Letter 42: Could this have been hoped or expected by us, that now by our brother Severus we should have to claim the answer which your love has not yet written to us, so long and so impatiently desiring your reply? Why have we been doomed through two summers (and these in the parched land of Africa) to bear this thirst? What more can I say?

Could it even have been hoped or expected that we should have to demand through our brother Severus a reply so long withheld from us, who burn with such ardent longing, by your Charity? Why must we endure two summers thirsting for you here in Africa? What more shall I say? O you who daily give away your own possessions, pay what you owe! Or perhaps, because I had heard that you were writing against the demon-worshippers [pagans], and had shown how fervently I desired that work, you have been wanting to finish and send it, and on that account have put off writing to us for so long? If only you would at last break my long fast from your pen with so rich a feast! But if that banquet is not yet prepared, we shall not stop complaining if, while you finish that work, you do not meanwhile refresh us. Greet the brothers, especially Romanus and Agilis. Those who are with us here send their greetings, and they are somewhat annoyed with you along with us — if their love for you is at all small.

Letter 42 (A.D. 397) To Paulinus and Therasia, My Brother and Sister in Christ, Worthy of Respect and Praise, Most Eminent for Piety, Augustine Sends Greeting in the Lord. Could this have been hoped or expected by us, that now by our brother Severus we should have to claim the answer which your love has not yet written to us, so long and so impatiently desiring your reply? Why have we been doomed through two summers (and these in the parched land of Africa) to bear this thirst? What more can I say? O generous man, who art daily giving away what is your own, be just, and pay what is a debt to us. Perhaps the reason of your long delay is your desire to finish and transmit to me that book against heathen worship, in writing which I had heard that you were engaged, and for which I had expressed a very earnest desire. O that you might by so rich a feast satisfy the hunger which has been sharpened by fasting (so far as your pen was concerned) for more than a year! But if this be not yet prepared, our complaints will not cease unless meanwhile you prevent us from being famished before that is finished. Salute our brethren, especially Romanus and Agilis. From this place all who are with me salute you, and they would be less provoked by your delay in writing if they loved you less than they do.

EPISTOLA 42 Scripta exeunte aestate a. 397. A. Paulino flagitans ut litterarum debitum anno integro non redditum exsolvat sibique mittat opus Contra paganos cum id perfecerit.   Dominis laudabilibus in Christo sanctissimis fratribus Paulino et Therasiae, Augustinus, in Domino salutem 1. Num etiam hoc sperari aut exspectari posset, ut per fratrem Severum rescripta flagitaremus, tamdiu tam ardentibus nobis a vestra Caritate non reddita? Quid est quod duas aestates easdemque in Africa sitire cogamur? Quid amplius dicam? O qui res vestras quotidie donatis, debitum reddite. An forte quod adversus daemonicolas te scribere audieram, atque id opus vehementer desiderare me ostenderam, volens perficere ac mittere, tanto tempore ad nos epistolas distulisti? Utinam saltem tam opima mensa iam annosum ab stilo tuo ieiunium meum excipias: quae si nondum parata est, non desinemus conqueri, si nos dum illud perficis, non interim reficis. Salutate fratres, maxime Romanum et Agilem. Hinc qui nobiscum sunt vos salutant, et parum nobiscum irascuntur, si parum diligunt.