Letter 614
Libanius→Δημητρίῳ|libanius
To Demetrius. (361 AD)
We enjoy your company no less than our own, thanks to these frequent messengers. And it seems to me you would even be vexed at those fine-fruited trees of yours — because they won't transplant themselves here, laden branches and all, take root in this soil, and go on doing the same thing.
But let them bear fruit where you are — the harvest will be ours too, in any case. As for the two speeches: I now realize I wrote nothing clear. Let me correct that. Let them be Palladius's property to keep; and you either copy them yourself before handing them over, or hand them over once you've copied them.
Δημητρίῳ. (361)
Οὐχ ἧττον ὑμῶν τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀπολαύομεν διὰ τοὺς
πυκνοὺς τουτουσὶ διακόνους. καί μοι δοκεῖς ἄχθεσθαι καὶ
πρὸς τὰ δένδρα ταῦτα τὰ ἀγλαόκαρπα, ὅτι σοι μὴ ἐθέλοι
δεῦρο κομισθέντα βριθομένων τῶν κλάδων ἐναρμοσθέντα τῇ
γῇ ταὐτὸν ποιεῖν.
ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖνα μὲν τικτέτω παρ’ ὑμῖν, πάν-
τως καὶ ἡμῶν ὁ τόκος· περὶ δὲ τοῖν λόγοιν νῦν ᾐσθόμην ὡς
οὐδὲν ἔγραφον σαφές. διορθοῦμαι δή· κτῆμα μὲν ἴστω Παλ-
λαδίου, σὺ δὲ ἢ δοὺς ἐκγράψῃ λαβὼν ἢ δώσεις, ἐπειδὰν ἐκ-
γράψῃ.
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To Demetrius. (361 AD)
We enjoy your company no less than our own, thanks to these frequent messengers. And it seems to me you would even be vexed at those fine-fruited trees of yours — because they won't transplant themselves here, laden branches and all, take root in this soil, and go on doing the same thing.
But let them bear fruit where you are — the harvest will be ours too, in any case. As for the two speeches: I now realize I wrote nothing clear. Let me correct that. Let them be Palladius's property to keep; and you either copy them yourself before handing them over, or hand them over once you've copied them.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.