torn in pieces. Sentence is passed on the Roman, and if your ruffians do their duty, and if the gods accept the holocaust that I had slain before them at sun set for the success of my project, in a couple of hours Publius Cornelius Scipio will have bled to death. — — I,
"He is in a position to laugh at me as a man but therefore, — as a man — have the right, and — as a king — have the power, to make sure that that laugh shall be his last. If I could murder Rome as I can him how glad should I be ! for Rome alone hinders me from being the greatest of all the great kings of our time ; and yet I shall rejoice to-morrow when they tell me 'Publius Cornelius Scipio has been torn by wild beasts, and his body is so mutilated that his own mother could not recognize it ' more than if a messenger were to bring me the news that Carthage had broken the power of Rome. "
TO SAVE A SISTER. 133
Euergetes had spoken the last words in a voice that sounded like the roll of thunder as it growls in a rapidly approaching storm, louder, deeper, and more furious each instant. When at last he was silent, Eulaeus said : —
" The immortals, my lord, will not deny you this happiness. The brave fellows whom you condescended to see and to talk to strike as certainly as the bolt of our father Zeus, and as we have learned from the Roman's horse-keeper where he has hidden Irene, she will no more elude your grasp than the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. Now, allow me to put on your mantle, and then to call the bodyguard, that they may escort you as you return to your residence. "
"One thing more," cried the king, detaining Eulaeus. " There are always troops by the Tombs of Apis, placed there to guard the sacred places; may not they prove a hindrance to your friends ? "
"I have withdrawn all the soldiers and armed" guards to Memphis, down to the last man," replied Eulaeus, and quar tered them within the White Wall. Early to-morrow, before you proceed to business, they will be replaced by a stronger division, so that they may not prove a reenforcement to your brother's troops here, if things come to fighting. "
"I shall know how to reward your foresight," said Euer getes as Eulaeus quitted the room.
Again Klea heard a door open, and the sound of many hoofs on the pavement of the courtyard, and when she went, all trembling, up to the window, she saw Euergetes himself, and the powerfully knit horse that was led in for him. The tyrant twisted his hand in the mane of the restless and pawing steed, and Klea thought that the monstrous mass could never mount on to the horse's back without the aid of many men ; but she was mistaken, for with a mighty spring the giant flung himself high in the air and on to the horse, and then, guiding his pant ing steed by the pressure of his knees alone, he bounded out of the prison yard surrounded by his splendid train.
For some minutes the courtyard remained empty, then a man hurriedly crossed unlocked the door of the room where Klea was, and informed her that he was subaltern under Glaucus, and had brought her message from him.
" My lord," said the veteran soldier to the girl, " bid me greet you, and say that he found neither the Roman, Publius Scipio, nor his friend the Corinthian at home. He prevented from
is
a
it, a
134 TO SAVE A SISTER.
coming to you himself; he has his hands full of business, for soldiers in the service of both the kings are quartered within the White Wall, and all sorts of squabbles break out between them. Still, you cannot remain in this room, for it will shortly be occupied by a party of young officers who began the fray. Glaucus proposes for your choice that you should either allow me to conduct you to his wife or return to the temple to which you are attached. In the latter case a chariot shall convey you as far as the second tavern in Khakem on the borders of the desert — for the city is full of drunken soldiery. There you may probably find an escort, if you explain to the host who you are. But the chariot must be back again in less than an hour, for it is one of the king's, and when the banquet is over there may be a scarcity of chariots. "
" Yes — I will go back to the place I came from," said Klea
eagerly, interrupting the messenger. " Take me at once to the chariot. "
" Follow me, then," said the old man.
