Letter 137: Nilus faces a neighbor's obstructive windows and a fabricated sale in Nestorius's name.

This year, it seems, will carry many requests from me, but they are just requests with a praiseworthy cause: requests over which any fair-minded person, Greek in character, would be glad either to give thanks or receive it from others. The present need is of that kind. Learned Nilus has dedicated his life to God. He lives in the city because his mother is unsteady over him, caring at once for old age and the weakness that comes from it; nevertheless he is no less known for piety than many who live in solitude. He owns a house with an open plot beside it and has suffered from a wicked neighbor. The neighbor opened some new windows toward the open land that did not belong to him and at first agreed they would not obstruct Nilus if he wanted to build. But now that the matter has come to action, he puts forward the windows as an obstacle, as if demanding penalty because Nilus overlooked the innovation. Seeing himself everywhere pushed out by justice, he invents an entrance for power, and, most serious, through a man who has always known how to rejoice in justice. He presses toward the famous Nestorius, trusting that the man is absent. Using Nestorius's relatives as allies, he fabricated a sale in Nestorius's name for wrongdoing, taking a just name as material for injustice and trying to slander the praises that come against him from every side. But when Nestorius learns this through you, he will by threats stop the wrongdoer, acting through a man who honors justice.

Ζαχαρίαι καὶ Φιλίππωι ἀδελφοῖσ Τὸ παρὸν ὡς ἔοικεν ἔτος δεήσεις παρ' ἡμῶν διακομίσει πυκνάς, πλὴν οὖν δικαίας καὶ πρόφασιν ἐχούσας ἐπαινουμένην, ὑπὲρ ὧν τις εὐγνώμων καὶ τὸν τρόπον Ἑλληνικὸς χάριν ἂν ἡσθείη διδοὺς ἢ παρ' ἑτέρων δεχόμενος. τοιαύτη δέ τις τῶν παρόντων ἡ χρεία. Νεῖλος ὁ λογιώτατος θεῷ τὸν βίον ἀναθεὶς πόλιν μὲν οἰκεῖ, μητρὸς ἐπ' αὐτῷ σαλευούσης, γῆρας ὁμοῦ θεραπεύων καὶ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἀσθένειαν, οὐδὲν δὲ ἧττον πολλῶν ἴσως ἐπ' ἐρημίας οἰκούντων ἐπ' εὐσεβείᾳ γνωρίζεται. οἰκίαν δὲ κεκτημένος τόπον ψιλὸν ἐχούσης τὸν παρακείμενον, γείτονος ἀπέλαυσε πονηροῦ, ὃς θυρίδας κατὰ τοῦ μὴ προσ ήκοντος ψιλοῦ νεωτερίσας τινάς, πρὸς μὲν τὸ παρὸν ὡμολόγει μηδὲν ἐμπο δὼν ἔσεσθαι ταύτας οἰκοδομεῖν βουλομένῳ. ὡς δὲ νῦν εἰς ἔργον ἦλθεν ὁ λόγος, κώλυμα τὰς θυρίδας προβάλλεται, ὥσπερ δίκην ἀπαιτῶν ὅτι παρεῖδε καινοτομούμενος. ὁρῶν δὲ τοῖς δικαίοις πανταχόθεν ἑαυτὸν ἐξωθούμενον, παρείσδυσιν ἑαυτῷ δυναστείας ἐπινοεῖ καί, τὸ μέγιστον, ἀνδρὸς τοῖς δικαίοις χαίρειν ἐγνωκότος ἀεί. εἰς γὰρ τὸν πολὺν ἐκεῖνον ὠθεῖται Νεστόριον, τῷ μὴ παρεῖναι τὸν ἄνδρα θαρρῶν. τοῖς γὰρ αὐτῷ προσήκουσιν εἰς συμμα χίαν χρησάμενος, ὠνὴν εἰς αὐτόν τινα πρὸς κακουργίαν ἐπλάσατο τὸ δίκαιον ὄνομα, καὶ πρὸς ἀδικίαν ὕλην λαβὼν καὶ τοὺς κατ' αὐτοῦ πανταχόθεν ἐπαίνους διαβάλλειν πειρώμενος. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μαθὼν δι' ὑμῶν κωλύσει ταῖς ἀπειλαῖς τὸν ἀδικοῦντα δι' ἀνδρὸς τιμῶντος τὰ δίκαια.