The Arbitration by Menander. Short summary

5 seconds

A slave finds a baby. He argues with another slave about who gets the things found with the baby. The arbitrator, who turns out to be the baby’s grandfather, decides the dispute.

1 minute

A quarrel arises between the two slaves, Dove and Sirisk. Dove found the baby in the thicket. Along with him were the things. Sirisk asks that the child be given to him.

Sirisk demands the things found with the infant. The slaves go to the umpire to settle the dispute. In the judge’s opinion, the things must be with the child so that the parents can find it.

As Sirisk was going through them, he saw a ring. Onisimus notices it and declares that it belongs to its owner, Harisius. He takes it from him, but hesitates to give it to his master since the latter will have to admit his paternity.

A year ago, Harisius got drunk at a feast and seduced the girl to whom he gave the ring. The young man himself was married. His wife’s father had recently acted as an umpire.

The harpy slave searches for the infant’s mother. She recognizes Pamphila, whom she saw at the feast. Charisius’s wife recognizes the ring and realizes that her husband is the culprit of her misfortune. Charisius does not know that the mother of his illegitimate child is the wife he possessed at the feast.