ound by me, so long as it suits me; when it
shall be no {longer convenient}, probably he'll be shut out of
doors.[29] Has he broken open a door-- it shall be replaced; has he
torn any one's clothes-- they shall be mended. Thanks to the Gods,
I both have means for doing this, and {these things} are not as yet an
annoyance. In fine, either desist, or else find some arbitrator
{between us}: I will show that in this matter you are the most to
blame.

DEM. Ah me! Learn to be a father from those who are really so.

MIC. You are his father by nature, I by my anxiety.

DEM. You, feel any anxiety?

MIC. Oh dear,-- if you persist, I'll leave you.

DEM. Is it thus you act?

MIC. Am I so often to hear about the same thing?

DEM. I have some concern {for my son}.

MIC. I have some concern {for him} too; but, Demea, let us each be
concerned for his own share-- you for the one, and I for the other.
For, to concern yourself about both is almost the same thing as to
demand him back again, whom you intrusted to me.

DEM. Alas, Micio!

MIC. So it seems to me.

DEM. What {am I to say} to this? If it pleases you, {henceforth}-- let
him spend, squander, {and} destroy; it's nothing to me. If I {say} one
word after this----

MIC. Again angry, Demea?

DEM. Won't you believe me? Do I demand him back whom I have intrusted?
I am concerned for him; I am not a stranger in blood; if I do
interpose-- well, well, I have done. You desire me to concern myself
for one {of them},-- I do concern myself; and I give thanks to the
Gods, he is just as I would have him; that fellow of yours will find
it out at a future day: I don't wish to say any thing more harsh
against him. (_Exit._

SCENE III.

_MICIO alone._

MIC. These things are[30] not nothing at all, nor yet all just as he
says; still they do give me some uneasiness; but I was unwilling to
show him that I took them amiss, for he is such a man; when I would
pacify him, I steadily oppose and resist {him}; {and} in spite of it
he hardly puts up with it like other men; but if I were to inflame, or
even to humor his anger, I should certainly be as mad as himself. And
yet AEschinus has done me some injustice in this affair. What courtesan
has he not intrigued with? Or to which {of them} has he not made some
present? At last, he recently told me that he wished to take a
wife,[31] I suppose he was just then tired of them all. I was in hopes
that the warmth of youth had now subsided; I