Peace! fool that you are to be pained at hearing him badly
      spoken of, when he is bad![16]

Mnes.

  Quid sodalem meum castigas, Lyde, discipulum tuom? (467)

      (innocently) Why are you finding fault with my chum,
      Lydus, your own pupil?

Lydus

  Periit tibi sodalis.

      (tragically) Your chum has perished!

Mnes.

  Ne di sirint.

      God forbid!

Lydus

  Sic est ut loquor.
  quin ego cum peribat vidi, non ex audito arguo.

      It’s just as I tell you.  Ah yes, I myself beheld him in the
      act:  I am not accusing him on hearsay.

Mnes.

  Quid factum est?

      What has happened?

Lydus

  Meretricem indigne deperit.

      He is shockingly infatuated with a courtesan.

Mnes.

  Non tu taces? 470

      (apparently scandalized) Oh, don’t say such a thing!

Lydus

  Atque acerrume aestuosam:  absorbet ubi quemque attigit.

      Yes, and a perfect maelstrom of a woman:  she sucks down
      every man who comes within her reach.

Mnes.

  Ubi ea mulier habitat?

      Where does this woman live?

Lydus

  Hic.

      (pointing) Here.

Mnes.

  Unde esse eam aiunt?

      Where do they say she is from?

Lydus

  Ex Samo.

      Samos.

Mnes.

  Quae vocatur?

      What is her name?

Lydus

  Bacchis.

      Bacchis.

Mnes.

Erras, Lyde:  ego omnem rem scio quem ad modumst. tu Pistoclerum falso atque insontem arguis. nam ille amico et benevolenti suo sodali sedulo rem mandatam exsequitur. ipsus neque amat nec tu creduas.

(with an air of relief) You’re mistaken, Lydus:  I know all about the matter, just how it stands.  That’s a false charge of yours, and Pistoclerus is innocent.  Why, he’s fulfilling a commission for a friend and well-wisher of his, a chum, and doing it zealously.  He doesn’t love her himself, and you mustn’t think he does.

Lydus

Itane oportet rem mandatam gerere amici sedulo, ut ipsus in gremio osculantem mulierem teneat sedens? nullo pacto res mandata potest agi, nisi identidem manus ferat ei ad papillas, labra a labris nusquam auferat? 480

(sharply) Does executing this commission for his friend, and doing it zealously, call for his sitting down and holding the girl in his lap while she kisses him?  Is there no