The Comedies of Terence | Page 8

my way of thinking. Come now, tell me,
have you had any more {to do} with her, Charinus?
CHAR. Oh Pamphilus, nothing.
PAM. How much I wish {you had}.
CHAR. Now, by our friendship and by my affection, I do beseech you,
in the first place, not to marry her.
PAM. For my own part I'll use my endeavors.
CHAR. But if that can not be, or if this marriage is agreeable to you--
PAM. Agreeable to me?
CHAR. Put it off for some days at least, while I go elsewhere, that I
may not be witness.
PAM. Now listen, once for all: I think it, Charinus, to be by no means
the part of an ingenuous man, when he confers nothing, to expect that it
should be considered as an obligation on his part. I am more desirous to
avoid this match, than you to gain it.
CHAR. You have restored me to life.
PAM. Now, if you can do any thing, either you yourself, or Byrrhia
here, manage, fabricate, invent, contrive {some means}, whereby she
may be given to you; this I shall aim at, how she may not be given to
me.
CHAR. I am satisfied.
PAM. Most opportunely I perceive Davus, on whose advice I have
depended.
CHAR. (turning to BYRRHIA.) But you, i'faith, {tell} me nothing,[50]

except those things which there is no need for knowing. (Pushing him
away.) Get you gone from here.
BYR. Certainly I {will}, and with all my heart. (Exit.
SCENE III.
Enter DAVUS in haste.
DAV. (not seeing PAMPHILUS and CHARINUS.) Ye gracious Gods,
what good news I bring! But where shall I find Pamphilus, that I may
remove the apprehension in which he now is, and fill his mind with
joy--?
CHAR. (apart to PAMPHILUS.) He's rejoiced about something, I don't
know what.
PAM. (apart.) It's of no consequence; he hasn't yet heard of these
misfortunes.
DAV. (to himself.) For I do believe now, if he has already heard that a
marriage is prepared for him--
CHAR. (apart.) Don't you hear him?
DAV. (to himself.) He is seeking me distractedly all the city over. But
where shall I look for him? Or in which direction now first to betake
me--
CHAR. (apart to PAMPHILUS.) Do you hesitate to accost him?
DAV. (to himself.) I have it. (Moving on.)
PAM. Davus, come here! Stop!
DAV. Who's the person that's-- (Turning round.) O Pamphilus, you are
the very man I'm looking for. Well done, Charinus! both in the nick of
time: I want you {both}.

CHAR. Davus, I'm undone!
DAV. Nay but, do hear this.
PAM. I'm utterly ruined!
DAV. I know what you are afraid of.
CHAR. I'faith, my life indeed is really in danger.
DAV. (to CHARINUS.) And what you {are afraid of}, I know.
PAM. My marriage--
DAV. As if I did not know it?
PAM. This day--
DAV. Why keep dinning me {with it}, when I know it all? (To
PAMPHILUS.) This are you afraid of, lest you should marry her; and
you (to CHARINUS,) lest you should not marry her.
CHAR. You understand the matter.
PAM. That's the very thing.
DAV. And that very thing is in no danger; trust me for that.
PAM. I do entreat you, release wretched me as soon as possible from
this apprehension.
DAV. Well, then, I will release you; Chremes is not going to give you
his daughter at present.
PAM. How do you know?
DAV. You shall know. Your father just now laid hold of me; he said
that a wife was to be given you to-day, and many other things as well,
which just now I haven't time to relate. Hastening to you immediately, I

ran on to the Forum that I might tell you these things. When I didn't
find you, I ascended there to a high place.[51] I looked around; you
were nowhere. There by chance I saw Byrrhia, his {servant} (pointing
to CHARINUS). I inquired of him; he said he hadn't seen you. This
puzzled me. I considered what I was to do. As I was returning in the
mean time, a surmise from the circumstances themselves occurred to
me: "How now,-- a very small amount of good cheer; he out of spirits;
a marriage all of a sudden; {these things} don't agree."
PAM. But to what purpose this?
DAV. I forthwith {betook} myself to the house of Chremes. When I
arrived there-- stillness before the door;[52] then I was pleased at that.
CHAR. You say well.
PAM. Proceed.
DAV. I stopped {there}. In the mean time I saw no one going in, no
one going out; no matron at the house,[53] no preparation, no bustle. I
drew near; looked in--
PAM. I understand; a considerable indication.
DAV. Do these things seem to accord with a wedding?
PAM.