LETTER XX
Sidonius to his dear Pastor, greetings.
1. The fact that yesterday you were absent from the council meeting of the city is taken by the better part of the assembly to have been done deliberately. They suspected that you were taking care lest the burden of the forthcoming embassy be laid upon your shoulders. I congratulate you that you live with such a character that you are obliged to fear your own election. I praise your effectiveness, I admire your prudence, I celebrate your good fortune. And I wish the same for those whom I love equally.
2. Many men, driven by a detestable desire for popularity, frequently seize the leading citizens by the hand, draw them aside from the public assembly, and, having isolated them, plant kisses upon them, pledging their services -- though no one asked. And in order to appear to be chosen as delegates for the assertion of the common interest, they refund their travel expenses and actually refuse reimbursement of their costs, while secretly lobbying individuals to be publicly nominated by all.
3. Even so, when gratuitous effort might willingly be accepted, the modest are chosen more willingly still, and more lovingly, even at the city's expense. Such is the weight that the impudence of the self-promoting carries -- their very load adds nothing to the public purse, even when it bears their name. Therefore, although you were not deceived about what the best men were planning, surrender yourself to the wishes of those who await you, and prove the affection of those who seek you out, you who have already proven your modesty. Your first absence is ascribed to humility; a second delay will begin to look like laziness.
4. Besides, you will have on the road to Arles a revered mother, loving brothers who love you in return, and the soil of a homeland to which even without occasion one comes with pleasure. Then there is your own house, whose steward, vineyard, harvest, olive grove, and even whose roof it would profit you to inspect, if only as you pass by. Therefore, sent by us, you also arrive at your own destination. For the circumstances of such a journey and our cause will be of such a nature and so opportune, unless I am mistaken, that you will seem able to claim credit from the city whenever you see your own people. Farewell.
EPISTULA XX
Sidonius Pastori suo salutem.
1. Quod die hesterno tractatui civitatis in concilio defuisti, ex industria factum pars melior accepit, quae suspicata est id te cavere, ne tuis umeris onus futurae legationis imponeretur. gratulor tibi, quod istis moribus vivis, ut necesse habeas electionem tui timere; laudo efficaciam, suspicio prudentiam, prosequor laude felicitatem; opto denique aequalia his, quos aequaliter amo.
2. multi frequenter, quos execrabilis popularitas agit, civium maximos manu prensant deque consessu publico abducunt ac sequestratis oscula impingunt, operam suam spondent, sed non petiti; utque videantur in negotii communis assertionem legari, evectionem refundunt ipsosque sumptus ultro recusant et ab ambitu clam rogant singulos, ut ab omnibus palam rogentur.
3. sic quoque, cum fatigatio gratuita possit libenter admitti, libentius tamen atque amabilius verecundi leguntur, idque cum expensa; tantum impudentia sese ingerentum ponderis habet, etiam fasci cum tributario nomine ipsorum nil superfunditur. proinde quamquam non te fefellit, quid boni quique meditarentur, redde te tamen exspectantium votis expetentumque caritatem proba, qui iam probasti pudorem. quod defuisti primum, modestiae adscribitur; ad ignaviam respicit secunda dilatio.
4. praeterea tibi Arelate profecturo est venerabilis in itinere mater fratres amantes redamantisque patriae solum, ad quod et praeter occasionem voluptuose venitur; tum domus propria, cuius actorem, vineam messem olivetum, tectum quoque ipsum, vel dum praeterveharis, inspicere res commodi est. quapropter, missus a nobis, et tibi pervenis; namque erit talis viae tuae causaeque nostrae condicio, ni fallor, atque opportunitas, ut pro beneficio civitati posse imputare quandocumque videaris, quod tuos videris. vale.
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LETTER XX
Sidonius to his dear Pastor, greetings.
1. The fact that yesterday you were absent from the council meeting of the city is taken by the better part of the assembly to have been done deliberately. They suspected that you were taking care lest the burden of the forthcoming embassy be laid upon your shoulders. I congratulate you that you live with such a character that you are obliged to fear your own election. I praise your effectiveness, I admire your prudence, I celebrate your good fortune. And I wish the same for those whom I love equally.
2. Many men, driven by a detestable desire for popularity, frequently seize the leading citizens by the hand, draw them aside from the public assembly, and, having isolated them, plant kisses upon them, pledging their services -- though no one asked. And in order to appear to be chosen as delegates for the assertion of the common interest, they refund their travel expenses and actually refuse reimbursement of their costs, while secretly lobbying individuals to be publicly nominated by all.
3. Even so, when gratuitous effort might willingly be accepted, the modest are chosen more willingly still, and more lovingly, even at the city's expense. Such is the weight that the impudence of the self-promoting carries -- their very load adds nothing to the public purse, even when it bears their name. Therefore, although you were not deceived about what the best men were planning, surrender yourself to the wishes of those who await you, and prove the affection of those who seek you out, you who have already proven your modesty. Your first absence is ascribed to humility; a second delay will begin to look like laziness.
4. Besides, you will have on the road to Arles a revered mother, loving brothers who love you in return, and the soil of a homeland to which even without occasion one comes with pleasure. Then there is your own house, whose steward, vineyard, harvest, olive grove, and even whose roof it would profit you to inspect, if only as you pass by. Therefore, sent by us, you also arrive at your own destination. For the circumstances of such a journey and our cause will be of such a nature and so opportune, unless I am mistaken, that you will seem able to claim credit from the city whenever you see your own people. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.