" But I have no veil," observed Klea, " and have only this thin robe on. Rough soldiers snatched my wrapper from my face, and my cloak from off my shoulders. "
" I will bring you the captain's cloak which is lying here in the orderly's room, and his traveling hat too; tbat will hide your face with its broad flap. You are so tall that you might be taken for a man, and that is well, for a woman leaving the palace at this hour would hardly pass unmolested. A slave shall fetch the things from your temple to-morrow. I may inform you that my master ordered me to take as much care of you as if you were his own daughter. And he told me too — and I had almost forgotten it — to tell you that your sister was carried off by the Roman, and not by that other dangerous man —you would know whom he meant. Now please wait till I
I shall not be
return ;
In a few minutes the guard returned with a large cloak, in
which he wrapped Klea, and a broad-brimmed traveling hat which she pressed on her head ; then led her to the quarter of the palace where the king's stables were. She kept close to the officer, and was soon seated on a chariot, and then conducted by the driver — who took her for a young Macedonian noble tempted out at night by an assignation — as far as the second tavern on the road back to the Serapeum.
gone long. "
BRAGGART AND PARASITE. 135
BRAGGART AND PARASITE. By TERENCE.
(From " The Eunuch. ")
[P. Tehentius Afer was a Carthaginian, born probably b. c. 185 ; brought to Rome early, it is said, as a slave ; was emancipated, became a protege' of the younger Scipio, exhibited his first play at nineteen, wrote five others in the next six years, and died b. c. 159 at twenty-six, one of the world's great classics from the purity and delicacy of his art, the universality of his types of character, the charm of his grace and humane irony. His work was largely a close imitation of the Greek Menander, and he combined scenes from other Greek originals ; but his own contribution, like Virgil's to the epic, was still greater than his borrowing. The names of his"plays are: "Andria" "(The Maid of Andros), "Eunuchus" (The Eunuch), Heautontimorumenos (The Self -Tormentor), "Adelphi" (The Brothers), "Hecyra" (The Mother- in-Law), "Phormio. "]
Chief Dramatis Persons : Gnatho, a parasite ; Thraso, a military officer, braggart, and coxcomb ; Laches, an old Athenian gentleman, with two sons, Phsdria and Chxrea, the former having a servant Parmeno; Chbbmes, an Athenian youth ; Thais, a courtesan admired by Thraso, and one of the two heroines of the piece, the other being Pamphila, sister of Chremes, who is second only to Mrs. Grundy as a curious stage heroine, for the latter never appears at all, while Pamphila appears but once, and never opens her mouth. She is a slave girl, originally of good family, who has been kidnapped when a baby and brought up by Thais' courtesan mother with her own daughter in Rhodes ; Thais goes to Athens, her mother dies, and Pamphila is bought by Thraso, who intends giving her to Thais at Athens as a present, not knowing their old relations. He finds Thais in liaison with Phaedria, and will not give her the girl till she has discarded her new lover ; she, finding who the girl is and having discovered from Chremes' talk that she must be his sister, is determined to get her back, but not to give up Phaedria, whom she likes much better than Thraso. Finally she induces Phaedria to leave Thraso a clear field for two days, promising to throw him over as soon as
she has the girl in her possession ; he agrees, and sends her a eunuch and a negro girl by Parmeno, while Thraso sends Pamphila by his lickspittle Gnatho. Chaerea sees and admires Pamphila ; his brother's servant, Par meno, dresses him in the eunuch's clothes and lets him into the house as her guardian, where he takes full advantage of the situation. Thraso quarrels with Thais, and comes with a train to demand Pamphila back, but cannot get her. Finally Pamphila is recognized by Chremes, and Chaerea makes amends by marrying her — the standpoint of Clarissa Harlowe not being intelligible then or usual at any time.
Act II. — Scene III.
Enter Gnatho at a distance, leading Pamphila.
Gnatho [to himself] — Immortal Gods I how much does one man excel another I What a difference there is between a
136 BRAGGART AND PARASITE.
wise person and a fool ! This strongly came into my mind from the following circumstance. As I was coming along to-day, I met a certain person of this place, of my own rank and station, no mean fellow, one who, like myself, had guttled
I saw him, shabby, dirty, sickly, beset away his paternal estate ;" "
with rags and years ; — What's the meaning of this garb ?
