Letter 3027: I do not know whether Your Greatness is pleased or displeased with me, and the uncertainty is worse than either outcome.

Ennodius of PaviaAvienus|c. 515 AD|Ennodius of Pavia
friendship
From: Ennodius, deacon in Pavia
To: Avienus
Date: ~515 AD
Context: A letter confessing uncertainty about whether Avienus is pleased or displeased with him.

To Avienus, from Ennodius.

I do not know whether Your Greatness is pleased or displeased with me, and the uncertainty is worse than either outcome. Displeasure I could address; pleasure I could enjoy. But this limbo offers neither remedy nor reward.

End my suspense with a letter. Tell me where I stand. Farewell.

Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.

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