Letter 1011: To my exalted and ever-magnificent brother Freda — Ruricius.

Ruricius to his lord, exalted and ever magnificent, his brother Fredas. Since you wished that the trifles of my own wilderness should be joined to the loveliness of your grove, I have sent, as you charged me, fir seedlings that will please not by their appearance but by their height, marvelous not for their fruits but for the strangeness of their origin, not suited for use but delightful for their loveliness; for indeed, once they have grown together, by the density of their shade they will furnish, in the summer seasons, the coolness of the ocean of the Cevennes, and this among those most splendid trees of varied kinds, excelling as much in beauty as in usefulness, rich in their burden, distinguished by their bloom, fragrant with their scent. For there your industry has supplied what the nature of the soil did not bring forth. For, to pass over before your eyes the redness of roses, the whiteness of lilies, the perpetual greenness of the laurel, and other things of this same sort—since through abundance precious things often grow cheap, and a daily plenty produces disgust—there too the foreign sweetnesses of grasses, of shoots, of shrubberies have been gathered together, blossoming for sight and for use. But what there should first be praised or wondered at, where even the intemperance of the season is tempered? Since in that very place the heat of scorching summer is driven off as much by the coolness of the shades as by that of the waters, while the harshness of winter is so little felt that, for those set within those same bounds, the warmth of the air and the song of the birds restore the very likeness of spring. But why do I, forgetful of my own want of skill, strive with impoverished speech to describe or recount, my lord, the riches and the delights of your countryside, to whose praise even greater talents would succumb? Grant therefore pardon to my impudence, which you yourselves extorted, you who—so that I might appear long-winded to your ears—your esteem compels me, trusting that a longer letter, if it should displease you, my masters, in its diction, would please you in its affection, since you would understand that it is copious not for the charm of its eloquence but for the love I bear you; and at the same time, because I knew that your sublimity finds more to reprehend in your friends in the bashfulness of silence than in the talkative boldness of familiarity.

XI. DOMINO SUBLIMI SEMPERQVE MAGNIFICO FRATRI FREDAE RURICIUS. Quoniam amoenitati nemoris uestri etiam deserti nostri ineptias uoluistis adiungi, transmisi, sicut iniunxistis, abietum plantas non specie, sed proceritate placituras, non fructibus, sed sui peregrinatione mirabiles, non usu aptas, sed amoenitate iocundas, quippe quae, cum coaluerint, crassitudine umbrarum Ceuennarum frigus oceani sint aestatibus praebiturae, et hoc inter illas praeclarissimas diuersi generis arbores tam decore quam utilitate praestantes, opulentas onere, distinctas flore, odore fraglantes. illic enim industria uestra contulit, quod soli natura non protulit. nam ut ruborem rosarum, liliorum candorem, lauri perpetuum uirorem et alia huiuscemodi similia uisibus praetermittam, quia saepe per abundantiam pretiosa uilescunt et facit copia cotidiana fastidium, illic etiam graminum, germinum, frutectorum peregrinae conlatae sunt suauitates uisui usuique uernantes. Sed quid illic primum laudandum sit aut mirandum, ubi etiam temporis intemperies temperatur? siquidem inibi torridae feruor aestatis tam umbrarum quam undarum rigore depellitur, hiemis uero in tantum non sentitur asperitas, ut intra eadem positis tepor aeris et cantus auium ueris reddat effigiem. sed quid ego inmemor inperitiae meae paupero sermone, mi domine, ruris uestri diuitias, delicias describere aut enarrare contendo, ad cuius laudem etiam ingenia maiora succumberent? date itaque inpudentiae meae ueniam, quam extorsistis, qui ut auribus uestris uerbosus existerem, dignatio uestra me conpellit, confidens, quod epistula longior uobis, domnis meis, si displiceret affatu, placeret affectu, cum 2 . sepquae 8 fredar v 4 iniunxistis v, adiunxistis S 5 speciae S 8 oceani sint Mommsenus, oceanis in S estatibus S prebiturae S 9 preclarissimas S 10 prestantes S 11 fraglantes scripsi, flagrantes S, fragrantes v illis v 18 similia S7, familia ? Sl, uilia Momrnsenus, futilia Gustafsson 14 uilibus v praeciosa S 15 uiliscunt S 17 usuisuiquf S 20 aetatis S 22 aedem Luetjohann potius v tempora eris 81 24 discribere S 25 ennarrare S 26 dat ei S 28 epistola S 29 placerit S intellegeritis S, intellexeritis v intellegeretis eam non pro eloquentiae lepore, sed pro uestro amore copiosam, simulque, quia sciebam sublimitatem uestram in amicis uestris plus reprehendere taciturnitatis uerecundiam, quam loquacem familiaritatis audaciam.