Or the language of Diniarchus when Phronesium appears:[251]—
“Ver vide
Ut tota floret, ut olet, ut nitide nitet.”
He affirms that such passages justify the opinion of Ælius Stilo that if the muses wished to speak Latin, they would have used the language of Plautus.
I shall quote two of the passages in which Plautus exhibits love-making. The one is from the ‘Asinaria’ (664), and gives the epithets which women used towards men.
A slave, Leonidas, has contrived to get possession of a sum of money which a slave-girl requires, in order that she may be permitted to have interviews with his young master. The slave is conscious of his power over the girl, and wishes to tease her by keeping the money from her for some time. So she says to him:—
“Give me the money, my dear little eye, my rose, my soul, my delight: do not, I entreat you, separate us lovers.
“Leon. Come now, just call me your little sparrow, your chick, your quail, your lambkin, your little kid, or your little calf. Just seize me by the dear little ears, and put dear little lips to dear little lips.”
And so the slave goes on bantering her. The last expression I may explain by the way. It refers to a curious mode of kissing practised by Greeks and Romans. When a person wished to give a good hearty kiss to one very dearly beloved, he seized her by the ears and performed the operation with more comfort and heartiness. Another slave, partner with Leonidas, afterwards asks her to call him by some other sweet names. The girl addresses him, “My Libanus, my golden little eye, the gift and glory of love, if you please, I’ll do what you wish: only do give me the money.” “Just then,” he says, “call me your duckling, your dove, your puppy, your swallow, your jackdaw, your little sparrow, your little boy.” Such were the endearing epithets which the young women addressed to the young men. Now for those addressed to the young women by the young men. In the scene I am to adduce, a young man has asked his slave to try to gain for him the affections of a slave-girl of whom he is enamoured. The slave sets to work at once. The young man Agorastocles asks Milphio the slave,[252]
“Why is this girl angry with me?