But how it happens that he is the slave of his own father I shall (_jauntily_) here in your midst proclaim, with your kind attention. This old gentleman had two sons. One of them, when he was four years old, was stolen by a slave who took to his heels and sold the boy in Elis to the father of this worthy (_pointing to Philocrates_) here. Now you take me? Very good! negat hercle ille ultimus. accedito. si non ubi sedeas locus est, est ubi ambules, quando histrionem cogis mendicarier. ego me tua causa, ne erres, non rupturus sum. vos qui potestis ope vestra censerier, accipite relicuom: alieno uti nil moror. Bless my soul! That gentleman at the back says he does not. Let him step this way--. (_no move in audience_) In case there is no opportunity to take a seat, sir, you can take a (_pointing to an exit_) stroll, seeing you insist on making an actor turn beggar. I have no intention of bursting myself, merely to keep you from misunderstanding the plot. (_to rest of audience_) As for you gentlemen who do own enough property to pay taxes on, let me discharge my debt-- none of the credit system for me. fugitivos ille, ut dixeram ante, huius patri domo quem profugiens dominum abstulerat vendidit. is postquam hunc emit, dedit eum huic gnato suo peculiarem, quia quasi una aetas erat. 20 hic nunc domi servit suo patri, nec scit pater; enim vero di nos quasi pilas homines habent. That runaway slave, as I said before, stole his young master when he decamped and sold him to this (_indicating Philocrates_) man’s father. This gentleman, on buying the boy, gave him to this son of his for his very own, the two being of about the same age. Now here he is, back home, his own father’s slave without his father knowing it. Ah yes, the gods use us mortals as footballs! rationem habetis, quo modo unum amiserit. postquam belligerant Aetoli cum Aleis, ut fit in bello, capitur alter filius: medicus Menarchus emit ibidem in Alide. coepit captivos commercari hic Aleos, si quem reperire possit qui mutet suom, illum captivom: hunc suom esse nescit, qui domist. Well, you comprehend the way in which he lost one son. Later, when war broke out between the Aetolians and Eleans, the other son was taken prisoner--a common occurrence in times of war--and a doctor, Menarchus, in that same Elis, bought the young man. Hegio then began to buy up Elean captives, hoping to get hold of one that he could exchange for his son--the captive son, that is: for he has no idea that this man at his home is his own child.