Letter 737: The sons of a dear friend have come to a dear friend through a dear friend.

The sons of a dear friend have come to a dear friend through a dear friend. I was immediately pleased with them because of their father, and as time went on, because of their own natures. I commend the elder for his late arrival and for the fact that he loves you yet reproaches you for not having arranged things sooner. A man who counts the time he has lost as a real loss clearly intends to make the most of the time ahead. Something has already been accomplished in this short interval -- perhaps more than the interval would suggest. Trust me on this, and trust the old man. He looks after these boys no less than his own grandchildren, and he is a fine judge of oratory -- being a poet himself -- and would never deceive a friend to gratify another.

Ἐκδικίῳ. (362) Ἀνδρὸς φίλου παῖδες διὰ φίλου παρὰ φίλον ἥκουσιν οἷς εὐθὺς μὲν ἥσθην διὰ τὸν πατέρα, χρόνου δὲ προἰόντος καὶ διὰ τὰς φύσεις. ἐπαινῶ δὲ τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου τὸ βραδέως τε ἤκειν ἡμῖν καὶ ὅτι σε φιλεῖ μέν, μέμφεται δὲ μὴ πάι·.. ταῦτα βεβουλευμένον. ὁ γὰρ ἐν ζημίᾳ τιθέμενος τὸν προïέμε- νον χρόνον δῆλός ἐστιν ὡς τῷ γε μέλλοντι χρήσεται. πέ- πρακται δέ τι κἀν τούτῳ τῷ μικρῷ χρόνῳ τάχα μεῖζον τοῦ χρόνου. καὶ περὶ τούτου πίστευε μὲν ἐμοί, πίστευε δὲ τῷ πρεσβύτῃ. καὶ γὰρ ἐπιμελεῖται τούτων οὐχ ἧττον ἢ τῶν ἐγ- γόνων καὶ λόγων κριτὴς ἀγαθός, ἐπεὶ καὶ ποιητής, φίλῳ δὲ οὐκ ἂν χαριζόμενος ἐξαπατήσαι φίλον.