Miles Gloriosus
Plautus, Titus Maccius
Plautus. The Comedies of Plautus, Volume 1. Riley, H. T., translator. London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1912.
- I’m afraid.
- What are you afraid of?
- By my troth, lest, this day, as many domestics as there are of us here, we shall jump into a most woful punishmient by way of torture.
- Jump you alone, please; for I don’t at all like this jumping in[*](This jumping in: Some critics think that there is some hidden meaning or allusion in the words insulturamand desulturam.That hardly seems to be the case, for Palaestrio might naturally say in return to the warning of the other, I like neither your jumping in nor our jumping out.) and jumping out.
- Perhaps you don’t know what new mischance has happened at home?
- What mischance is this?
- A disgraceful one.
- Do you then keep it to yourself alone: don’t tell it me; I don’t want to know it.
- But I won’t let you not know it. To-day I was following our monkey upon the tiles, next door there. Points to the house.
- By my troth, Sceledrus, a worthless fellow, you were following a worthless beast.