(_aside dryly_) The henchman’s first try at henching pretty nearly came to grief. _Iup._ _Jup._ Verum quod tu dicis, mea uxor, non te mi irasci decet. clanculum abii a legione: operam hanc subrupui tibi, ex me primo ut prima scires, rem ut gessissem publicam. ea tibi omnia enarravi. nisi te amarem plurimum, non facerem. But as to what you say, precious,--you oughtn’t to be cross with me. It was on the sly that I left my troops: this is a stolen treat, stolen for your sake, so that your first news of how I served my country might come first from me. And now I have told you the whole story. I wouldn’t have done such a thing, if I hadn’t loved you with all my heart. _Mer._ Facitne ut dixi? timidam palpo percutit. (_aside_) Doing as I said, eh? Stroking her down, patting her back, poor thing. _Iup._ _Jup._ Nunc, ne legio persentiscat, clam illuc redeundum est mihi, ne me uxorem praevertisse dicant prae re publica. Now I must slip back, so that my men may not get wind of this and say I put my wife ahead of the public welfare. _Alc._ Lacrimantem ex abitu concinnas tu tuam uxorem. (_tearfully_) And make your own wife cry at your leaving her! _Iup._ _Jup._ Tace, ne corrumpe oculos, redibo actutum. (_affectionately_) Hush! Don’t spoil your eyes: I shall be back soon. _Alc._ Id actutum diu est. 530 That “soon” is a long, long time. _Iup._ _Jup._ Non ego te hic lubens relinquo neque abeo abs te. It’s not that I like to leave you here and go away. _Alc._ Sentio, nam qua nocte ad me venisti, eadem abis. So I perceive--going away the same night you came to me! (_clings to him_) _Iup._ _Jup._ Cur me tenes? tempus est: exire ex urbe prius quam lucescat volo. nunc tibi hanc pateram, quae dono mi illi ob virtutem data est, Pterela rex qui potitavit, quem ego mea occidi manu, Alcumena, tibi condono. Why do you hold me? It is time: I wish to get out of the city before daybreak. (_producing a golden bowl_) Here is the bowl they presented me for bravery on the field--the one King Pterelas used to drink from, whom I killed with my own hand--take it as a gift from me, Alcmena. _Alc._ Facis ut alias res soles. ecastor condignum donum, qualest qui donum dedit. (_taking bowl eagerly_) That _is_ so like you! Oh, your gift just matches the giver! _Mer._ Immo sic: condignum donum, qualest cui dono datumst. Oh no, not the giver--that gift matches the getter. _Iup._ _Jup._ Pergin autem? nonne ego possum, furcifer, te perdere? (_savagely_) So? At it again? Is there no choking you off, you jailbird? No? (_advances with upraised cane_) _Alc._ Noli amabo, Amphitruo, irasci Sosiae causa mea. 540