Letter 343: Dionysius comes to you with a letter of mine.

To Ekdikios. (358) Dionysius comes to you with a letter of mine. Previously I did not dare write, since I was detaining Dionysius. True, the shortage of copyists was responsible for the delay, but still I could not help feeling ashamed at how long it had been. Now, then, since it has at last become possible to return the sophist to you, it seemed un-Greek of me to make the return in silence. Just as the one course smacked of shamelessness, so the other would have placed me far from the Muses. Do answer my letter — you who possess such beauty of script. But send me no parchments. You are in love with them, and rightly so. It is a hard thing for a lover to share his beloved.

Ἐκδικίῳ (358) Ἥκει σοι μετ’ ἐμῶν γραμμάτων ὁ Διονύσιος. πρότερον δὲ οὐκ ἐθάρρουν ἐπιστέλλειν κατελὼν τὸν Διονύσιον. καίτοι τὸν χρόνον ἡ τῶν γραφέων ἐποίει σπάνις, ἀλλ’ ὅμως οὐκ εἶχον μὴ οὐκ αἰσχύνεσθαι τῷ χρόνῳ. νῦν οὖν ἐπειδή ποθ’ ὑπῆρ- ξεν ἀποδοῦναι τὸν σοφιστήν, ἔδοξεν οὐχ Ἑλληνικὸν εἶναί μοι διὰ σιγῆς ποιήσασθαι τὴν ἀπόδοσιν, ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνο μετέχειν ἀναιδείας, οὕτω τοῦτο πόρρω Μουσῶν ἱστάναι. σὺ τοίνυν τὰ μὲν γράμματα ἀμείβου καὶ ταῦτα κάλλος γραμμά- των κεκτημένος, διφθέραν δὲ ἡμῖν μηδεμίαν πέμπε. ἐρᾷς γὰρ αὐτῶν, καὶ καλῶς ποιεῖς. βαρὺ δὲ ἐρῶντι κοινωνὸν λαμβά- νειν τῶν παιδικῶν.