Spes atque opes vitae meae iacent sepultae in pectore, neque ullast confidentia iam in corde, quin amiserim; ita mihi videntur omnia, mare terra caelum, consequi, iam ut opprimar, ut enicer. me miseram, quid agam nescio.

Oh, my hopes and chances of getting out of this alive are dead and buried inside of me!  There’s not a thing left to keep my courage up now!  The way everything—­sea, land, sky—­ does seem set on crushing me, killing me off this instant!  Oh dear, oh dear!  What to do I don’t know.

ita tanta mira in aedibus sunt facta. vae miserae mihi, animo malest, aquam velim. corrupta sum atque absumpta sum. caput dolet, neque audio, nec oculis prospicio satis, nec me miserior femina est neque ulla videatur magis. 1060

Such amazing things as did happen in there!  Oh, poor me!  I feel faint.  Oh, for some water!  I’m a wreck, I’m all done up.  My head’s splitting, and I can’t hear or see right, either.  There isn’t a wretcheder woman on earth, or one that could seem so, either.

ita erae meae hodie contigit. nam ubi parturit, deos sibi invocat,
strepitus, crepitus, sonitus, tonitrus: 
ut subito, ut propere, ut valide tonuit!
ubi quisque institerat, concidit crepitu. ibi nescio quis maxuma
voce exclamat:  “Alcumena, adest auxilium, ne time: 
et tibi et tuis propitius caeli cultor advenit.
exsurgite” inquit “qui terrore meo occidistis prae metu.”

The experience mistress did have this day!  As soon as her time comes she calls on the gods to help her, and there’s a grumbling and rumbling and smashing and crashing—­what a crash, so sudden and quick and heavy it was!  Every one fell flat where he stood at the peal.  And then some one or other called out in a mighty voice:  “Alcmena, help is at hand:  be not afraid.  To thee and thine the sovereign of the skies comes in kindliness.  Rise,” he said, “ye who have fallen in terror, from dread of me.”

ut iacui, exsurgo. ardere censui aedis, ita tum confulgebant. ibi me inclamat Alcumena; iam ea res me horrore adficit, erilis praevertit metus:  accurro, ut sciscam quid velit. atque illam geminos filios pueros peperisse conspicor; 1070 neque nostrum quisquam sensimus, quom peperit, neque providimus.

Having dropped, I got on my feet:  I thought the house was afire, the way it was all lit up then.  Just then Alcmena calls for me to come.  I was trembling already at what happened, but fear of mistress prevailed, and up I run to find out what she wants.  And there I see she has given birth to twins, boys, and not a soul of us noticed when it happened, or is ready for it!

sed quid hoc? quis hic est senex, qui ante aedis nostras sic iacet? numnam hunc percussit Iuppiter? credo edepol, nam, pro Iuppiter, sepultust quasi sit mortuos. ibo et cognoscam, quisquis est.  Amphitruo hic quidem est erus meus.  Amphitruo.