ACT III

_Lydus_

Pandite atque aperite propere ianuam hanc Orci, obsecro.

(_wildly, inside Bacchis’s house_) Quick, quick, open up, I beseech you, unclose this door of hell! ENTER _Lydus_ HURRIEDLY.

nam equidem haud aliter esse duco, quippe quo nemo advenit, nisi quem spes reliquere omnes, esse ut frugi possiet. 370 Bacchides non Bacchides, sed bacchae sunt acerrumae. apage istas a me sorores, quae hominum sorbent sanguinem. omnis ad perniciem instructa domus opime atque opipare-- quae ut aspexi, me continuo contuli protinam in pedes.

For I verily believe it is nothing else, a place where no man enters save him who has lost all hopes of his capacity for good. Bacchises! No Bacchises these, but the wildest of Bacchantes. Avaunt, avaunt, ye sisters who suck the blood of men! Their whole abode is tricked out as a gilded, gorgeous lure to ruin--as soon as I perceived the nature of my surroundings I fled, fled forthwith.

egone ut haec conclusa gestem clanculum? ut celem patrem, Pistoclere, tua flagitia aut damna aut desidiabula?[11] (376) neque mei neque te tui intus puditumst factis quae facis, (379) quibus tuom patrem meque una, amicos, adfinis tuos 380 tua infamia fecisti gerulifigulos flagiti.[12] de me hanc culpam demolibor iam et seni faciam palam, (383) ut eum ex lutulento caeno propere hinc eliciat foras.

(_violently to those within_) Am I the man to carry this shut up within me, to keep it secret? To conceal from your father, Pistoclerus, your enormities, your extravagances, your horrid resorts?[11] Neither in my sight, nor your own, did you feel any shame at your actions, actions, you infamous creature, that make your father, and me too, and your friends and relatives accessories to your disgrace. (_making off_) I am going to clear myself of blame in the matter this very minute and inform his poor old father of it all, so that he may hurry and draw him forth from this filthy slough.

III. 2.