To Agricola [a kinsman].
You sent a fine boat — light, solid, big enough for a bed, and already stocked with fish — along with an extremely skilled pilot and strong, agile oarsmen who sweep past the current of the upstream river as fast as they could float downstream. But you must forgive me for declining to join you on the fishing expedition. I am held by far stronger nets of grief on behalf of our ailing family members — grief that even our friends and outsiders must share. So I think that you too, if you are moved as a brother should be, will think of returning home the moment you receive this letter rather than of heading to the river.
Severiana — our shared concern — was first troubled by a lingering cough and is now also exhausted by fevers that grow worse at night. Because of this, she wishes to go out to a country house. In fact, when we received your letter, we were already preparing to leave for the villa. So whether you come or stay, support our prayers with yours, that the change of country air may restore her health. For my part — and your sister would agree — we thought her restlessness would only worsen if we stood in the way of the invalid's wishes.
So, with Christ's guidance, we are removing ourselves and the entire household from the heat and torpor of the city, while also avoiding the advice of mediocre physicians who sit at the bedside in disagreement, poorly trained yet excessively diligent, and who kill many of their patients with the greatest officousness. Our friend Justus will be joining our party by right of friendship — a man whom, if I felt like joking in sad times, I could easily convict of having been trained more in the school of Chiron than in that of Machaon [Chiron was the mythical centaur-healer who taught with herbs; Machaon was the surgical physician of the Greek army]. All the more reason to implore Christ that the power of heaven may heal an illness for which our own care has found no cure. Farewell.
EPISTULA XII
Sidonius Agricolae suo salutem.
1. Misisti tu quidem lembum mobilem solidum lecti capacem iamque cum piscibus; tum praeterea gubernatorem longe peritum, remiges etiam robustos expeditosque, qui scilicet ea rapiditate praetervolant amnis adversi terga, qua deflui. sed dabis veniam, quod invitanti tibi in piscationem comes venire dissimulo; namque me multo decumbentibus nostris validiora maeroris retia tenent, quae sunt amicis quoque et externis indolescenda. unde te quoque puto, si rite germano moveris affectu, quo temporis puncto paginam hanc sumpseris, de reditu potius cogitaturum.
2. Severiana, sollicitudo communis, inquietata primum lentae tussis impulsu febribus quoque iam fatigatur, hisque per noctes ingravescentibus; propter quod optat exire in suburbanum; litteras tuas denique cum sumeremus, egredi ad villulam iam parabamus. quocirca tu seu venias seu moreris, preces nostras orationibus iuva, ut ruris auram desideranti salubriter cedat ipsa vegetatio. certe ego vel tua soror inter spem metumque suspensi credidimus eius taedium augendum, si voluntati iacentis obstitissemus.
3. igitur ardori civitatis atque torpori tam nos quam domum totam praevio Christo pariter eximimus simulque mediocrum consilia vitamus assidentum dissidentumque, qui parum docti et satis seduli languidos multos officiosissime occidunt. sane contubernio nostro iure amicitiae Iustus adhibebitur, quem, si iocari liberet in tristibus, facile convincerem Chironica magis institutum arte quam Machaonica. quo diligentius postulandus est Christus obsecrandusque, ut valetudini, cuius curationem cura nostra non invenit, potentia superna medeatur. vale.
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To Agricola [a kinsman].
You sent a fine boat — light, solid, big enough for a bed, and already stocked with fish — along with an extremely skilled pilot and strong, agile oarsmen who sweep past the current of the upstream river as fast as they could float downstream. But you must forgive me for declining to join you on the fishing expedition. I am held by far stronger nets of grief on behalf of our ailing family members — grief that even our friends and outsiders must share. So I think that you too, if you are moved as a brother should be, will think of returning home the moment you receive this letter rather than of heading to the river.
Severiana — our shared concern — was first troubled by a lingering cough and is now also exhausted by fevers that grow worse at night. Because of this, she wishes to go out to a country house. In fact, when we received your letter, we were already preparing to leave for the villa. So whether you come or stay, support our prayers with yours, that the change of country air may restore her health. For my part — and your sister would agree — we thought her restlessness would only worsen if we stood in the way of the invalid's wishes.
So, with Christ's guidance, we are removing ourselves and the entire household from the heat and torpor of the city, while also avoiding the advice of mediocre physicians who sit at the bedside in disagreement, poorly trained yet excessively diligent, and who kill many of their patients with the greatest officousness. Our friend Justus will be joining our party by right of friendship — a man whom, if I felt like joking in sad times, I could easily convict of having been trained more in the school of Chiron than in that of Machaon [Chiron was the mythical centaur-healer who taught with herbs; Machaon was the surgical physician of the Greek army]. All the more reason to implore Christ that the power of heaven may heal an illness for which our own care has found no cure. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.