Letter 19: I received a letter from you the day before yesterday. It is shown to be yours not so much by the handwriting as by the peculiar style. Much meaning is expressed in few words.
I got your letter the day before yesterday. It's recognizably yours not so much from the handwriting as from the style — you packed a lot of meaning into very few words.
I didn't reply immediately because I was away from home, and the letter carrier just dropped the packet with a friend of mine and left. But now I can write back through Peter, both to return your greeting and to give you an excuse for another letter.
After all, there's no great difficulty in writing the kind of short, Spartan dispatch I keep getting from you.
Human translation — New Advent (NPNF / ANF series)
Latin / Greek Original
[Πρός: Γρηγορίῳ ἑταίρῳ]
Γράμμα ἦλθέ μοι πρῴην παρὰ σοῦ, ἀκριβῶς σόν, οὐ τοσοῦτον τῷ χαρακτῆρι τῆς χειρός, ὅσον τῷ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς ἰδιώματι. ὀλίγα γὰρ ἦν τὰ ῥήματα πολλὴν διάνοιαν παριστῶντα. πρὸς ἃ εὐθὺς μὲν οὐκ ἀπεκρινάμεθα, διότι αὐτοὶ μὲν ἀπεδημοῦμεν, ὁ δὲ γραμματηφόρος ἑνὶ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων ἡμῖν ἐπιδοὺς τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἀπίων ᾤχετο. ἀλλὰ νῦν διὰ Πέτρου προσφθεγγόμεθά σε, ὁμοῦ μὲν ἀποτίννυντες τῆς προσηγορίας τὸ χρέος, ὁμοῦ δὲ ἀφορμὴν δευτέρων γραμμάτων παρέχοντες. πάντως δὲ οὐδεὶς πόνος Λακωνικῆς ἐπιστολῆς, ὁποῖαί εἰσιν αἱ παρὰ σοῦ ἑκάστοτε πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀφικνούμεναι.
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