Letter 648: That man who sold portions of the farmland — when we wished to buy, he claimed he was selling Thessaly and Boeotia,...

To Demetrius. (361) That man who sold off the parts of the fields, at the time when we thought it right to buy them, kept saying that he was selling Thessaly and Boeotia, and there was nothing moderate in the price, so that we kept shying away from it. But when he saw that so-and-so was going to purchase, he came to regard even the small price as great, having thereby harmed himself, yet established a precedent in our favor. For perhaps it is not possible to demand more than what one is obliged to allow on the strength of hearing the example. It seems to me, therefore, that we ought to make use of a partial sale for the present, so that the buyer does not get the whole instead of the part, and that the man who is offering should sell at whatever price persuades him, if he should appear. For this is what my partner advises.

Δημητρίῳ. (361) Ὁ τὰ μέρη τῶν ἀγρῶν ἀποδόμενος ἐκεῖνος, ὅτε μὶν ἡμεῖς ἠξιοῦμεν ὠνεῖσθαι, Θετταλίαν ἔφασκε καὶ Βοιωτίαν πωλεῖν, καὶ ἦν οὐδὲν ἐν τῇ τιμῇ μέτριον, ὥστε ἐφεύγομεν· ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸν δεῖνα ἴδει πρίασθαι, καὶ τὸ μικρὸν ἡγήσατο μέγα βλάψας μὲν αὐτὸς αὑτόν, θεὶς δὲ ἐφ’ ἡμῖν νόμον· μνησθῆναι γὰρ ἴσως οὐκ ἔνεστι πλείονος ἢ τοῦ παραδείγματος ἀκούειν ἀνάγκη. δοκεῖ οὖν μοι χρῆναι χρήσασθαι μὲν μερισμῷ τὸ νῦν τοῦ μὴ τὸ πᾶν ἀντὶ τοῦ μέρους εἶναι τῷ πριαμένῳ, τιμὴν δὲ τὴν πείθουσαν ὁ διδοὺς εἰ φανείη, πωλεῖν. ὁ γὰρ κοινω- νὸς παραινεῖ.