Letter 107: A prophecy of great fortune becomes a joke about reeds, trade, and moving from horses to donkeys.

Let me tell you what happened when I received your letter. The other day a man who wished to be wise about heavenly things, and who claimed to possess the art of predicting the future from the stars, suddenly met me. Counting on his fingers, he said, "You have been fortunate without knowing it. Something great and splendid will happen to you very soon, beyond expectation." When I heard this, I imagined Wealth itself. My mind was full of offices, and I carried myself more proudly because of the fortune I expected. Then, while I was in this state, someone came and handed me your letter. "This is it," I said. "The prediction has become reality. They have learned good news about me and are hurrying to announce it before everyone else. Why else would they write now, so unexpectedly?" But when I opened it and read what was inside, I found a rejected reed and a most dishonorable business venture. "Ah!" I said to myself. "I have had fortune beyond expectation indeed. As the saying goes, we have moved from horses to donkeys. Fortune can make everything new, alas, but I never expected to become a seller of reeds, sitting under a hut. This, it seems, is what Zeus grants me as he rises." Laughter ran through the listeners at my expense, and someone said, "Receive the man and the god's bird.

Σωσιανῶι καὶ Ἰουλίωι Οἷά μοι συνέβη δεξαμένῳ τὴν ὑμετέραν ἐπιστολήν, οὐ χεῖρον πρὸς ὑμᾶς διηγήσασθαι. πρῴην γάρ τις τὰ οὐράνια σοφὸς εἶναι βουλόμενος καὶ τέχνην ἔχων, ὡς ἔλεγεν, ἐκ τῶν ἀστέρων προλέγειν τὰ μέλλοντα, περιτυχὼν ἐξαίφνης ἐμοὶ καὶ θεὶς ἐπὶ δακτύλων τὴν ψῆφον, "ὡς εὐτυχής" φησιν "ὑπάρχων ἐλάνθανες· μέγα τί σοι καὶ λαμπρὸν ὅσον οὔπω παρ' ἐλπίδα γενήσεται". ἐγὼ δὲ τούτων ἀκούσας τὸν Πλοῦτον ἐφανταζόμην αὐτόν, ἀξιωμάτων ἔγεμον τὴν διάνοιαν καὶ τῆς ἐν ἐλπίσι τύχης σοβαρωτέραν εἶχον τὴν γνώμην. ὡς οὖν οὕτως ἔχοντί μοι προσιών τις ἐπεδίδου τὰ ὑμέτερα γράμματα, "τοῦτο" ἔφην "ἐκεῖνο· προῆλθεν εἰς ἔργον ὁ λόγος· χρηστὰ γάρ μοι μαθόντες μηνύειν πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἐπείγονται. τί γὰρ ἂν καὶ παθόντες οὕτω νῦν παρ' ἐλπίδας ἐπέστελλον"; ὡς δὲ τοῖς ἔνδον ἐντυχὼν κάλαμον ἀνέγνων ἀπόβλητον καὶ ἐμπορίαν ἀτιμοτάτην, "ἰοὺ ἰού" πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν ἔφην, "παρ' ἐλπίδας εὐτύχηκα. τὸ δὴ λεγόμενον, "ἀφ' ἵππων ἐπ' ὄνους" μεταβεβήκαμεν. πάντα μὲν οἴμοι καινίζειν οἶδεν ἡ τύχη, ἀλλ' οὔποτ' ἂν ἤλπισα καλάμων γενέσθαι πρατὴρ ὑπὸ καλύβῃ καθήμενος. ταῦτά μοι Ζεὺς ὡς ἔοικεν ἀνατέλλων χαρίζεται." καὶ γέλως διὰ τῶν ἀκουόντων ἐπέτρεχεν ἐπ' ἐμοὶ καὶ "δέχου τὸν ἄνδρα" φησί "καὶ τὸν ὄρνιν τοῦ θεοῦ".