Letter 79: Chrysostom playfully asks Gemellus to solve the riddle of his silence after gaining office.
John Chrysostom→Gemellus, correspondent of John Chrysostom|c. 406 AD|John Chrysostom|From Arabissus (modern Afsin), Armenia Secunda|AI-assisted
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PG 52 Epistulae source-specific import; English is a new modern rendering from Greek.
What is this? When so great and grand a city is celebrating a splendid festival, for that is what I call your office, have you cast us into greater dejection by keeping such a long silence? If someone else among the many had done this, I could easily have found the reason. What reason? Most people, when they lay hold of a greater office, are accustomed also to swell with greater pride. But in the case of your magnificence, which knows how to live philosophically, has accurately considered the nature of these mortal and fleeting things, is not deceived by cosmetics and outward shows, and understands matters stripped of their appearances, I cannot find the reason for your silence.
I know clearly that you love us now just as before, or rather more than before. But why, being so disposed, you have been silent for so long, I cannot say; for this very reason I am especially at a loss. Solve this riddle for us by a letter, if it is not burdensome or troublesome. And even before that letter, teach those who bring this letter to you, I mean my most honored and reverend presbyter and those with him, what we too are convinced of: that your silence was not due to laziness. It is enough to say this for them to receive kindness from your admirable self.
What is this? When so great and grand a city is celebrating a splendid festival, for that is what I call your office, have you cast us into greater dejection by keeping such a long silence? If someone else among the many had done this, I could easily have found the reason. What reason? Most people, when they lay hold of a greater office, are accustomed also to swell with greater pride. But in the case of your magnificence, which knows how to live philosophically, has accurately considered the nature of these mortal and fleeting things, is not deceived by cosmetics and outward shows, and understands matters stripped of their appearances, I cannot find the reason for your silence.
I know clearly that you love us now just as before, or rather more than before. But why, being so disposed, you have been silent for so long, I cannot say; for this very reason I am especially at a loss. Solve this riddle for us by a letter, if it is not burdensome or troublesome. And even before that letter, teach those who bring this letter to you, I mean my most honored and reverend presbyter and those with him, what we too are convinced of: that your silence was not due to laziness. It is enough to say this for them to receive kindness from your admirable self.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.