Cael. 27.1Velut haec tōta fābella veteris et plūrimārum fābulārum poētriae quam est sine argūmentō, quam nūllum invenīre exitum potest!Take, for instance, this whole little play by a poetess who is old and the author of very many plays: how lacking it is in plot, how it can find no ending! Cael. 27.1Quid enim?What then? Cael. 27.1istī tot virī — nam necesse est fuisse nōn paucōs ut et comprehendī Licinius facile posset et rēs multōrum oculīs esset testātior — cūr Licinium dē manibus āmīsērunt?those many men — for there must have been not a few, so that Licinius might easily be seized and the affair be better attested by many eyes — why did they let Licinius slip from their hands? Cael. 27.1Quī minus enim Licinius comprehendī potuit cum sē retrāxit nē pyxidem trāderet, quam sī trādidisset?For how was Licinius any less able to be seized when he drew back so as not to hand over the box than if he had handed it over? Cael. 27.1Erant enim illī positī ut comprehenderent Licinium, ut manifēstō Licinius tenērētur aut cum retinēret venēnum aut cum trādidisset.For they had been posted to seize Licinius, so that Licinius might be caught red-handed either while he was holding on to the poison or when he had handed it over.
Cael. 27.1Hoc fuit tōtum cōnsilium mulieris, haec istōrum prōvincia quī rogātī sunt;This was the woman's whole plan, this the assignment of those who were asked; Cael. 27.1quōs quidem tū quam ob rem temerē prōsiluisse dīcās atque ante tempus nōn reperiō.and why you say they leapt out rashly and before time, I cannot discover. Cael. 27.1Fuerant ad hoc rogātī, fuerant ad hanc rem conlocātī, ut venēnum, ut īnsidiae, facinus dēnique ipsum ut manifēstō comprenderētur.They had been asked for this, they had been posted for this purpose, so that the poison, the plot, in short, the crime itself, might be caught red-handed. Cael. 27.65Potuēruntne magis tempore prōsilīre quam cum Licinius vēnisset, cum in manū tenēret venēnī pyxidem?Could they have leapt out at a better time than when Licinius had come, when he was holding the box of poison in his hand? Cael. 27.65Quae cum iam erat trādita servīs, sī ēvāsissent subitō ex balneīs mulieris amīcī Liciniumque comprehendissent, implōrāret hominum fidem atque ā sē illam pyxidem trāditam pernegāret.If, once it had already been handed to the slaves, the woman's friends had suddenly burst out of the baths and seized Licinius, he would have appealed to the protection of the people and flatly denied that the box had been handed over by him.
Cael. 27.65Quem quō modō illī reprehenderent?How would they have refuted him? Cael. 27.65vīdisse sē dīcerent?would they say that they had seen it? Cael. 27.65Prīmum ad sē vocārent maximī facinoris crīmen;First, they would bring upon themselves the charge of a very great crime; Cael. 27.65deinde id sē vīdisse dīcerent quod quō locō conlocātī fuerant nōn potuissent vidēre.secondly, they would say that they had seen what they could not have seen from the place where they had been posted. Cael. 27.65Tempore igitur ipsō sē ostendērunt, cum Licinius vēnisset, pyxidem expedīret, manum porrigeret, venēnum trāderet.So they showed themselves at the very moment when Licinius had come, was getting out the box, stretching out his hand, handing over the poison. Cael. 27.65Mīmī ergō iam exitus, nōn fābulae;This, then, is the ending of a farce, not of a play; Cael. 27.65in quō cum clausula nōn invenītur, fugit aliquis ē manibus, Dein scabilla concrepant, aulaeum tollitur.in which, when no proper close can be found, someone escapes from somebody's hands, then the clappers sound, and the curtain is raised.