Letter 340: All that mud, that bitter cold I endured at the time, and every hardship seemed light while I was looking at your...

To Strategius. (357/58) All that mud, that bitter cold I endured at the time, and every hardship seemed light while I was looking at your face — though when I got home I gave the doctors plenty of work, my body racked with stabbing pains. Still, I was happier with the cause of my suffering than I would have been lying healthy in bed, having missed the occasion I prize most. You remember, then, how a young man stood before you, about to speak on his own behalf, when a downpour prevented him from obtaining what he needed. You wanted to help, and what was no less fine than the favor itself was your making it plain that you were vexed at having been thwarted. Since, then, you have found a remedy — to hear in a letter what could not be said in person — help this young man. His cause is just: he is a lover of eloquence and has lost his parents.

Στρατηγίῳ. (357/58) Ἐμοὶ καὶ πηλὸς ἐκεῖνος ὁ πολὺς καὶ ψῦχος οὐ μέτριον τότε συμβὰν καὶ τὰ δοκοῦντα χαλεπὰ κοῦφα τὴν σὴν ὁρῶντι μορφήν, καίτοι γε ἀπελθὼν πόνον παρέσχον τοῖς ἰατροῖς εἰς τοσοῦτον ἥκων κακῶν κεντουμένου μοι τοῦ σώματος. ἀλλ’ ὅμως ἡδίων ἦν τῇ προφάσει τῶν ἀλγημάτων ἢ εἰ μένων ἐπὶ τῆς εὐνῆς ὑγίαινον ἐκλιπὼν τὸν ἐντιμότατον ἐμοὶ δρόμον. τότε οὖν ὡς νέος μέν μοι παρειστήκει, μέμνησαι γάρ, λέξειν ὑπὲρ αὑτοῦ τι μέλλων, ὄμβρῳ δὲ ὁ μὲν τυχεῖν ὧν ἔχρῃζε διε- κωλύθη, σὺ δὲ ἀμῦναι, καλὸν δὲ ἦν σου καὶ τῆς χάριτος οὐχ ἧττον καὶ τὸ γενέσθαι σε δῆλον, ὡς ἄχθοιο τῷ κεκωλῦσθαι. ἐπεὶ οὖν ἐξεῦρες ἴασιν ἀκοῦσαι διὰ γραμμάτων ἃ διὰ φω- νῆς οὐκ ἦν, βοήθει τὰ δίκαια νέῳ λόγων τε ἐραστῇ καὶ γο- νέων ἐστερημένῳ.