Letter 105: Your commands delighted me; your fear of imposing on me did not.

Your commands delighted me; your fear of imposing on me did not. You clearly don't know what kind of man I am when it comes to your household. So by trying to avoid causing me trouble, you've actually caused me pain. By declining my help at the wrong moment, you now need an apology -- since your refusal itself has become an accusation. I was ready to get to work at your command, even if, as the saying goes, water were flowing past [i.e., even in impossible circumstances]. If you wanted me to fly, I wouldn't sprout wings, but I'd be frustrated at the inability and would curse the present age for not making me another Daedalus. What you need now is easy by the nature of the thing, even if the man in question is fond of delays. Still, we mustn't give up.

To Demetrius. (359/60) By what you commanded of me, you gave me pleasure; but by fearing you might cause me trouble, you gave me pain — for you clearly do not know what sort of man I am when it comes to your household. In fleeing from causing me grief, you have landed yourself in having caused it, and by declining my help when it was not the right moment, you now find yourself needing an apology, since your very refusal has become a charge against you. For my part, at your command I am ready to put my hand to anything, even if, as the saying goes, the water is already flowing past. Indeed, if you wished me to fly, I would not sprout wings — but I would be vexed at the impossibility and would reproach the present age for not revealing in me a second Daedalus. As for what you now need done, the thing itself is, by its nature, perfectly easy; the man in question, however, is fond of delays. Still, one must not shrink from the attempt.

Δημητρίῳ. (359/60) Οἷς μὲν ἐπέταξας εὔφρανας, οἷς δὲ ἔδεισας μή μοι πα- ράσχοις ὄχλον ἐλύπησας· οὐ γὰρ εἰδότος, ὅστις ἐγὼ περὶ τὴν σὴν οἰκίαν. φεύγων οὖν τὸ μὴ λυπῆσαι κατέστης εἰς τὸ λελυπηκέναι, καὶ παραιτησάμενος οὐκ ἐν καιρῷ πρότερον νῦν χρῄζεις ἀπολογίας ἐγκλήματός σοι τῆς παραιτήσεως γενομένης, ὡς ἔγωγε σοῦ κελεύθντος ἕτοιμος ἐγχειρεῖν, κἂν ὕδωρ, φασί παραρρέῃ. καὶ γὰρ εἰ πέτεσθαί με ἐθέλεις, πτερὰ μὲν οὐ φύσω, τῷ μὴ δύνασθαι δὲ ἀνιάσομαι καὶ μέμψομαί γε τὸν παρόντα χρόνον, ὅτι με μὴ δείκνυσιν ἕτερον Δαίδαλον. ὃ δὲ σοὶ νῦν γενέσθαι, τῇ μὲν τοῦ πράγματος φύσει ῤᾷστον, ὁ δὲ ἄνθρωπος ἀναβολαῖς φίλος, ἀλλ᾿ ὅμως οὐκ ἀποκνητέον.