Letter 556: So Aristainetus has become just one of the crowd -- the man who used to be one of the wise!

To Aristaenetus. (357) Aristaenetus too has become for us one of the many who formerly belonged to the wise, and who now measures letters by cubits and handspans, and if he does not receive long ones, he reckons he has suffered dreadful things and been wronged. But I knew that you understood that the subject matter is the measure of words; and surely the law that governs discourse embraces the part that concerns letters as well. On that occasion, then, the man carrying the letter cut my letter short for me, since he was able to report our affairs to you exactly; and if I myself had set them all out, the bearer would have been slighted. But neither was Gymnasius unknown to you, nor was it necessary to inform you who that man is, and so out of laziness with regard to writing I avoided it. What, then, is the occasion of the profane man and of closing the doors? You see how you used to write long and fine letters to Strategius; for what you wrote about required length. Short letters came to you from us, and indeed long ones came at one time too: then it was about many matters, but afterward about not so many; for there was no need. Now hear how the things you wrote to him came into our hands. He returned from Chalcedon, and I, as is my custom, went out before the city; and as soon as he had greeted me, he said that he would give me the letters that had come to him from you. And these things were said with a cheerfulness that carried honor both for you and for me, while Nebridius listened, being conveyed along with him. So when I came home, after he had given them, I read letters that were not so much more numerous as they were finer. I, for my part, was praising them, and he took pleasure in it. And as for Olympius, knowing him to deserve much gratitude because he has reported to you the things that are, and our portion among us, and the two men bursting apart, and those leaping, and those weeping, it is impossible to say how great a pleasure I have. And you too might reasonably have it, if it is a gain to you not to have been deceived about my affairs. But having resolved to love my discourses, and yet not granting them honor, you do me wrong. Yet we ask not for gold, but for books of the ancients, which long ago you promised as a gift, but which now you do not even give in return.

Ἀρισταινέτῳ. (357) Ἐγένετο καὶ Ἀρισταίνετος ἡμῖν εἷς τῶν πολλῶν ὁ πρό- τερον τῶν σοφῶν καὶ τὰς· ἐπιστολὰς πήχεσι καὶ σπιθαμῇ με- τρεῖ, κἂν μακρὰς μὴ λάβη, δεινὰ πέπονθε καὶ ἠδίκηται. ἐγὼ δέ σε ᾔδειν εἰδότα μέτρα τῶν λόγων εἶναι τὰ πράγματα· πάν- τὼς δὲ ὁ τῶν λόγων νόμος καὶ τὸ τῶν ἐπιστολῶν περιλαμ- βάνει μέρος. τότε οὖν συνέστελλέ μοι τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ὁ φέρων τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἔχων ἀγγεῖλαί σοι τὰ ἡμέτερα ἀκριβῶς· εἰ δὲ ἐγὼ διηγούμην, ὑβρίζετο ἂν ὁ φέρων. ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ ἀγνὼς ἦν ὁ Γυμνάσιός σοι καὶ διδάσκειν σε δέον, ὅστις ἐκεῖνος, ἔφυγον ὑπ’ ἀργίας τῆς περὶ τὰ γράμματα. τίς οὖν ὁ τοῦ βεβήλου καιρὸς καὶ τοῦ τὰς θύρας ἀποκλείειν; ὁρᾷς, ὅπως ἐπέστελλες Στρατηγίῳ μακρὰ καὶ καλά, μήκους γὰρ ἐδεῖτο περὶ ὧν ἐπέστελλες. μικρά σοι παρ’ ἡμῶν ἧκε καἰ γάρ- τοι μακρά ποτε ἧκε· τότε μὲν περὶ πολλῶν, ὕστερον δὲ οὐ τοσούτων· οὐ γὰρ ἔδει. ὅπως δὲ ἡμῖν εἰς χεῖρας ἦλθεν ἃ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἔγραψας, ἄκουσον. ἀνέστρεψε μὲν ἐκ Χαλκηδό- νος, ἐγὼ ἐγὼ δέ, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ εἰωθός, πρὸ τῆς πόλεως ὁ δὲ ἅμα τε ἐφίλησε καὶ γράμματα ἃ ἧκεν αὐτῷ παρὰ σοῦ, δώσειν μοι ταῦτα ἴφη. καὶ ταῦτα ἐλέγετο σὺν φαιδρότητι σοί τε καὶ ἐμοὶ τιμὴν ἔχοντα, Νεβρίδιος δὲ ἠκροᾶτο σὺν ἐκείνω φερόμενος. ὡς οὖν οἴκαδε ἦλθον, αὐτοῦ δόντος ἀνέγνων οὐ πλείω μᾶλλον ἢ καλλίω. ἐγὼ μὶν οὖν ἐπῄνουν, ὁ δὲ ἥδετο. Ὀλυμπίῳ δὲ πολλῶν εἰδὼς χάριν, ὅτι σοι τὰ ὄντα ἀπήγγελκε καὶ τὴν μεθ’ ἡμῶν μοῖραν καὶ τοὺς ῥηγνυ- μένους δύο καὶ τοὺς πηδῶντας καὶ τοὺς κλάοντας οὐδὲ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ὅσην ἡδονὴν ἔχω. καὶ σὺ δ’ ἂν ἔχοις εἰκότως, εἴ σοι κέρδος τὸ μὴ περὶ τῶν ἐμῶν ἐξηπατῆσθαι πραγμάτων. τῶν δὲ ἐμῶν λόγων ἐρᾶν μὲν ἐγνωκώς, τιμὴν δὲ οὐ διδοὺς ἀδι- κεῖς. αἰτοῦμεν δὲ οὐ χρυσίον, ἀλλὰ βιβλία τῶν παλαιῶν, ἃ πάλαι μὲν ὑπέσχου δωρεάν, νῦν δὲ οὐδὲ ἀντιδίδως.