Chapter 21

ENTER _Trader_, WITH SERVANT.

_Merc._ _Trader_

Ut demonstratae sunt mihi, hasce aedis esse oportet, Demaenetus ubi dicitur habitare. i, puere, pulta atque atriensem Sauream, si est intus, evocato huc.

(_looking at house of Demaenetus_) According to directions, this must be the house where they say Demaenetus lives. (_to servant_) Go knock, my lad, and if steward Saurea is in there, call him out. (_servant goes toward house_)

_Lib._

Quis nostras sic frangit fores? ohe, inquam, si quid audis.

(_stepping forward_) Who’s that battering our door so? Whoa there, I say--if you’re not deaf!

_Merc._ _Trader_

Nemo etiam tetigit. sanun es?

No one has touched it yet. Are you in your senses?

_Lib._

At censebam attigisse propterea, huc quia habebas iter. nolo ego fores conservas meas a te verberarier. sane ego sum amicus nostris.

Well, I was thinking you had touched it, seeing you were making this way. I don’t want you to beat that door--it’s a fellow servant of mine. I tell you what, I love my fellow servants.

_Merc._ _Trader_

Pol haud periclum est, cardines ne foribus effringantur, si istoc exemplo omnibus qui quaerunt respondebis.

Gad! No danger of the door being battered off its hinges, if you answer all callers in that style.

_Lib._

Ita haec morata est ianua: extemplo ianitorem 390 clamat, procul si quem videt ire ad se calcitronem. sed quid venis? quid quaeritas?

Here’s the way this door has been trained: once it sights some bully in the distance coming towards it, it bawls for the porter directly. But what’s your business? What are you after?

_Merc._ _Trader_

Demaenetum volebam.

I wished to see Demaenetus.

_Lib._

Si sit domi, dicam tibi.

If he was at home, I’d tell you.

_Merc._ _Trader_

Quid eius atriensis?

What about his steward?

_Lib._

Nihilo mage intus est.

No, he’s not in, either.

_Merc._ _Trader_

Ubi est?

Where is he?

_Lib._

Ad tonsorem ire dixit.

Said he was going to the barber’s.

_Merc._ _Trader_

Conveni. sed post non redit?

I met him. But he has not been back since?

_Lib._

Non edepol. quid volebas?

Lord, no! What did you want?

_Merc._ _Trader_

Argenti viginti minas, si adesset, accepisset.

He would have got eighty pounds, if he was here.

_Lib._

Qui pro istuc?

What for?

_Merc._ _Trader_

Asinos vendidit Pellaeo mercatori mercatu.

He sold some asses at the market to a trader from Pella.

_Lib._

Scio. tu id nunc refers? iam hic credo eum adfuturum.

I know. Bringing the cash now, are you? He’ll be here soon, I fancy.

_Merc._ _Trader_

Qua facie voster Saurea est? si is est, iam scire potero.

What does your Saurea look like? (_aside_) Now I can find out if that fellow is my man.

_Lib._

Macilentis malis, rufulus aliquantum, ventriosus, truculentis oculis, commoda statura, tristi fronte. 400

(_reflectively_) Lantern-jawed--reddish hair--pot-bellied-- savage eyes--average height--and a scowl.

_Merc._ _Trader_

Non potuit pictor rectius describere eius formam.

(_aside_) No painter could give me a more living likeness of that fellow.

_Lib._

Atque hercle ipsum adeo contuor, quassanti capite incedit. quisque obviam huic occesserit irato, vapulabit.

(_looking down street_) Yes, and what’s more, he’s in sight himself, by gad,--swaggering along and shaking his head! Anyone that crosses his path when he’s angry gets thrashed.

_Merc._ _Trader_

Siquidem hercle Aeacidinis minis animisque expletus incedit, si med iratus tetigerit, iratus vapulabit.

Good Lord! No matter if he swaggers along as full of fire and fury as Achilles--if your angry man lays a hand on me, it’s your angry man gets thrashed.

II. 4.