Letter 423: I may be meddling when I urge a father to care for a son he has decided to neglect.

I may be meddling when I urge a father to care for a son he has decided to neglect. But when I saw Themistius in tears, I preferred to seem intrusive rather than indifferent. He said nothing harsh -- only that you seem to have forgotten him. If you were poor, I would have told you to collect money from friends to help the boy. But since you are, thankfully, among the wealthiest men around, I advise you to spend some of what you have on the most valuable thing you possess. Going hungry is hardly good for a young man, perhaps. But this is not about his stomach -- it is about getting the young man books. Without them, he will be like someone trying to learn archery without a bow.

Ἑορτίῳ. (355) Περιεργάζομαι μὲν ἴσως πατέρα παρακαλῶν ἐπιμελεῖσθαι παιδὸς ἀμελεῖν ἐγνωκότα, δακρύοντα δὲ ἰδὼν Θεμίστιον μᾶλ- λον ἐδεξάμην ἐκεῖνο δόξαι ἢ τοῦτο παριδεῖν. ἔλεγε τοίνυν τραχὺ μὲν οὐδέν, ὡς δὲ λήθη σέ τις αὑτοῦ λάβοι, ἐγὼ δέ, εἰ μὶν ἠπόρεις, ἠξίουν ἄν σε παρὰ τῶν φίλων ἀγείροντα τῷ παιδὶ βοηθεῖν· ἐπεὶ δὲ εὖ ποιῶν ἐν πρώτοις εἶ τῶν εὐπόρων, παραινῶ τι τῶν ὄντων εἰς τὸ τῶν ὄντων σρι τιμιώτατον ἀνα- λῶσαι. ἴσως μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲ πεῖνα σφόδρα νέῳ χρήσιμον, ἔστι δὲ νῦν οὐ περὶ τῆς γαστρὸς ὁ λόγος, ἀλλ’ ὅπως ᾐ το νεανίσκῳ βιβλία· ὧν ἀπόντων ὅμοιος ἔσται τῷ πειρωμένῳ το- ξεύειν ἄνευ τόξου μανθάνειν.