"
; he answered, Because, wretch that I am, I've lost
said I
what I possessed : see to what I am reduced, — all my acquaint ances and friends forsake me. " On this I felt contempt for him in comparison with myself. " What I " said I, " you piti ful sluggard, have you so managed matters as to have no hope left? Have you lost your wits together with your estate? Don't you see me, who have risen from the same condition ? What a complexion I have, how spruce and well dressed, what portliness of person? I have everything, yet have nothing; and although I possess nothing, still, of nothing am I in want. " " But I," said he, " unhappily, can neither be a butt nor submit to blows. " "What ! " said I, "do you suppose it is managed by those means ? You are quite mistaken. Once upon a time, in the early ages, there was a calling for that class : this is a new mode of coney-catching ; I, in fact, have been the first to strike into this path. There is a class of men who strive to be the first in everything, but are not ; to these I make my court ; I do not present myself to them to be laughed at ; but I am the
first to laugh with them, and at the same time to admire their parts ; whatever they say, I commend ; if they contradict that selfsame thing, I commend again. Does any one deny? I
I affirm : in fine, I have so trained myself as to humor them in everything. This calling is now by far
deny : does he affirm ?
the most productive. "
Parmeno [apart] — A clever fellow, upon my faith ! From
being fools he makes men mad outright.
Gnatho [to himself, continuing] — While we were thus
talking, in the meantime we arrived at the market place ; over joyed, all the confectioners ran at once to meet me; fish mongers, butchers, cooks, sausage makers, and fishermen, whom, both when my fortunes were flourishing and when they were ruined, I had served, and often serve still : they complimented me, asked me to dinner, and gave me a hearty welcome. When this poor hungry wretch saw that I was in such great esteem, and that I obtained a living so easily, then the fellow began to entreat me that I would allow him to learn this method of me ;
BRAGGART AND PARASITE. 137
I bade him become my follower if he could ; as the disciples of the Philosophers take their names from the Philosophers them selves, so, too, the Parasites ought to be called Gnathonics.
Parmeno [apart to the Audience] — Do you see the effects of ease and feeding at another's cost?
Gnatho [to himself, continuing] — But why do I delay to take this girl to Thais, and to ask her to come to dinner? [Aside, on seeing Parmeno. ] But I see Parmeno, our rival's
servant, waiting before the door of Thais with a sorrowful air ; all's safe ; no doubt these people are finding a cold welcome. I'm resolved to have some sport with this knave.
Parmeno [aside] — They fancy that, through this present,
Thais is quite their own. —
With his very best wishes Gnatho greets Parmeno, his very good friend. — What are you
Gnatho [accosting Parmeno]
doing? — Parmeno
I'm standing.
Gnatho — So I perceive. Pray, do you see anything here
that don't please you ? Parmeno — Yourself.
Gnatho — I believe you — but anything else, pray ? Parmeno — Why so ?
Gnatho — Because you are out of spirits. Parmeno — Not in the least.
Gnatho — Well, don't be so; but what think you of this slave ? [Pointing to her.
Parmeno — Really, not amiss.
Gnatho [aside] — I've galled the fellow.
Parmeno [aside, on overhearing him] — How mistaken you are in your notion !
Gnatho — How far do you suppose this gift will prove ac
ceptable to Thais ?
Parmeno — It's this you mean to say now, that we are dis
carded there. Hark you, there are vicissitudes in all things. Gnatho — For the next six months, Parmeno, I'll set you at ease ; you shan't have to be running to and fro, or sitting up
till daylight. — Don't I make you happy ? Parmeno Me ? O prodigiously !
Gnatho — That's my way with my friends. Parmeno — I commend you.
Gnatho — I'm detaining you ; perhaps you were about to go somewhere else.
138 BRAGGART AND PARASITE.
Parmeno — Nowhere.
Gnatho — In that case, then, lend me your services a little ;
let me be introduced to her.
Parmeno — Very well [Gnatho knocks at the door, which
immediately opens] ; now the door is open for you [aside] because you are bringing her.
Gnatho [going into the house of Thais, ironically] — Should you like any one to be called out from here ?
[ Goes in with Pamphila, and shuts the door.
