Letter 383: You are a good fellow for seeking letters and claiming that not receiving them makes you ill, and that receiving...

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.

Θαλασσίῳ. (358) Χρηστὸς εἶ γράμματα ζητῶν καὶ φάσκων τῷ μὲν οὐ λαβεῖν ἀρρωστεῖν, πάντως δ’ ἂν ὑγιᾶναι λαβών. ἐκεῖνό γε μήν, οὐδ’ εἰ πάνυ βουλοίμην χαρίζεσθαι, χρηστὸν ἔχω καλεῖν τὸ τρεῖς ἐπιστολὰς εἰληφότα κατηγορεῖν ὡς ὅλως σεσιγηκότος. ὅτι μὲν γὰρ ἡ τοῦ πάλιν ἐθέλειν λαβεῖν ἐπιθυμία πρὸς τὸ ψεῦδος ἄγει, δῆλον· ἐξῆν μέντοι καὶ τὸ δοθὲν ὡς μικρὸν αἰτιώμενον ἀληθεύειν τε ὁμοῦ καὶ πλείω ζητεῖν. ἀλλ’ ἡμεῖς γε παρὰ τῶν σῶν ὁμολογοῦμεν ἀεί τε καὶ πολλὰ λαμβάνειν γαῖ ὧν βουλόμεθα πλείω. οἶς ἀντιδίδομεν χάριν τὸ σοὶ παρ- αινεῖν μνησθῆναι τῆς ἀγαθῆς γυναικὸς καὶ πρὸς σαυτὸν ἀεὶ λέγειν ὅτι πατὴρ οὔπω γέγονας.