Page:Comedies of Publius Terentius Afer (1870).djvu/23

Rh

Sos. I am glad;

And that my service is commendable,

I am grateful also, Simo; but my ear

Is frightened more than flattered by this speech.

Wherefore remind me of these benefits,

Unless it be to blame forgetfulness?

Then tell me in one word your present will.

Sim. I will do so; but first I must inform you

The nuptials which we feign to celebrate

Are but fictitious.

Sos. Wherefore do you feign them?

Sim. Hear, then, from first to last, and by that means

Learn my son's life, and what I now design.

When Pamphilus was adolescent, Sosia,

I gave him licence more than, perhaps, I ought;

But so I learnt his true propensities.

Unchecked by fear or magisterial hand,

He then betrayed his bent.

Sos. Ah! that is so.

Sim. Boys usually have passions and desires,

Hugging some special pastime to their arms

As dogs and horses—or philosophy.

For him—he follows with sobriety

All things with prudence, so delighting me.

Sos. And good; to my mind there is nought in life

Superior to the ail age that, "Enough

Equals a feast."

Sim. This was his course of life:

Urbane unto his fellows—subjecting

His will to theirs, his pleasures unto theirs,

Opposing none; it following, of course,

He gained their praises and he made them friends.