To Thalassius. (358)
You are a good fellow for seeking letters and claiming that not receiving them makes you ill, and that receiving them would surely cure you. But this much, even if I very much wished to oblige, I cannot call good: that having received three letters, you accuse me as though I had been completely silent. Clearly the desire to receive more drives you to falsehood — though you could have told the truth and asked for more by complaining that what was sent was too little.
For our part, I confess that we always receive much from your people, and more than we would wish. In return, we offer you this advice: remember your good wife, and keep saying to yourself that you have not yet become a father.
You are a good fellow for seeking letters and claiming that not receiving them makes you ill, and that receiving them would surely cure you. But this much, even if I very much wished to oblige, I cannot call good: that having received three letters, you accuse me as though I had been completely silent. Clearly the desire to receive more drives you to falsehood — though you could have told the truth and asked for more by complaining that what was sent was too little.
For our part, I confess that we always receive much from your people, and more than we would wish. In return, we offer you this advice: remember your good wife, and keep saying to yourself that you have not yet become a father.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.