Letter 560
To Fortunatianus.
That letter of mine was old and written as a joke. I happened to send you a letter from a place I was glad to leave. It fell into other people's hands, and they started quoting what I had written to you -- back at you. This struck you as odd, and you wrote expressing your bewilderment.
I wrote the piece you say you have now found as a playful response. You took it seriously -- misjudging the tone, but to my benefit. For you then composed a great many fine speeches in reply, which I would rather have seen delivered than kept silent.
As for Cyril -- I have long considered him one of my own, and now even more so. He has come back from you more precious to me than his grandfather.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.