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Plautus, Titus Maccius, 254 BC-184 BC

"The Captiva and the Mostellaria"


THEU. What is this crime, or who committed it? Tell me.
TRA. A host slew his guest, seized with his hand: he, I fancy, who sold
you the house.
THEU. Slew _him_?
TRA. And robbed this guest of his gold, and buried this guest there in
the house, on the spot.
THEU. For what reason do you suspect that this took place?
TRA. I'll tell _you_; listen. _One day_, when your son had
dined away from home, after he returned home from dining; we all went to
bed, _and_ fell asleep. By accident, I had forgotten to put out my
lamp; and he, all of a sudden, called out aloud--
THEU. What person? My son?
TRA. Hist! hold your peace: just listen. He said that a dead man came to
him in his sleep--
THEU. In his dreams, then, you mean?
TRA. Just so. But only listen. He said that he had met with his death by
these means--
THEU. _What_, in his sleep?
TRA. It would have been surprising if he had told him awake, who had
been murdered sixty years ago. On some occasions you are absurdly
simple. But look what he said: "I am the guest of Diapontius, from
beyond the seas; here do I dwell; this has been assigned me as my abode;
for Oreus would not receive me in Acheron, because prematurely I lost my
life. Through confiding was I deceived: my entertainer slew me here, and
that villain secretly laid me in the ground without funereal rites, in
this house, on the spot, for the sake of gold.


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brak hosta 906 niezarejestrowana strona system wymiany linkow no host