328 Specimens of Latin Comedy [MARCH, 



He then makes up to the house, but is again repulsed by Mercury ; he 

 can make no progress by any of his manoeuvres ; resistance is useless, 

 submission is no less ineffectual ; at last he is obliged to go away to 

 inform his master of all that had happened, and to get him to inquire 

 into the mysterious affair. Nothing can be more amusing than the 

 interview between Amphitryon and Sosia, when the latter tells his 

 master the whole account of his rencontre and repulse, and Amphitryon 

 will not believe him, but declares him to be intoxicated. 



AM PH. The fellow's drunk, I think. 



Sos. I would I were! 

 AMPH. You have your wish already. 



Sos. I? 



AMPH. Yes, you. 

 Say, where have you been drinking ? 



Sos. Nowhere, truly. 



AMPH. What sort of fellow is it ? 



Sos. I have told you 

 Ten times already. I'm at home, I say ; 

 And / d'ye mark me? /, that self-same Sosia, 

 Am here with you. What think you now ? 



AMPH. Hence, avaunt go, get thee from me. 



Sos. What's the matter ? 



AMPH. The plague has seized you. 



Sos. Why d'ye say so ? Faith, I feel, Sir, very well. 



AMPH. But I shall make you feel very ill, 

 And 'very miserable, as you deserve, when I get home. 

 Come, you who abuse your master's easy nature 

 With vain and frantic stories ; who, because 

 You have neglected to perform his orders, come 

 To deride him. You relate such gross 

 Impossibilities, such as before 

 Were never heard of knave ! but every lie 

 Your back shall answer. 



Sos. Of all grievances 



This is the most grievous to a trusty servant ; 

 That, though he tell his master truth, the truth 

 He is beat out of by authority. 



AMPH. How can this be, convince me, thou vile plague, 

 With arguments. I fain would have explained, 

 How you can be at home and yet be here. 



Sos. Troth I am both here and there. Well may one wonder! 

 Nor can it seem more strange to you than me. 



AMPH. How? 



Sos. I say, it cannot seem more strange 

 To you than me ; nor, as I hope for mercy, 

 Did I at first believe me myself, Sosia, 

 Till Sosia, t'other I myself, convinced me. 

 He told distinctly every thing that past 

 During our sojourn with the enemy : 

 Then he has robbed me of my very figure, 

 Together with my name. One drop of milk 

 Is not more like another than that I 

 Is like to me : for when you sent me home, 

 Before 'twas daybreak, from the port 



AMPH. What then? 



Sos. I at the door was standing long before 

 I came there. 



