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Enter OLYMPIO, dressed in white, with a wreath on his head, and a torch in his hand, accompanied by MUSICIANS

OLYMPIO
to one of the MUSICIANS . Come, piper, while they are escorting the new-made bride out of doors, make the whole of this street resound with a sweet wedding-tune1. He sings aloud. Io Hymen hymenæe! Io Hymen!

STALINO
accosting him . How fare you, my preserver?

OLYMPIO
I'm very hungry, faith; and, in fact, I'm not thirsty a little.

STALINO
But I'm in love.

OLYMPIO
Still, upon my faith, love, I shan't be making any trial of you. For some time past my inside has been grumbling with emptiness.

STALINO
But why is she now delaying so long in-doors, just as though on purpose? The greater the haste I'm in, in so much the less is she.

OLYMPIO
What if I were even to trill an hymeneal lay?

STALINO
I agree to that; and I'll help you at these our common nuptials.

OL. (STALING
joining, they sing). Hymen hymenæe! Io Hymen!

STALINO
Upon my faith, I'm dreadfully done up; one may burst one's self with singing this hymeneal lay; if I do burst this way2, I can't burst any other, that I may make sure of.

OLYMPIO
Upon my faith, for sure, if you were a horse, you'd never be broken in.

STALINO
On what grounds?

OLYMPIO
You are too hard-mouthed.

STALINO
Have you ever found me so?

OLYMPIO
The Gods forbid! But the door makes a noise; they are coming out.

STALINO
I' troth, the Gods do will me to be preserved at last. I already smell Casina3 at a distance. They move to a distance.

1 Wedding-tune: "Hymenæo." The nuptial-song was called "Hymenæus," in honor of Hymen, the God of Marriage. The above words were probably the refrain, or Chorus of the song.

2 If I do burst this way: The meaning of this passage is obscure, but there is no doubt that it is of an indecent nature. The translation is consequently somewhat modified.

3 Already smell Casina: Some Commentators explain this passage as one of indecent allusion, but there is really no occasion for such a construction; no doubt, the bride was usually perfumed to the highest pitch, and Stalino may very naturally say that he smells her at a distance.

The Comedies of Plautus. Henry Thomas Riley. London. G. Bell and Sons. 1912.

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