Letter 1021: Let me acknowledge not only the keenness of your judgment but the sharpness of your eyesight, not because you are...

To Paternus. Let me acknowledge not only the keenness of your judgment but the sharpness of your eyesight, not because you are full of wisdom - no, don't plume yourself on that - but because you are just as wise as I am, and that is saying a great deal. Yet, joking apart, I think the slaves which I bought on your recommendation are a tidy-looking lot. It now remains to be seen whether they are honest; because in judging the value of a slave, it is better to trust one's ears than one's eyes. Farewell.

L To Paternus. Let me acknowledge not only the keenness of your judgment but the sharpness of your eyesight, not because you are full of wisdom - no, don't plume yourself on that - but because you are just as wise as I am, and that is saying a great deal. Yet, joking apart, I think the slaves which I bought on your recommendation are a tidy-looking lot. It now remains to be seen whether they are honest; because in judging the value of a slave, it is better to trust one's ears than one's eyes. Farewell.

C. PLINIUS PLINIO PATERNO SUO S. Ut animi tui iudicio sic oculorum plurimum tribuo, non quia multum — ne tibi placeas — sed quia tantum quantum ego sapis; quamquam hoc quoque multum est. Omissis iocis credo decentes esse servos, qui sunt empti mihi ex consilio tuo. Superest ut frugi sint, quod de venalibus melius auribus quam oculis iudicatur. Vale.