Act III. — Scene I.
Enter Thraso and Gnatho.
Thraso — Did Thais really return me many thanks ?
Ghnatho — Exceeding thanks.
Thraso — Was she delighted, say you ?
Gnatho — Not so much, indeed, at the present itself, as be
cause it was given by you ; really, in right earnest, she does exult at that.
Enter Parmeno unseen, from Laches' house.
Parmeno [apart] —I've come here to be on the lookout, that when there is an opportunity I may take the presents. But see, here's the Captain.
Thraso — Undoubtedly it is the case with me, that every thing I do is a cause for thankfulness.
Ghnatho — Upon my faith, I've observed it.
Thraso — The most mighty King, even, always used to give me especial thanks for whatever I did; but not so to others.
Ghnatho — He who has the wit that you have, often by his words appropriates to himself the glory that has been achieved by the labor of others.
Thraso — You've just hit it.
Gnatho — The king, then, kept you in his eye. Thraso —Just so.
Gnatho — To enjoy your society.
Thraso — True; he intrusted to me all his army, all his state secrets.
Gnatho — Astonishing !
taste. — Thraso
BRAGGART AND PARASITE. 139
Thraso — Then, if on any occasion a surfeit of society, or a dislike of business, came upon him, when he was desirous to take some recreation ; just as though — you understand ?
Gnatho — I know ; just as though on occasion he would rid his mind of those anxieties.
Thraso — You have it. Then he used to take me aside as his only boon companion.
Gnatho — Whew I You are telling of a king of refined
Aye, he is a person of that sort ; a man of but very few acquaintanceships.
Gnatho [aside] — Indeed, of none, I fancy, if he's on inti mate terms with you.
Thraso — All the people envied me, and attacked me pri vately. I didn't care one straw. They envied me dreadfully ; but one in particular, whom the King had appointed over the Indian elephants. Once, when he became particularly trouble some, " Prithee, Strato," said I, " are you so fierce because you hold command over the wild beasts ? "
Gnatho — Cleverly said, upon my faith, and shrewdly. As tounding ! You did give the fellow a home thrust. What said he ?
Thraso — Dumf ounded, instantaneously. Gnatho — How could he be otherwise ?
Parmeno [apart] — Ye Gods, by our trust in you I a lost and miserable fellow the one, and the other a scoundrel.
Thraso — Well then, about that matter, Gnatho, the way in which I touched up the Rhodian at a banquet — did I never
tell you ? — Never; Gnatho
but pray, do tell me. [Aside. ] I've heard it more than a thousand times already.
Thraso — There was in my company at a banquet, this young man of Rhodes, whom I'm speaking of. By chance I had a mistress there ; he began to toy with her, and to annoy me. " What are you doing, sir impudence ? " said I to the fellow ; " a hare yourself, and looking out for game ? "
Gnatho [pretending to laugh very heartily] — Ha, ha, ha ! Thraso — What's the matter ?
Gnatho — How apt, how smart, how clever ; nothing could
be more excellent. Prithee, was this a saying of yours ? I fancied it was an old one.
Thraso — Did you ever hear it before ?
140 BRAGGART AND PARASITE.
Ghnatho — Many a time ; and it is mentioned among the first-rate ones.
Thraso — It's my own.
Ghnatho — I'm sorry though that it was said to a thought less young man, and one of respectability.
Parmeno [apart] — May the Gods confound you !
Gnaiho — Pray, what did he do ?
Thraso — Quite disconcerted. All who were present were
dying with laughter ; in short, they were all quite afraid of me.
Thraso — But hark you, had I best clear myself of this to Thais, as to her suspicion that I'm fond of this girl ?
Gnatho — By no means : on the contrary, rather increase her jealousy. —
Thraso Why so?
Gnatho — Do you ask me ? Don't you see, if on any occa sion she makes mention of Phaedria or commends him, to pro voke you
Gnatho — Not without reason.
Thraso —Iunderstand.
