Letter 88: I won't put up with the self-portrait you've drawn -- it doesn't resemble the real you at all.
I won't put up with the self-portrait you've drawn -- it doesn't resemble the real you at all. You're imitating those people who own very little and scheme to give less in order to get more from the rich. But your flow of letters is no smaller than mine -- and you say mine is greater!
So don't list yourself among the paupers when you have an equal fortune. If you receive as many letters as you send, consider yourself perfectly fairly treated.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Παρνασίῳ. (359)
Οὐκ ἀνέξομαι τῆς εἰκόνος· οὐ γὰρ ἔοικε τοῖς σοῖς. μέ-
μνησαι μὲν γὰρ μικρὰ δή τινα κεκτημένων καὶ διαμηχανωμέ-
νων, ὅπως ἐλάττω δόντες πλείω λάβοιεν παρὰ τῶν πλουσίων·
ἔστι δὲ σοὶ ῥεύματα ἐπιστολῶν οὐκ ἐλάττω γε ἤπερ ἡμῖν, οἷς
εἶναι πλείω λέγεις.
μὴ τοίνυν ἴσην κεκτημένος οὐσίαν εἰς
τοὺς πένητας γράφε σαυτόν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐὰν ὁπόσα πέμπεις λαμβά-
νῃς, μηδὲν ἀδικεῖσθαι νόμιζε.
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