Letter 652: You acted, noble friend, using wisdom on behalf of truth.

To the same man. (361) You have acted, my noble friend, in employing wisdom on behalf of the truth; and the wise course lay in cutting things short and not prolonging them, since indeed lengthiness in such matters can breed many handles for trouble. It seems to me that you, even if you were asked by me for Arcadia, would not say, "I will not give it," although you are master with power to give: so ready are you to give everything, and you are plainly one who, in giving, rejoices no less than the one who receives. Therefore you will give the rest too to the young man when he comes, and by the very same things you will also do a kindness to me who am absent. And the rest consists of continuous goodwill and of showing that, when he comes in to you, you are glad, but when he hesitates, you find fault. This and things like it will make him great among his fellow citizens and great in the eyes of his parents. For I should wish that he might seem able to help his father rather than to stand in need of him. And this too is a sweet thing for a father, and one of the things to be counted among one's prayers: to be able to take refuge in the strength of one's child. You will be promoting no worthless man, but one who has understanding and knows how to remember a favor. And when you have put him to the test, you will say to others about him the things you now hear, and you will not say that I have made all this great effort without sense. I think that, when you have looked at him, you will recognize the young man. For he was indeed conspicuous among the listeners, on the occasions when there were displays before us. And you yourself were sitting there in silence, admiring, for it was not permitted to do so with shouting; and perhaps not seldom you saw Hyperechios filling out the praises with decorum. So then, remembering those occasions, and bearing in mind what you have now done, and considering that you must be consistent with yourself, become toward him such a man as I myself would have become, had I been ruler of the Galatians.

Τῷ αὐτῷ. (361) Ἔπραξας, ὦ γενναῖε, σοφίᾳ χρησάμενος ὑπὲρ τῆς ὰλη- θείας· τὸ σοφὸν δὲ ἦν ἐν τῷ συντέμνειν καὶ μὴ διατρίβειν, ὡς τά γε ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις μήκη πολλὰς δύναται τίκτειν λαβάς. δοκεῖς δέ μοι σὺ καὶ τὴν Ἀρκαδίαν αἰτηθεὶς παρ’ ἐμοῦ μὴ ἂν εἰπεῖν· οὔτοι δώσω δοῦναι κύριος ὤν· οὕτω πάντα ἐθέλεις διδόναι καὶ δῆλος εἶ χαίρων ὁ διδοὺς τοῦ λαμβάνον- τος οὐχ ἧττον. οὐκοῦν καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ δώσεις ἥκοντι τῷ νεανίσκῳ, τοῖς αὐτοῖς δὲ καὶ ἐμὲ τὸν ἀπόντα εὖ ποιήσεις. ἔστι δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ συνεχὴς εὔνοια καὶ τὸ δεικνύειν ὡς εἰσιόντι μὲν παρὰ σὲ χαίροις, ὀκνοῦντι δὲ μέμφοιο. ποιήσει δὲ αὐτὸν τοῦτό τε καὶ τὰ τούτῳ παραπλήσια μέγαν μὲν ἐν τοῖς πολί- ταις, μέγαν δὲ παρὰ τοῖς γονεῦσι. βουλοίμην γὰρ ἂν αὐτὸν δοκεῖν τῷ πατρὶ δύνασθαι βοηθεῖν μᾶλλον ἢ ’κείνου χρῄζειν. ἡδὺ δὲ ἄρα καὶ τοῦτο πατρὶ καὶ ἕν τι τῶν ἐν εὐχαῖς καταφεύγειν ἔχειν εἰς παιδὸς δύναμιν. αὐξήσεις δὲ οὐ φαῦλον ἄνθρω- πον, ἀλλ’ ἔχοντα σύνεσιν καὶ χάριτος εἰδότα μεμνῆσθαι. πει- ρώμενος δὲ φήσεις περὶ αὐτοῦ πρὸς ἄλλους ἃ νῦν ἀκούεις καὶ οὐ φήσεις με τὴν πολλὴν ταύτην σπουδὴν ἄνευ νοῦ πε- ποιῆσθαι. νομίζω δέ σε βλέψαντα εἰς αὐτὸν γνωριεῖν τὸν νεανίσκον. ἦν γὰρ δὴ περιφανὴς ἐν τοῖς ἀκροωμένοις, ὁπότε ἡμῖν ἐπιδείξεις εἴησαν. ἐκάθου δὲ ἄρα καὶ αὐτὸς σιγῇ θαυμάζων, οὐ γὰρ ἐξῆν σὺν βοῇ, καὶ ἴσως οὐκ ὀλιγάκις Ὑπερέχιον εἶδες σὺν κόσμῳ τοὺς ἐπαίνους πληροῦντα. ἐκεί- νων τε οὖν μνησθεὶς καὶ ἃ νῦν πεποίηκας ἐνθυμηθεὶς καὶ νομίσας δεῖν ἀκολουθεῖν σαυτῷ γίγνου τοιοῦτος εἰς αὐτόν, οἷος ἂν αὐτὸς ἐγενόμην, εἰ Γαλατῶν ἦρχον.