Ghnatho — That such may not be the case, this method is the only remedy. When she speaks of Phaedria, do you instantly mention Pamphila. If at any time she says, " Let's invite Phaedria to make one," do you say, " Let's ask Pamphila to sing. " If she praises his good looks, do you, on the other hand, praise hers. In short, do you return like for like, which will mortify her.
Thraso — If, indeed, she loved me, this might be of some use, Gnatho.
Gnatho — Since she is impatient for and loves that which you give her, she already loves you ; as it is, then, it is an easy matter for her to feel vexed. She will be always afraid lest the presents which she herself is now getting, you may on some occasion be taking elsewhere.
Thraso — Well said ; that never came into my mind.
Gnatho — Nonsense. You never thought about it ; else how much more readily would you yourself have hit upon Thraso
I
it,
BRAGGART AND PARASITE. 141
Scene II.
Enter Thais from her house, attended by Pythias.
TJiais [as she comes out] — I thought I just now heard the Captain's voice. And look, here he is. Welcome, my dear
Thraso. — Thraso
O my Thais, my sweet one, how are you ? How much do you love me in return for that music girl ?
Parmeno [apart] — How polite ! What a beginning he has made on meeting her I
Thais — Very much, as you deserve.
Ghnatho — Let's go to dinner then. [To Thraso. ] What do you stand here for ?
Parmeno [apart] — Then there's the other one ; you would declare that he was born for his belly's sake.
I shan't delay.
Thraso — When you please ;
Parmeno [apart] — I'll accost them, and pretend as though
I had just come out. [He comes forward. ] Are you going anywhere, Thais?
Thais — Ha ! Parmeno ; well done ; just going out for the
day. Parmeno — Where ! —
Thais [aside, pointing at Thraso] him ?
Why I don't you see
Parmeno [aside] — I see him, and I'm sorry for it. [Aloud. ] Phaedria's presents are ready for you when you please.
Thraso [impatiently] — Why are we to stand here ? Why
don't we be off ? —
Troth now, pray, do let us, with your leave, present to her the things we intend, and accost and
speak to her.
Thraso [ironically] — Very fine presents, I suppose, or at
least equal to mine.
Parmeno — The fact will prove itself. [Goes to the door
of Laches' house and calls. ] Ho there ! bid those people come out of doors at once, as I ordered.
Enter from the house a Black Girl.
Parmeno [to Thraso]
Parmeno — Do you step forward this way. She comes all the way from Ethiopia.
[To Thais. ]
142 BRAGGART AND PARASITE.
Thraso [contemptuously] —Here are some three minae in value.
Chuatho — Hardly so much.
Parmeno — Where are you, Dorus ? Step this way.
Enter Chorea from the house dressed like the Eunuch.
Parmeno — There's a eunuch for you — of what a genteel appearance ! of what a prime age !
Thais — God bless me, he's handsome.
Parmeno — What say you, Gnatho ? Do you see anything
to find fault with? And what say you, Thraso?
They hold their tongues ; they praise him sufficiently thereby. [ To Thais. ] Make trial of him in literature, try him in ex ercises and in music ; I'll warrant him well skilled in what it becomes a gentleman to know.
request that you will live for him alone, and that for his own sake others may be excluded ; he neither tells of battles nor shows his scars, nor does he restrict you as [looking at Thraso] a certain person does; but when it is not incon venient, whenever you think fit, whenever you have the time, he is satisfied to be admitted. —
Thraso — If there were no women present, I
Parmeno — And he who has sent these things makes no
[Aside. ]
It appears that this is the servant of some beggarly, wretched master.
Thraso [to Gnatho, contemptuously]
Ghmtho — Why, faith, no person, I'm quite sure of that, could possibly put up with him, who had the means to get another.
Parmeno — You hold your tongue — a fellow whom I con sider beneath all men of the very lowest grade : for when you can bring yourself to flatter that fellow [pointing at Thraso], I do believe you could pick your victuals off the funeral pyre.
Thraso — Are we to go now ?
Thais — I'll take these indoors first [pointing to Chorea and the ^Ethiopian], and at the same time I'll order what I wish ; after that I'll return immediately.
