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) Well, Celsus — a man, as you know, incapable of lying — said he both saw the books and received them from Diotimus, who himself declared they belonged to your master. It seems, then, that Diotimus, having encountered a horse after a donkey, has looked down on me, the donkey, and assumes either that I am not worth bothering with or that he need not fear I might prove difficult about returning them. So vouch for me, put his fear to rest, and persuade him neither to think me dishonest nor to believe you are deceiving him. But if he remains the same, it remains to search elsewhere — or rather, spare me this labor as well as the hunt for the Homer. For I see that finding an owl in Athens is impossible.

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.