[NOTE 95.]
Once upon a time, a certain old merchant.
The title of merchant we are to suppose to be added by Davus to embellish the tale. Neither Chremes nor Phania are described as merchants. This addition is well managed by the author, as Davus, who thought the whole a fabrication, imagined he was more likely to gain credit by telling the tale that way; as a considerable traffick was carried on between Athens and the island of Andros, which was a very fertile spot.
M. Baron has translated this scene with great fidelity and beauty. Davus developes in it a plan to break off the dreaded match with Philumena, by introducing Glycera to Chremes: which incident is substituted instead of the birth of the child. There is a break in the French lines which renders them inimitably beautiful.
“De ce vieillard fougueux pour calmer la furie,
Quoi! Ne pourrions nous pas résoudre Glycérie
A venir à ses pieds lui demander——? Helas!
Glycérie est malade, et je n’y songe pas.”
Baron.
[NOTE 96.]
Well, I’ll betake myself to the Forum.
A forum, both in Athens and Rome, was a large open space within the city, dedicated to various purposes. The forum was a place where the people met for public worship, for the administration of justice, and to debate on the public affairs. In the Forum, also, were the temples, hospitals, sanctuaries, and the markets of all kinds: in short, it was a place of general rendezvous for men of all ranks and professions, and was, in many respects, very similar to those places of meeting we call by the name Exchange.