Letter 71: Procopius asks Stephanus not to delay returning a book for another ship or another letter.

You are still silent, though you live at Daphne, with that talkative and prophetic water. I have long been watching the merchant ships, always suspended toward what is coming. But a second ship and a third, I suppose, put in, and prove that my hopes were only hopes. I keep looking for the cause of your silence and am at a loss on every side. If I have somehow hurt you, though I have hurt you in nothing, then let that go and let the winds carry it off. Still, I suffer a punishment greater than the charges if I do not hear you speak. If you are only posturing, saying that you cannot speak beautifully, I am the judge of that and I blame the excuse. But perhaps I am already divining the matter, even without drinking from your Daphne. You will say that you blush because you broke your promise, ignored our agreement, and have kept the book for this third or fourth year, though you promised not to hold it even for a third month. If you say this while upset, then show it by not keeping it any longer. I accept your silence as a sign of shame and reckon the matter to necessity, even though I gave you a book whose price I have not yet paid even now. It is still unclear whether it belongs to the seller or to me, the giver. Nevertheless I put nothing in the way of your need: not the uncertainty about ownership, not my own need to learn something from it. I overlooked everything and would have provided many others too, if you had allowed me to do so. There is still nothing terrible if you set the limit of delay at the present moment. But if you add more, I will gain this much from the affair: I will think everyone untrustworthy. What could I hope, after suffering such things from you? The very wise John was not like this. After receiving one book from me, he sent back a second not long afterward. He preferred to seem grateful rather than to possess a book. And do not tell me, "I kept it without wanting to rob you." I happen to believe that, and I will swear a great oath to it. But the delay should not have been stretched out, since giving something back only after a long time and with difficulty can equal robbery. So, by the god of friendship, do not wait for another letter or for any ship other than the one carrying this letter to you.

Στεφάνωι Σὺ μὲν ἔτι σιγᾷς, καὶ ταῦτα τὴν Δάφνην οἰκῶν, τὸ λάλόν ὕδωρ ἐκεῖνο καὶ μαντικόν· ἐγὼ δὲ πάλαι περισκοπῶ τὰς ὁλκάδας, μετέωρος ἀεὶ πρὸς τὸ μέλλον γινόμενος. αἱ δέ που καταίρουσι καὶ δευτέρα καὶ τρίτη, καὶ τὰ καθ' ἡμᾶς διελέγχουσιν ὡς μόνον ἦσαν ἐλπίδες. τὴν δὲ τῆς σιγῆς αἰτίαν σκοπῶ, καὶ πανταχόθεν ἠπόρημαι. εἰ μὲν γάρ τι λελύπηκα, καίτοι λυπήσας μηδέν, ταῦτα μὲν οἰχέσθω καὶ φέροιεν αὖραι. μείζω δ' οὖν ὅμως τῶν ἐγκλημάτων ὑφίσταμαι δίκην, εἰ μὴ λαλοῦντος ἀκούσομαι. εἰ δὲ τὴν ἄλλως ἀκκίζει μὴ δύνασθαι λέγων εἰς κάλλος εἰπεῖν, δικασταὶ τούτων ἡμεῖς, καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν μεμφόμεθα. ἀλλ' ἤδη που τάχα τὸ πρᾶγμα μαντεύομαι, μηδὲ τῆς ὑμετέρας Δάφνης πιών. ἐρυθριᾶν φήσεις ὡς παραβὰς τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν καὶ τὰς συνθήκας ὑπεριδὼν καὶ τὸ βιβλίον ἔχων που τρίτον ἢ τέταρτον ἔτος τουτί, ὁ μηδὲ τρίτον μῆνα καθέξειν ἐπαγγειλάμενος. ταῦτα τοίνυν, εἰ μὲν ἀχθόμενος ἐρεῖς, δείξεις μὴ πλείω χρόνον κρατήσας. καὶ τὴν σιωπὴν ἀποδεξάμενος τὸ σύμβολον τῆς αἰδοῦς, τῇ ἀνάγκῃ τὸ πρᾶγμα λογίζομαι, καίτοι βιβλίον ὑμῖν δεδωκὼς οὗ τὴν τιμὴν οὐδέπω καὶ νῦν καταβέβληκα, ἀλλ' ἄδηλον εἴτε τοῦ πιπράσκοντός ἐστιν εἴτε τοῦ δεδωκότος ἐμοῦ. ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐδὲν ἐμποδὼν τῇ σῇ χρείᾳ πεποίημαι, οὐ τὸ τοῦ κτήματος ἄδηλον, οὐ τὸ δεῖν ἐξ αὐτοῦ τι μαθεῖν, ἀλλὰ πάντα παριδὼν μετὰ πολλῶν ἄν σοι παρέσχον, εἰ καὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖν συνεχώρησας. ὅμως οὐδὲν δεινὸν εἰ μέχρι τοῦ νῦν ὁρίζεις τὸ βράδος. εἰ δὲ προσθήσεις ἔτι, τοσοῦτον ἀπολαύσω τοῦ πράγματος ὅτι δὴ πάντας ἀπίστους ἡγήσομαι· τί γὰρ ἂν ἐλπίσαιμι, παρὰ σοῦ τοιαῦτα παθών; ἀλλ' οὐχ ὅ γε σοφώτατος Ἰωάννης τοιοῦτος, ὃς ἓν λαβὼν παρ' ἐμοῦ μετ' οὐ πολὺν χρόνον δεύτερον προσαπέστειλεν. οὕτως εὐγνώμων δοκεῖν ἤθελε μᾶλλον ἢ κεκτῆσθαι βιβλίον. καὶ μή μοι λέγε ὡς οὐκ ἀποστερεῖν ἐθέλων κατέσχον. τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ τυγχάνω πεπεισμένος, καὶ ἐπὶ μέγαν ὅρκον ὁμοῦμαι. ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔδει παρατεῖναι τῷ βράδει, ὅπου γε ἴσον δύναται τῷ ἀποστερεῖν τὸ χρόνῳ καὶ μόλις ἀποδιδόναι. ἀλλά, πρὸς Φιλίου, μὴ ἀναμείνῃς ἔτι ἕτερα γράμματα μηδὲ πλοῖον ἕτερον ἢ τὸ κομίζον σοι τὴν ἐπιστολήν.