Letter 724: The first favors were enough for me -- when you saved Maximus's household and honored his son with no small...

To Acacius. (362) For me even your first acts were enough, by which you preserved the whole house for Maximus and deemed his son worthy of no small honors; but you, like the good among runners, grow better as you go forward. Concerning these matters those men wrote, and Philocles has disclosed it, reporting both your whole forethought toward them and how he [Maximus's son] shared a table with you, the young man at your side. He said this happened often, and that the young man told it to him. And I, hearing of the dinners both after the honor and before the honor, was reflecting how much better in mind Hyperechius was becoming through your influence. For from your wits there flows understanding upon those who converse with you, just as from those who yawn sleep flows upon those who watch. But I am in danger, on account of the very things at whose happening I rejoice, of being afraid because of them. For to these benefactions there are no others that I could set beside them, although many occasions have made many men benefactors to me. But so long as I saw that I might perhaps repay you, I took pure pleasure; yet since you give more and greater things than I am able to give in return, by now something of dread too comes in along with it, lest I shall have to go about as a debtor, unable to discharge the debt. And the most absurd thing of all is this: I would not even choose to be released from this fear, but the very same fear I both dread and wish to become greater. For I would wish that those dearest to me should fare well. But, for I have found a certain consolation amid my difficulties, Acacius is gentle and good; and if he gets repaid, well and good, but if not, he will at least not reproach the one who owes him by shouting out what he has given, but it will suffice for him that he has not bestowed a favor upon a worthless man.

Ἀκακίῳ. (362) Ἐμοὶ μὲν ἤρκει καὶ τὰ πρῶτα, δι’ ὧν τόν τι οἶκον διε- φύλαξας Μαξίμῳ καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τιμῶν οὐ μικρῶν ἠξk- σας· σὺ δὲ κατὰ τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς τῶν δρομέων ἀμείνων εἶ προϊών. ὑπὲρ ὧν ἔγραψαν μὲν ἐκεῖνοι, μεμήνυκε δὲ Φι- λοκλῆς τήν τε ὅλην σου πρόνοιαν εἰς αὐτοὺς ἀπαγγέλλων κοὶ ὡς κοινωνήσειε τῷ νεανίσκῳ παρὰ σοὶ τραπέζης. πυκνὸν δἰ ἔφασκε τοῦτ’ εἶναι, φράσαι δὲ ἐκεῖνον πρὸς αὐτόν. ἐγὼ δὲ ἀκούων τὰ δεῖπνα καὶ μετὰ τὴν τιμὴν καὶ πρὸ τῆς τιμῆς ἐνενόουν ὡς βελτίων τὴν διάνοιαν ὑπὸ τῆς <σῆς> Ὑπερέχιος ἐγίνετο. ῥεῖ γὰρ ἐκ τῶν σῶν φρενῶν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὁμι- λοῦντας σύνεσις ὥσπερ ἀπὸ τῶν χασμωμένων ἐπὶ τοὺς ὁρῶν- τας ὕπνος. κινδυνεύω δὲ οἷς χαίρω γιγνομένοις, διὰ ταῦτα φοβεῖσθαι. ταῖς μὲν γὰρ εὐεργεσίαις ταύταις οὐκ ἔστιν ἃς ἂν ἄλλας παραβάλλοιμι, καίτοι πολλοὶ καιροὶ πολλούς μοι πε- ποιήκασιν εὐεργέτας. ἀλλ’ ἴως μὲν ἑώρων, ὡς τάχ’ ἄν σε ἀμειψαίμην, καθαρῶς ἡδόμην· ἐπεὶ δὲ πλείω καὶ μείζω δίδως ἢ ὥστε με ἀντεισενεγκεῖν ἔχειν, ἤδη τι συνεισέρχεται καὶ δέους, εἰ δεήσει με χρήστην ὄντα περινοστεῖν ἀδυνατοῦντα τὸ χρέος ἐκτῖσαι. τὸ δὲ πάντων ἀτοπώτατον, οὐδὲ γὰρ λυθῆναι τοῦ- τον ἑλοίμην ἄν μοι τὸν φόβον, ἀλλὰ τὸν αὐτὸν καὶ δέδοικα καὶ μείζω γίγνεσθαι βούλομαι. βουλοίμην γὰρ ἂν εὖ πάσχειν τοὺς ἐμοὶ φιλτάτους. ἀλλ᾿, εὗρον γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἀπόροις παραμυθίαν τινά, πρᾷός ἐστιν Ἀκάκιος καὶ χρηστός, κἂν μὲν ἀπολάβῃ, εἰ δὲ μή, τὸν ὀφείλοντά γε οὐκ ἐλέγξει βοῶν ἃ δέδωκεν, ἀποχρήσει δὲ αὐτῷ τὸ μὴ πονηρῷ δεδωκέναι χάριν.