Mysis. (aside to Davus.)—Are you mad to ask me such a question?
Davus.—Whom should I ask? I can see no one else here.
This certainly seems a little over-acted on the part of Davus, considering that he knew Chremes to be so very near him. If we conclude that Davus acted his part with the proper gestures, and accompanied the above words with the very natural action of looking round him, to see if any other person was visible near Simo’s door; it appears extremely improbable that he should not have seen Chremes, who was near enough to hear all that passed between Davus and Mysis. Davus intended that what passed between Mysis and himself should be overheard by Chremes, whom he knew to be but a very few yards distant. It seems extraordinary, therefore, that Davus should make use of an expression which compelled him to run the risk of being obliged to recognise Chremes if he looked round, and, if he did not, of raising a suspicion in his mind, that Davus knew him to be there: either circumstance must effectually have spoiled the stratagem, to deter Chremes from the match. To solve this apparent inconsistency, we must suppose that Chremes, wishing, for obvious reasons, to overhear what passed between Mysis and Davus, had, at the entrance of the latter, withdrawn himself behind a row of pillars, or into a portico, or cloister, (which were common in the streets of Athens, and were also built upon the Roman stage,) lest his presence, which Mysis knew of, as he had questioned her, should be a check upon their conversation; from which he, of course, expected to learn the truth respecting the child at Simo’s door, as he knew that Mysis was the servant of Glycera, and Davus the servant of Pamphilus.
[NOTE 176.]
Mysis.—The deuce take you, fellow, for terrifying me in this manner.
Dii te eradicent, ita me miseram territas.
Literally, May the gods root you up. An ingenious French critic informs us, that the Romans borrowed this expression from the Greeks, who say, “to destroy a man to the very root:” and, that the Greeks borrowed it from the eastern nations. We have a similar expression in English, to destroy root and branch.
[NOTE 177.]
Chremes. (aside.) I acted wisely in avoiding the match.
Recte ego fugio has nuptias.
The general way of reading this line is as follows:
Recte ego semper fugi has nuptias.
I acted wisely in always avoiding the match.