Letter 3050: An arrangement should be gratefully received when it helps the giver and delights the receiver as circumstances require.

King Theoderic to the provincials of Noricum. [1] An arrangement is to be welcomed with gratitude which both benefits the giver and gladdens the receiver according to the need of the moment. For who could regard as a burden a thing in which one rather earns a profit by the exchange? [2] And therefore by the present ordinance we decree that it shall be permitted to you to exchange the oxen of the Alamanni, which are reckoned more valuable on account of the largeness of their bodies, but have been worn out by the length of the journey, for ones smaller indeed in their limbs, yet suited for labor, so that both their march may be assisted by healthier animals and your fields may be furnished with larger herds. [3] Thus it comes about that they acquire beasts robust in strength, you ones conspicuous in form, and -- what rarely tends to happen -- in a single transaction both parties may be seen to have gained the profits they desired.

L. PROVINCIAL1BUS NORICIS THEODERICUS REX. [1] Grate suscipienda est ordinatio, quae dantem iuvat et accipientem pro temporis necessitate laetificat. nam quis putare possit onus, ubi magis meretur in commutatione compendium? [2] Et ideo praesentibus decernimus constitutis, ut Alamannorum boves, qui videntur pretiosiores propter corporis granditatem, sed itineris longinquitate defecti sunt, commutari vobiscum liceat, minores quidem membris, sed idoneos ad laborem, ut et illorum profectio sanioribus animalibus adiuvetur et vestri agri armentis grandioribus instruantur. [3] Ita fit ut illi adquirant viribus robustos, vos forma conspicuos et, quod raro solet emergere, in una mercatione utrique videamini desiderata compendia percepisse.