Letter 692: So this charming headland of yours, which you consider equal to the governorship of Cilicia -- do not many sailors...

So this charming headland of yours, which you consider equal to the governorship of Cilicia -- do not many sailors endure it? Bear with the headland yourself, then. You will not always have to sail up against it and struggle; someday you will enjoy smooth sailing too. But if you must keep laboring to the end, let Aeschylus console you with his saying that virtues are born from toil. And consider my own labors, most of which are spent in vain -- whereas yours will surely bear fruit in every way. You fear a shortage of barley; what pains me is a shortage of friends. By "shortage" I now mean their absence, since Olympius too must be counted among those who are away. He sailed off to Artabazus before he had even properly appeared. As for me, whether fighting with domestic troubles or wearing myself out over my students, I find my one refuge in the night.

Κέλσῳ. (362) Οὐκοῦν αὐτὸν τὸν ἀγκῶνα τοῦτον τὸν γλυκύν, ᾧ παρα- βάλλειν ἀξιοῖς τὴν Κιλικίας ἀρχήν, οὐκ ὀλίγοι τῶν πλεόντων ὑπομένουσιν; ἀνάσχου δὴ καὶ αὐτὸς τοῦ ἀγκῶνος· οὐ γὰρ ἀεί γε τοῦτον ἀναπλεῖν δεήσει καὶ πονεῖν, ἀλλ’ ἀπολαύσῃ ποτὲ καὶ ῥᾴστου πλοῦ. εἰ δ’ οὖν καὶ πονοῦντα δεήσει διατελεῖν, Αἰσχύλος σε παραμυθείσθω τὰς ἀρετὰς ἐκ πόνων τίκτεσθαι λέγων. ἐννόει δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἐμοὺς πόνους, ὧν οἱ πλείους ἀναλίσκονται μάτην · ὡς οἱ γε σοὶ πάντη οἴσουσι καρπόν. σὺ μὲν οὖ1 τὴν κριθῶν σπάνιν δέδοικας, ἐμὲ δὶ ἀνιᾷ φίλων σπάνις. καλῶ δὲ νῦν σπάνιν τὴν ἀπουσίαν, ἐπεῖ καὶ τὸν Ὀλύμπιον ἐν τοῖς ἀποῦσι θετέον. πρὶν γὰρ φα- νῆναι καθαρῶς πρὸς Ἀρτάβαζον οἴχεται πλέων. ἐγὼ δὲ ἢ τοῖς ἔνδον μαχόμενος ἢ περὶ τοὺς νέους κοπτόμενος μίαν ἴι̣ο, καταφυγὴν τὴν νύκτα.