 | Phormio |  |
SCENE I.
PHORMIO, GETA.Phor.
And Antipho, you say, has slunk away,
Fearing his father's presence?
Get.
Very true.
Phor.
Poor Phanium left alone?
Get.
'Tis even so.
Phor.
And the old gentleman enrag'd?
Get.
Indeed.
Phor.
The sum of all then, Phormio, rests on You:
On you, and you alone. You've bak'd this cake;
E'en eat it for your pains. About it then!
Get.
I do beseech you.
Phor.
to himself.]
What if he enquire?—
Get.
Our only hope's in You.
Phor.
to himself.]
I have it!—Then,
Suppose he offer to return the girl?—
You urg'd us to it.
Phor.
to himself.]
Ay! it shall be so.
Get.
Assist us!
Phor.
Let him come, Old Gentleman!
'Tis here: it is engender'd: I am arm'd
With all my counsels.
Get.
What d'ye mean to do?
Phor.
What wou'd you have me do, unless contrive
That Phanium may remain, that Antipho
Be freed from blame, and all the the old man's rage
Turn'd upon Me?
Get.
Brave fellow! friend indeed!
And yet I often tremble for you, Phormio,
Lest all this noble confidence of your's
End in the stocks at last.
Phor.
Ah, 'tis not so.
I'm an old stager too, and know my road.
How many men d'ye think I've bastinadoed
The oftner, still the safer.—Tell me then,
Didst ever hear of actions for assault
And batt'ry brought against me?
Get.
How comes that?
Phor.
Because the net's not stretch'd to catch the hawk,
Or kite, who do us wrong; but laid for those,
Who do us none at all: In them there's profit,
In those mere labour lost. Thus other men
May be in danger, who have aught to lose;
I, the world knows, have nothing.—You will say,
They'll seize my person.—No, they won't maintain
A fellow of my stomach.—And they're wise,
In my opinion, if for injuries
They'll not return the highest benefit.
Get.
It is impossible for Antipho
To give you thanks sufficient.
Phor.
Rather say,
No man sufficiently can thank his patron.
You at free cost to come! anointed, bath'd,
And charge, to cater for your entertainment!
He gnaws his heart, you laugh; eat first, sit first,
And see a Doubtful Banquet plac'd before you!
Get.
Doubtful! what phrase is that?
Phor.
Where you're in doubt,
What you shall rather chuse. Delights like these,
When you but think how sweet, how dear, they are;
Him that affords them must you not suppose
A very Deity?
Get.
The old man's here.
Mind what you do! the first attack's the fiercest:
Sustain but that, the rest will be mere play.
[they retire.
It is said that this play being once rehearsed before Terence and some of his most intimate acquaintance, Ambivius, who acted the part of Phormio, came in drunk, which threw the author into a violent passion: but Ambivius had scarce repeated a few lines, stammering, and scratching his head, before Terence became pacified, declaring that when he was writing those very lines, he absolutely had just such a Parasite, as Ambivius then represented, in his thoughts. Donatus.
In this scene Terence exhibits the lower order of Parasites, who ingratiated themselves by Sharping and Roguery; as in the Eunuch he describes the Parasites of a higher rank, and of a newer species, who obtained their ends by Flattery. Donatus.
In nervum erumpat denique. Several interpretations are given of these words. By some in nervum erumpere is supposed to allude to the drawing of a bow till the string break: but the phrase is more generally supposed in this place to imply some corporal punishment inflicted on malefactors. Quia sæpe in nervum conjiciebantur, ex aliquo maleficio in carcerem missi, says Donatus. Westerhovius explains this passage thus. Est autem Nervus vinculi lignei genus, in quod pedes conjecti arctantur; which is a pretty exact description of the stocks.
Ducent damnatum domum. Literally, they will lead me condemned home. For, as Donatus observes on this passage, Insolvent Debtors were by the Law made over as slaves to their Creditors.
This passage is not taken from Apollodorus, but from the sixth book of the satires of Ennius.
Quippe sine curâ, lætus, lautus, cum advenis,Infertis malis, expedito brachio,
Alacer, celsus, lupino expectans impetu,
Mox dum alterius abligurias bona: quid
Censes Dominis esse animi? proh divûm fides!
Ille tristis cibum dum servat, tu ridens voras.
Gay void of care, anointed when you come,
With smacking jaw, and arm prepar'd to carve,
Keen, eager, and impatient as the Wolf,
Expecting every moment to fall on,
And gorge yourself at his expence; what, think you,
Possesses then the master's mind? Good heaven!
He sits, and with a melancholy air
Broods o'er the feast, which laughing you devour.
Donatus.
| Phormio | |