Letter 299
Libanius→Demetrius|libanius
To Demetrius. (361?)
I need nothing from you but your letters. Everything else you could give me -- and you are generous enough to give it -- pales beside the pleasure of reading your words. So write often, and do not worry about having nothing important to say. The very fact that you wrote is important enough.
If you do have something to report, so much the better. If not, the greeting alone will suffice.
Ἀνατολίῳ. (361?)
Οὐ δεήσομαί σου Μάγνον εὖ ποιεῖν, τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ
ἐψήφισται πάλαι καὶ σοὶ καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς σοῖς, ἀλλὰ μὴ χαλε-
πῶς ἔχειν, ὅτι ὑμῖν βραδέως ἥκει. τά τε γὰρ ἄλλα δυσκόλου
πεπείραται τῆς Τύχης καὶ νῦν αὐτῷ τὸ κέρδος ἀνέβαλε δι
ἀρρωστίας τινός.
ἀλλὰ σύ γε αὐτῷ διαλλάξεις τὴν θεόν,
καἰ τις ὄψεται χρυσίον ἐν ταῖς Μάγνου χερσὶν ἀπὸ λόγων
προσιόν, ὃ τοῖς εὖ φρονοῦσι τοῦ πλουτῆσαι δι’ ὀνείρατος
ἥδιον.
◆
To Demetrius. (361?)
I need nothing from you but your letters. Everything else you could give me -- and you are generous enough to give it -- pales beside the pleasure of reading your words. So write often, and do not worry about having nothing important to say. The very fact that you wrote is important enough.
If you do have something to report, so much the better. If not, the greeting alone will suffice.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.