atque haec celamus nos clam magna industria,
quom rem fidemque nosque nosmet perdimus,
ne qui parentes neu cognati sentiant;
quos quom celamus si faximus conscios,
qui nostrae aetati tempestiuo temperent,
unde anteparta demus postpartoribus,
faxim lenonum nec scortorum plus siet
et minu' damnosorum hominum quam nunc sunt siet.
Text is that of W.M. Lindsay
I am confused as to the general purport of the last 5 lines, but my current translation reads:
"And we conceal these things secretly with great industry,
When we ourselves destroy our wealth and ourselves,
so that neither our parents nor relatives may in some way perceive it;
If we should have made which ones, when we conceal these things, accomplices,
who may temper our age at the right time,
whence there may be in the end property for our heirs,
I would have made it so that there would be more of pimps and not whores and that there would be less of abominable men than there now are.
Can anyone explicate to me where I have gone wrong in my translation? Unfortunately I have not been able to locate a serviceable commentary on this play.
