little plume on my hat: yes, and as for my father
he will have a little gold tassel hanging from his:
Amphitryon will not have this mark. They are marks that
none of the household here will be able to see, but you
will.

sed Amphitruonis illic est servos Sosia:
a portu illic nunc cum lanterna advenit.
abigam iam ego illum advenientem ab aedibus. 150
adeste: erit operae pretium hic spectantibus
Iovem et Mercurium facere histrioniam.

(_looking down street_) But there is Amphitryon's servant
Sosia--just coming from the harbour with a lantern. I'll
bustle him away from the house as soon as he gets here.
Watch now! It will be worth your while to attend when Jove
and Mercury take up the histrionic art. (_steps aside_)

ACTVS I

ACT I

(_Time, night._)

_Sos._

Qui me alter est audacior homo aut qui confidentior,
iuventutis mores qui sciam, qui hoc noctis solus ambulem?
quid faciam nunc, si tres viri me in carcerem compegerint?
inde cras quasi e promptaria cella depromar ad flagrum,
nec causam liceat dicere mihi, neque in ero quicquam auxili
nec quisquam sit quin me malo omnes esse dignum deputent.

ENTER _Sosia_, LANTERN IN HAND.

(_stopping and peering around timorously_) Who's a bolder
man, a more audacious man than I am--know all about the
young bloods and their capers, I do, yet here I am strolling
around all alone at this time of night! (_seems to hear
something and jumps_) What if the police should lock me up
in jail? To-morrow I should be taken out of that preserve
closet and get served--to a rope's end; and not a word would
they let me say for myself,[C] and not a bit of help could I
get from master, and there wouldn't be a soul but what would
reckon I deserved a hiding.

[Footnote C: Being a slave]

ita quasi incudem me miserum homines octo validi caedant: 159-160
ita peregre adveniens hospitio publicitus accipiar. 161-162
haec eri immodestia
coegit, me qui hoc noctis a portu ingratiis excitavit.
nonne idem hoc luci me mittere potuit?

Those eight strong wardens would pound my poor
carcass just as if I was an anvil: that is how I should be
entertained on coming home from abroad--a public reception.
(_disgustedly_) It's master's impatience forced me into
this,