Letter 361: This letter should have been praise for what you have done for Honoratus, but instead it arrives still carrying a...

To Spectatus. [358] This letter ought to have been a commendation of the things accomplished by you on Honoratus's behalf, but instead it comes still bearing an entreaty. And this, indeed, is a moderate matter; but that other thing is worth fearing, lest the letter that follows this one should imitate this one as well. And yet, what has come over you that you do not carry out the very things you promised? Is it that lying is a fine thing? Surely it is not in your character to make a promise that proves false. Or is it that the power you have falls short of the favor we ask? And yet you used to laugh, since Quirinus would let up not a whit of his earnestness, and you would give it to be understood that favors of such a size you would grant even in your sleep. We still hold, then, that you grant readily to one who asks, and that you compel the man who tries to put you off. It remains, therefore, to neglect such a request as though we were not among your friends. But whenever you say this about your mother, it will be possible for you to say it against us too. But O you who do all that you wish, yet of your own accord overstep those things, while you rehearse defenses concerning them: having taken thought of the young man's excellence of character, and being ashamed at the entreaties of Quirinus, which a man whom even a god would reverence were he to appear made every day, and considering that I too am a kind of father to the pupil, and that these things your mother wishes, and our uncle wishes them too—and I would add the whole city as well—having pondered these things, do not give thought to what you will say to us, but to what you will do to grant the favor.

Σπεκτάτῳ. (358) Ταύτην ἔδει τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἔπαινον εἶναι τῶν εἰς Ὁνω- ράτον ὑπὸ σοῦ πεπραγμένων, ἡ δὲ ἔρχεται παράκλησιν ἔτι φέρουσα. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν δὴ μέτριον, ἐκεῖνο δὲ ἄξιον δεῖσαι μὴ καὶ ἡ μετὰ ταύτην ταύτην μιμήσηται. καίτοι τί μαθὼν οὐκ ἐπιτελεῖς ἅ γε ὑπέσχου; πότερον ὡς τὸ ψεύδεσθαι καλόν; οὐ σόν γε τὸ ἐπαινέσαι ψεῦδος. ἀλλ’ ὡς ἐλάττων σοι δύναμις ἧς αἰτοῦμεν χάριτος; καὶ μὴν ἐγέλας οὐδὲν σπουδῆς ἀνιέντος τοῦ Κυρίνου καὶ παρεδήλους ὡς τά γε τηλικαῦτα κἂν καθεύ- δῶν χαρίζοιο. ἔτι τοίνυν δοῦναί σε ἔσμεν ἑτοίμως χαριζό- μενον δεομένῳ καὶ διωθούμενον ἀναγκάζοντα. λείπεται οὖν ὡς μὴ φιλούντων ἀμελεῖν. ἀλλ’ ὅταν τοῦτο περὶ τῆς μητρὸς εἵπης, καὶ καθ’ ἡμῶν ἐξέσται σοι. ἀλλ’ ὦ πράττων μὲν ὅσα ἐθέλεις, ἃ δ’ ἑκὼν ὑπερβαίνεις, περὶ τούτων ἀπολογίας μελετῶν, ἐννοήσας μὲν τοῦ νέου τὴν τῶν τρόπων ἀρετήν, αἰσχυνθεὶς δὲ τὰς Κυρίνου δεήσεις ἃς ἐποιεῖτο καθ’ ἡμέραν ἀνὴρ ὃν καὶ θεὸς ἂν αῖδεσθείη φανέντα, νομίσας δὲ καὶ ἐμὲ πατέρα τινὰ τοῦ μαθητοῦ καὶ ταῦτα βούλεσθαι μὲν τὴν σὴν μητέρα, βούλεσθαι δὲ καὶ τὸν ἡμέτερον θεῖον, προσθείην δ’ ἂν καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν πόλιν, ταῦτα ἐνθυμηθεὶς μὴ φροντίσῃς ὅ τι πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐρεῖς, ἀλλ’ ὅ τι πράξας χαριῇ.