Letter 474
Libanius→Ὑγίνῳ|libanius
To Hyginus. (356 AD)
If I had to fall ill with a kidney disease, I ought to have suffered it while near you — not that there is any pleasure in my old complaint, but because your medical skill, aiding me from close at hand, would have put an end to the illness. As things stand, when I had the best physician within reach I had no need of one, and now that I lack anyone worthy of the title I am sick.
But you can help even from a distance, by letter. Reveal one great remedy, then, and save your friend from this affliction.
Ὑγίνῳ. (356)
Ἐμὲ δέ, εἴπερ ἔδει νοσῆσαι τοὺς νεφρούς, ἔδει παρ᾿ ὑμῖν
τοῦτο παθεῖν, οὐχ ὅτι μοι τὸ πάλαι νοσεῖν ἔχει τινὰ ἡδονήν,
ἀλλ᾿ ὅτι τῆς ἐν σοὶ τέχνης ἐγγύθεν βοηθούσης ἐλέλυτο ἂν ἡ
νόσος. νῦν δὲ ἐν χεροῖν μὲν ἔχων τὸν ἄριστον ἰατρὸν οὐκ
ἔχρῃζον ἰατροῦ, ἐν δὲ ἀπορίᾳ τῶν τοῦτο καλουμένων νοσῶ.
σοὶ δὲ ἔνεστι καὶ ἀπόντι δι᾿ ἐπιστολῆς ἀμῦναι. μέγα οὖν
ἕν τι δηλώσας ῥῦσαι τὸν ἑταῖρον τοῦ κακοῦ.
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To Hyginus. (356 AD)
If I had to fall ill with a kidney disease, I ought to have suffered it while near you — not that there is any pleasure in my old complaint, but because your medical skill, aiding me from close at hand, would have put an end to the illness. As things stand, when I had the best physician within reach I had no need of one, and now that I lack anyone worthy of the title I am sick.
But you can help even from a distance, by letter. Reveal one great remedy, then, and save your friend from this affliction.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.