MIC. Oh! do listen to me, and do not everlastingly din me upon this subject. You gave me your son to adopt; he became mine; if he offends in any thing, Demea, he offends against me: in that case I shall bear the greater part {of the inconvenience}. Does he feast,[27] does he drink, does he smell of perfumes,[28]-- it is at my cost. Does he intrigue, money shall be found by me, so long as it suits me; when it shall be no {longer convenient}, probably he’ll be shut out of doors.[29] Has he broken open a door-- it shall be replaced; has he torn any one’s clothes-- they shall be mended. Thanks to the Gods, I both have means for doing this, and {these things} are not as yet an annoyance. In fine, either desist, or else find some arbitrator {between us}: I will show that in this matter you are the most to blame. DEM. Ah me! Learn to be a father from those who are really so. MIC. You are his father by nature, I by my anxiety. DEM. You, feel any anxiety? MIC. Oh dear,-- if you persist, I’ll leave you. DEM. Is it thus you act? MIC. Am I so often to hear about the same thing? DEM. I have some concern {for my son}. MIC. I have some concern {for him} too; but, Demea, let us each be concerned for his own share-- you for the one, and I for the other. For, to concern yourself about both is almost the same thing as to demand him back again, whom you intrusted to me. DEM. Alas, Micio! MIC. So it seems to me. DEM. What {am I to say} to this? If it pleases you, {henceforth}-- let him spend, squander, {and} destroy; it’s nothing to me. If I {say} one word after this---- MIC. Again angry, Demea? DEM. Won’t you believe me? Do I demand him back whom I have intrusted? I am concerned for him; I am not a stranger in blood; if I do interpose-- well, well, I have done. You desire me to concern myself for one {of them},-- I do concern myself; and I give thanks to the Gods, he is just as I would have him; that fellow of yours will find it out at a future day: I don’t wish to say any thing more harsh against him. (_Exit._ SCENE III. _MICIO alone._ MIC. These things are[30] not nothing at all, nor yet all just as he says; still they do give me some uneasiness; but I was unwilling to show him that I took them amiss, for he is such a man; when I would pacify him, I steadily oppose and resist {him}; {and} in spite of it he hardly puts up with it like other men; but if I were to inflame, or even to humor his anger, I should certainly be as mad as himself. And yet Æschinus has done me some injustice in this affair. What courtesan has he not intrigued with? Or to which {of them} has he not made some present? At last, he recently told me that he wished to take a wife,[31] I suppose he was just then tired of them all. I was in hopes that the warmth of youth had now subsided; I was delighted. But look {now}, he is at it again; however, I am determined to know it, whatever it is, and to go meet the fellow, if he is at the Forum. (_Exit._ ACT THE SECOND.