Letter 2: Procopius praises Hieronymus's eloquence while teasing him over Egypt, home, and longing.

I thought you had long ago taken possession of the Nile. Often, when I remembered that familiar saying of mine, I would say: happy are the young men of Egypt. They already had the Nile, which supplies everything it knows how to give; now they have gained your Muse as well, no less honorable than the Nile, and in my judgment perhaps even greater. The river flows over their land and lets it grow rich; you pour language into young souls and guide them toward the wealth of knowledge, no less than Pythagoras once did when he visited them, and Plato after him. That is what I was imagining, while you were quietly not far away. When the man who delivered your letter arrived, I first thought the whole thing must be a trick; I could hardly trust my eyes. But once I read what you had written and was convinced that such grace could belong to no one else, I was delighted. It seemed to bring nearer my hope of seeing you again, and I rejoiced that you had made your homeland enviable, at least for a little while. You seem to be criticizing it in play. I will not deny that the air above your head is as you described, that the water reminds drinkers of the sea, or that our bread is made of barley mixed any which way. But even this is a gentle tragedy, because you are sparing your homeland. You ought to be grateful to a place that trains the mind for philosophy and teaches a person to look down on Egyptian luxury. Wise Odysseus lived on a small, rough island, and what island was that but Ithaca? Neither Calypso nor any change to a better nature persuaded him to choose another land instead. I do not think a Spartan, reflecting on life at home, ever blamed Sparta. But I know what moved you to complain. You are fond of profit, my excellent friend. Step a little away from gain and you cry out, calling the Nile back to mind again and again, and the wealth that comes from it. That must be what makes you dry, as you said yourself, and leaves your body no better furnished than Chaerephon's. I think you are also caught up in love for the nymph and testing, barely, how much longing can do. May it all happen as Aphrodite and the Loves would wish. Farewell; may I soon greet you again, and as a father of children.

Ἱερωνύμῳ Ἐγὼ μὲν ᾤμην σε τὸν Νεῖλον πάλαι κατειληφέναι, καὶ πολλάκις εἰς μνήμην λαμβάνων τοῦτο δὴ τὸ εἰωθὸς ἐμοὶ «ὡς εὐδαίμονες» ἔλεγον «τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις οἱ παῖδες, πάλαι μὲν τὸν Νεῖλον ἔχοντες χορηγὸν τῶν ὅσα φέρειν οἶδεν ἐκεῖνος, νυνὶ δὲ καὶ τὴν σὴν μοῦσαν προσειληφότες οὐδὲν ἀτιμοτέραν τοῦ Νείλου, παρ' ἐμοὶ δὲ κριτῇ τάχα καὶ μείζω. ὁ μὲν γὰρ τὴν χώραν αὐτοῖς ἐπιρρέων πλουτεῖν ἐπιτρέπει, σὺ δὲ ταῖς τῶν νέων ψυχαῖς τὴν γλῶτταν ἐπαφιεὶς ἐπὶ τὸν τῆς ἐπιστήμης πλοῦτον ἰθύνεις, οὐδὲν ἔλαττον ἢ ὁ πάλαι Πυθαγόρας αὐτοῖς ἐπιδημῶν καὶ μετ' ἐκεῖνον ὁ Πλάτων». ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐλογιζόμην, σὺ δὲ οὐ μακρὰν ἀπέχων ἐλάνθανες. ὡς δὲ ἧκεν ὁ τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἐπιδούς, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον θαυμάζων ἀπάτην ἡγούμην τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ οὐκ ἐπειθόμην τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς. ὡς δὲ τοῖς γεγραμμένοις ἐντυχὼν ἐπείσθην μὴ ἂν ὑπάρχειν ἄλλου τὰς χάριτας, ἥσθην, πῶς δοκεῖ; ἐγγυτέρας γὰρ ἐμοὶ αὐτὰς τὰς τοῦ σε πάλιν ἰδεῖν ἡγούμην ἐλπίδας, καὶ συνέχαιρον εἰκότως εἰ τὴν πατρίδα ζηλωτὴν μικρὸν γοῦν ἀπέφηνας χρόνον. σὺ δέ μοι δοκεῖς παίζων αὐτῆς κατηγορεῖν. ὅτι μὲν γὰρ τὸν ὑπὲρ κεφαλῆς ἀέρα οἷον ἔφης εἶναι συμβαίνει, καὶ ὡς τὸ ὕδωρ τοὺς πίνοντας εἰς μνήμην ἄγει θαλάττης, καὶ ἄρτος ἡμῖν ἐκ κριθῆς εἰκῆ μεμιγμένος, οὐκ ἂν ἀρνηθείην· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔλαττον τετραγῴδηταί σοι ταῦτα φειδοῖ τῆς πατρίδος. ἀλλ' ὅμως, ὦ βέλτιστε, χάριν ἐχρῆν εἰδέναι ταύτῃ πρὸς φιλοσοφίαν ἀσκούσῃ τὴν γνώμην, ὅπως ἂν εἰδείης ποτὲ τρυφῆς Αἰγυπτίας ὑπερορᾶν. Ὀδυσσέα δὲ τὸν σοφόν, νῆσον οἰκοῦντα μικρὰν ὁμοῦ καὶ τραχεῖαν καὶ τί γὰρ ἄλλο ἢ τὴν Ἰθάκην, οὔτε Καλυψὼ πέπεικεν οὔτε φύσεως ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον μεταβολὴ τὸ μὴ τὴν Ἰθάκην ἀντὶ τούτων αἱρεῖσθαι. ἀλλ' οὐδὲ Σπαρτιάτης οἶμαι τὴν οἴκοι δίαιταν ἐννοῶν τὴν Σπάρτην ἐμέμψατο. ἀλλ' οἶδα πόθεν ποτὲ κατηγορεῖν ἐπήρθης. φιλοχρημάτως ἔχεις, ὦ λῷστε. εἶτα βραχύ τι τοῦ λήμματος ἀποστὰς ἰοὺ ἰοὺ βοᾷς, καὶ τὸν Νεῖλον πολλάκις καὶ τὸν ἐκεῖθεν πλοῦτον ἀνακαλεῖς. τοῦτό σέ που ξηρόν, ὡς αὐτὸς ἔφης, ποιεῖ καὶ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Χαιρεφῶντος οὐδὲν ἀστειότερον ἔχειν. οἶμαι δέ σε καὶ τῆς νύμφης ἐρωτικῶς περιέχεσθαι καὶ πειρᾶσθαι μόλις ὁπόσα δύναται πόθος. ἀλλὰ γένοιτο ταῦθ' οὕτως ὅπως Ἀφροδίτῃ φίλον καὶ Ἔρωσιν. ἔρρωσο, καί σε θᾶττον προσείποιμι καὶ παίδων πατέρα.