Letter 560: That letter of mine was old and written as a joke.
To Fortunatianus.
That letter of mine was old and written as a joke. I happened to send you a letter from a place I was glad to leave. It fell into other people's hands, and they started quoting what I had written to you -- back at you. This struck you as odd, and you wrote expressing your bewilderment.
I wrote the piece you say you have now found as a playful response. You took it seriously -- misjudging the tone, but to my benefit. For you then composed a great many fine speeches in reply, which I would rather have seen delivered than kept silent.
As for Cyril -- I have long considered him one of my own, and now even more so. He has come back from you more precious to me than his grandfather.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Φουρτουνατιανῷ. (357)
Ἐμὸν τὸ γράμμα καὶ παλαιὸν καὶ πρὸς παιδιὰν γραφέν.
ἔτυχον μὲν γάρ σοι πέμψας ἐπιστολὴν ἀπὸ τῶν τόπων ὧν
ἄσμενος ἀπηλλάγην, ἡ δὲ εἰς ἄλλων ἐλθοῦσα χεῖρας ἐκείνους
πρὸς σὲ περὶ τῶν πρὸς σὲ γραφέντων ἐποίει λέγειν. σοὶ δ’
ἄτοπόν τι τοῦτο ἐφαίνετο καὶ γράφων ἐθαύμαζες, ὅ τι τὸ
πρᾶγμα εἴη.
καί σε προσπαίζων ἔγραψα ταῦτα ἃ νυνὶ φὴς
εὑρεῖν. ἃ σπουδῇ νομίσας εἰρῆσθαι δόξης μὲν ἥμαρτες, ἐμοὶ
δὲ λυσιτελούντως διὰ γάρ τοι πολλῶν καὶ καλῶν ἠγωνίσω
τῶν λόγων, οὓς εἰρῆσθαί μᾶλλον εἶχέ μοι καλῶς ἢ σεσιγῆ-
σθαι.
τὸν δὲ Κύριλλον πάλαι παῖδα νομίζων ἐμαυτοῦ νῦν
ἤδη καὶ μειζόνως. παρὰ σοῦ γὰρ ἥκει μοι νῦν τοῦ πάππου
τιμιώτερος.
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