1. Deos deasque veneror, qui hanc urbem colunt, 2. Ut, quod de mea re huc veni, rite venerim. 3. Measque hic ut gnatas, et mei fratris filium 4. Reperire me siritis: Di, vostram fidem! 5. Quae mihi surruptae sunt, et fratris filium: 6. Sed hic mihi antehac hospes Antidamas fuit. 7. Eum fecisse aiunt, sibi quod faciendum fuit. 8. Ejus filium hic esse praedicant Agorastoclem: 9. Deum hospitalem et tesseram mecum fero: 10. In hisce habitare monstratum est regionibus. 11. Hos percunctabor, qui huc egrediuntur foras. Guided by the metrical _paraphrase_ of the original author, Bochart laid before the scholars of his time a Latin version, of which the following is an English translation:-- _Close Translation of Bochart's Latin Version._ 1. I ask the gods and goddesses that preside over this city, 2. That my plans may be fulfilled.--May my business prosper under their guidance! 3. The release of my son and my daughters from the hands of a robber. 4. May the gods grant this, through the mighty spirit that is in them and by their providence! 5. Before his death, Antidamarchus used to sojourn with me. 6. A man intimate with me: but he has joined the ranks of those whose dwelling is in darkness (the dead). 7. There is a general report that his son has here taken his abode; _viz._ Agorastocles. 8. The token (tally) of my claim to hospitality is a carven tablet, the sculpture whereof is my god. This I carry. 9. A witness has informed me that he lives in this neighbourhood. 10. Somebody comes this way through the gate: behold him: I'll ask him whether he knows the name. To professed classics and to professed orientalists, the version of Bochart has, _on the whole_, appeared satisfactory. Divisions of opinion there have been, it is true, even amongst those who received it; but merely upon matters of detail. Some have held that the Punic is Syriac rather than Hebraic, whilst others have called in to its interpretation the Arabic, {138} the Maltese, or the Chaldee; all (be it observed) languages akin to the Hebrew. Those who look further than this for their affinities, Gesenius[33] dismisses in the following cavalier and cursory manner:--"_Ne eorum somnia memorem, qui e Vasconum et Hiberniae linguis huic causae succurri posse opinati sunt; de quibus copiosius referre piget._" The remark of Gesenius concerning the pretended affinities between the Punic and Hibernian arose from the discovery attributed to General Vallancey; _viz._ that the speech in Plautus was Irish Gaelic, and consequently that the Irish was Carthaginian, and _vice vers[^a]_. The word _attributed_ is used because the true originator of the hypothesis was not Vallancey, but O'Neachtan. _The Gaelic Version._