[Goes into the house with Pythias, Chorea, and the Slave.
Thraso [to Gnatho] — I shall be off. Do you wait for her.
at home. — Chnatho
Very well.
Act IV. — Scene VIII.
[Exit.
BRAGGART AND PARASITE. 143
Parmeno — It is not a proper thing for a general to be walking in the street with a mistress.
Thraso — Why should I use many words with you? You are the very ape of your master. [Exit Parmeno.
Chnatho [laughing] — Ha, ha, ha !
Thraso — What are you laughing at?
Chnatho —At what you were mentioning just now; that
saying, too, about the Rhodian, recurred to my mind. But Thais is coming out.
Thraso — You go before ; take care that everything is ready
Enter Thraso, followed by Gnatho, Sanga, and other Attendants.
Thraso — Am I to submit, Gnatho, to such a glaring affront as this being put upon me ? I'd die sooner. Simalio, Donax, Syriscus, follow me ! First, I'll storm the house.
Chnatho — Quite right.
Thraso — I'll carry off the girl.
Ghnatho — Very good.
Thraso — I'll give her own self a mauling. Gnatho — Very proper. —
Thraso [arranging the men]
Advance hither to the main body, Donax, with your crowbar ; you, Simalio, to the left
wing ; you, Syriscus, to the right. Bring up the rest ; where's the centurion Sanga, and his maniple of rogues ?
Sanga [coming forward] — See, here he is.
Thraso — What, you booby, do you think of fighting with
a dishclout, to be bringing that here ?
Sanga — What, I ? I knew the valor of the general, and
the prowess of the soldiers ; and that this could not possibly go on without bloodshed ; how was I to wipe the wounds ?
Thraso — Where are the others ?
Sanga — Plague on you, what others ? Sannio is the only one left on guard at home. —
Thraso [to Gnatho] Do you draw up your men in battle order ; I'll be behind the second rank ; from that posi tion I'll give the word to all.
[ Takes his place behind the second rank.
144 BRAGGART AND PARASITE.
Ghnatho [aside] — That's showing prudence ; as soon as he has drawn them up, he secures a retreat for himself.
Thraso [pointing to the arrangements] —This is just the way Pyrrhus used to proceed.
Chbemes and Thais appear above at a window.
Chremes — Do you see, Thais, what plan he is upon ? Assuredly, that advice of mine about closing the door was
good. — Thais
He who now seems to you to be a hero, is in reality a mere vaporer ; don't be alarmed.
Thraso [to Gnatho] — What seems best to you ?
Ghnatho — I could very much like a sling to be given you just now, that you might pelt them from here on the sly at a distance ; they would be taking to flight.
Thraso [to Gnatho] — But look [pointing], I see Thais there herself.
Gnatho — How soon are we to fall to ?
Thraso — Hold [holding him back] ; it behooves a prudent person to make trial of everything before arms. How do you know but that she may do what I bid her without compulsion?
Gnatho — Ye Gods, by our trust in you, what a thing it is
to be wise I you the wiser.
I never come near you but what I
go away
from
Thraso —Thais, in the first place, answer me this. When I presented you that girl, did you not say that you would give yourself up to me alone for some days to come ?
Thraso — Do you ask the question ? You, who have been and brought your lover under my very eyes ? What business had you with him ? With him, too, you clandestinely betook yourself away from me.
Thraso —Then give me back Pamphila ; unless you had rather she were taken away by force.
Thais — Well, what then ?
Thais — I chose to do so.
Chremes — Give her back to you, or you lay hands upon her? Of all the
Gnatho — Ha ! What are you about ? Hold your tongue.
Thraso — What do you mean ? Am I not to touch my own?
Chremes — Your own, indeed, you gallows bird !
BRAGGART AND PARASITE.
145
Gnatho [to Chremes] — Have a care, if you please. You don't know what kind of man you are abusing now.
Chremes [to Gnatho] — Won't you be off from here ? Do you know how matters stand with you ?
