Letter 281: To the same person. (359/360)

To the same person. (359/360) A mother brought her young son Letoius from Armenia and entrusted him to me, her only child. I was pleased with the boy, who has the capacity to absorb learning -- for the colt is sharp -- and I admired his mother: she had not looked toward a second marriage, though she had only one child, and she had traveled such a great distance in the belief that everything would go better for him if she oversaw the beginning of his education in person. Making him a proper Greek in learning will be the concern of God and of me. Safeguarding his household will be the concern of his mother and of Eusebius, who lives nearby -- a man whose devotion to the divine has led him to take on these worries as well, believing it is the duty of a just man to help an orphan and not allow would-be plunderers to have their way. His intentions are admirable. But something may actually come of them if he enjoys the weight of your support -- and he will, I know...

Τῷ αὐτῷ. (359/60) Λητόιον ἐξ Ἀρμενίας νέον ἡ μήτηρ ἄγουσά μοι παρέ- δωκε μόνον ὄντα αὐτῇ. τούτῳ τε οὖν ἥσθην δυναμένῳ δέξα- σθαι λόγους, ἔστι γὰρ ὀξὺς ὁ πῶλος, τῆς τε μητρὸς ἐθαύμασα τὸ μήτε πρὸς δεύτερον γάμον ἰδεῖν καὶ ταῦτα οὖσαν ἑνὸς μητέρα βαδίσαι τε ὁδὸν τοσαύτην ἡγουμένην ἄμεινον αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα ἕξειν, εἰ τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων ἀρχῆς ἐπιμεληθείη παροῦσα. τοῦ μὲν οὖν αὐτὸν Ἕλληνας τελέσαι θεῷ τε καὶ ἡμῖν μελήσει, τοῦ δὲ αὐτῷ σωθῆναι τὸν οἶκον μελήσει μὲν τῇ μητρί, μελήσει δὲ <καῖ> Εὐσεβίῳ τῷ ζῶντι μετ’ τῆς, ὃς τῇ περὶ τὸ θεῖον σπουδῇ καὶ τὰς ὑπὲρ τούτων φρον- τίδας ἀνείλετο νομίζων προσήκειν ἀνδρὶ δικαίῳ βοηθεῖν ὀρ- φανῷ καὶ μὴ τοῖς βουλομένοις ἁρπάζειν ἐπιτρέπειν. ἀλλ ἡ μὲν προαίρεσις αὐτῷ καλή, γίγνοιτο δ’ ἄν τι καὶ ἔργον, εἰ τῆς σῆς ἀπολαύοι ῥοπῆς· ἀπολαύσεται δ’, εὖ τοῦτο ἐπίσταμαι, σοῦ τὰ ἡμέτερα μείζω ποιεῖν ᾑρημένου.