Letter 8005: Our friend Macrinus * has received a terrible blow.
Pliny the Younger→Geminus|c. 107 AD|Pliny the Younger|Human translated
friendshipwomen
To Geminus.
Our friend Macrinus * has received a terrible blow. He has lost his wife, who, even if she had lived in the good old days, would have been considered a most exemplary woman. They lived together for thirty-nine years with never a quarrel or disagreement. What deference she showed to her husband, though she herself deserved that the utmost deference should be shown to her ! How wonderfully she exemplified in herself in due proportion the special qualities of girlhood, womanhood, and age! ** It is true that Macrinus finds great solace in the thought that he enjoyed his treasure for so many years, though, now he has lost her, this only adds an additional pang to his grief, for the pain of being deprived of a source of pleasure grows more poignant the more we enjoy it. So I will be intensely anxious for my dear friend until the time arrives when he finds himself able to endure some relaxation from his grief and grows reconciled to his wound, and nothing hastens that day so much as the sense of inevitability, lapse of time, and satiety of sorrow. Farewell.
[Note: Minicius Macrinus, father of Minicus Acilianus, who was mentioned in letter i. 14.
]
[Note: See, for instance, letter vi.26, where a man is said to have "the frankness of a boy, the pleasant manners of a youth, and the gravity of old age".]
L To Geminus.
Our friend Macrinus * has received a terrible blow. He has lost his wife, who, even if she had lived in the good old days, would have been considered a most exemplary woman. They lived together for thirty-nine years with never a quarrel or disagreement. What deference she showed to her husband, though she herself deserved that the utmost deference should be shown to her ! How wonderfully she exemplified in herself in due proportion the special qualities of girlhood, womanhood, and age! ** It is true that Macrinus finds great solace in the thought that he enjoyed his treasure for so many years, though, now he has lost her, this only adds an additional pang to his grief, for the pain of being deprived of a source of pleasure grows more poignant the more we enjoy it. So I shall be intensely anxious for my dear friend until the time arrives when he finds himself able to endure some relaxation from his grief and grows reconciled to his wound, and nothing hastens that day so much as the sense of inevitability, lapse of time, and satiety of sorrow. Farewell.
(*) Minicius Macrinus, father of Minicus Acilianus, who was mentioned in letter i. 14.
(**) See, for instance, letter vi.26, where a man is said to have "the frankness of a boy, the pleasant manners of a youth, and the gravity of old age".
C. PLINIUS GEMINO SUO S.
Grave vulnus Macrinus noster accepit: amisit uxorem singularis exempli, etiam si olim fuisset. Vixit cum hac triginta novem annis sine iurgio sine offensa. Quam illa reverentiam marito suo praestitit, cum ipsa summam mereretur! quot quantasque virtutes, ex diversis aetatibus sumptas, collegit et miscuit! Habet quidem Macrinus grande solacium, quod tantum bonum tam diu tenuit, sed hinc magis exacerbatur quod amisit; nam fruendis voluptatibus crescit carendi dolor. Ero ergo suspensus pro homine amicissimo, dum admittere avocamenta et cicatricem pati possit, quam nihil aeque ac necessitas ipsa et dies longa et satietas doloris inducit. Vale.
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To Geminus.
Our friend Macrinus * has received a terrible blow. He has lost his wife, who, even if she had lived in the good old days, would have been considered a most exemplary woman. They lived together for thirty-nine years with never a quarrel or disagreement. What deference she showed to her husband, though she herself deserved that the utmost deference should be shown to her ! How wonderfully she exemplified in herself in due proportion the special qualities of girlhood, womanhood, and age! ** It is true that Macrinus finds great solace in the thought that he enjoyed his treasure for so many years, though, now he has lost her, this only adds an additional pang to his grief, for the pain of being deprived of a source of pleasure grows more poignant the more we enjoy it. So I will be intensely anxious for my dear friend until the time arrives when he finds himself able to endure some relaxation from his grief and grows reconciled to his wound, and nothing hastens that day so much as the sense of inevitability, lapse of time, and satiety of sorrow. Farewell.
[Note: Minicius Macrinus, father of Minicus Acilianus, who was mentioned in letter i. 14.
]
[Note: See, for instance, letter vi.26, where a man is said to have "the frankness of a boy, the pleasant manners of a youth, and the gravity of old age".]
Human translation — Attalus.org
Latin / Greek Original
C. PLINIUS GEMINO SUO S.
Grave vulnus Macrinus noster accepit: amisit uxorem singularis exempli, etiam si olim fuisset. Vixit cum hac triginta novem annis sine iurgio sine offensa. Quam illa reverentiam marito suo praestitit, cum ipsa summam mereretur! quot quantasque virtutes, ex diversis aetatibus sumptas, collegit et miscuit! Habet quidem Macrinus grande solacium, quod tantum bonum tam diu tenuit, sed hinc magis exacerbatur quod amisit; nam fruendis voluptatibus crescit carendi dolor. Ero ergo suspensus pro homine amicissimo, dum admittere avocamenta et cicatricem pati possit, quam nihil aeque ac necessitas ipsa et dies longa et satietas doloris inducit. Vale.