Letter 763: Well, Celsus — a man, as you know, incapable of lying — said he both saw the books and received them from Diotimus,...

To Alexandra. (362) But Celsus, a man who, as you know, does not know how to lie, said both that he saw the books and that he received them from Diotimus, who handed them over, himself declaring that they belonged to his master. It seems, then, that Diotimus, having come upon a horse after a donkey, has despised me the donkey, and thinks either that I am worth nothing, or else is afraid that I might turn out to be a bad payer. You, therefore, stand surety for me, and put an end to his fear, and persuade him neither to regard me as a scoundrel nor to think that you are deceiving him. But if he should remain the same, it only remains to seek among others; or rather, desist from this labor too, as well as from the one concerning Homer; for I see that it is not possible to find an owl at Athens.

Ἀλεξάνδρᾳ. (362) Ἀλλ’ ὅ γε Κέλσος, ἀνήρ, ὡς οἶσθα, ψεύδεσθαι οὐκ εἰ- δώς, ἰδεῖν τε ἔφησε τὰ βιβλία καὶ λαβεῖν Διοτίμου διδόντος αὐτοῦ λέγοντος εἶναι δεσπότου. ἔοικεν οὖν ὁ Διότιμος ἵππῳ μετ’ ὄνον ἐντυχὼν καταπεφρονηκέναι ἐμοῦ τοῦ ὄνου καὶ νομίζειν ἢ τοῦ μηδενὸς ἄξιον ἢ φόβου μὴ κακὸς ἀποδοῦ νᾶι γενοίμην. σὺ οὖν ἐγγύησαί με καὶ παῦε τὸ δέος αὐτῶ καὶ πεῖθε μήτ’ ἐμὲ πονηρὸν ἡγεῖσθαι μήτε σὲ ἐξαπατᾶν. εἰ δ’ <ὁ> αὐτὸς εἴη, λείπεται παρ’ ἑτέροις ζητεῖν, μᾶλλον δὲ δτηθι καὶ τούτου τοῦ πόνου καὶ τοῦ περὶ τὸν Ὅμηρον· ὁρῶ γὰρ ὅτι γλαῦκα Ἀθήνησιν οὐκ ἔστιν εὑρεῖν.