The Comedies of Plautus, Vol. II

or more full of glory than he is there,
have me for his own, I shall give myself into bondage;
except for one thing, the epityra a relish made of olives is eaten insanely well.
25 Py. Where are you? Ar. Here. By Pollux, even to the elephant in India,
in the manner you shattered its leg with your fist.
Py. What, "leg"? Ar. I meant to say, "thigh."
Py. But I struck it carelessly. Ar. By Pollux, if indeed
you had exerted yourself, your arm would have gone through the hide, through the guts,
30 and through the bone of the elephant.
Py. I do not want such things here now. Ar. By Hercules, it is not worth the effort
for me to tell you of your virtues, which I already know.
The belly creates all these miseries: things must be heard with the ears,
so that the teeth do not chatter,
35 and one must agree with whatever he lies about.
Py. What is that which I am saying? Ar. Ahem, I know now what you want
to say.
It is done, by Hercules, I remember it being done. Py. What is that? Ar. What-
what is it?
Py. Do you have— Ar. You want to ask for the writing tablets. I have them, and the stylus.
Py. You cleverly turn your attention to my mind.
40 Ar. It is fitting that I have meditated upon your ways
and apply care so that what you wish anticipates me.
Py. Do you remember anything? Ar. I remember one hundred in Cilicia
and fifty, one hundred in Scytholatronia,
thirty Sardinians, sixty Macedonians—
45 these are the men whom you—killed in one day.