Letter 2049: On the third day before the Nones of October [October 5], I replied to your letter at first light.

On the third day before the Nones of October [October 5], I replied to your letter at first light. Given the distance that now separates us, you should have received it before midday. But as the letter delivered to me in the evening revealed, the slowness of the letter-carrier has delayed both my duty and your concern. Still, I cannot be angry at this delay, since without it you would have had no reason to write again. My letter has, I trust, already been delivered -- unless perhaps some rich man from the city, blocking the roads as usual, has stolen our correspondence. May the gods punish them with their own minds! Now, to answer your question: the mucus that had settled in our little one's chest, causing a troublesome cough, has largely subsided. The passages of his throat are clear and no longer make any wheezing sound. May God's goodness set the progress of his recovery on a firm footing. Just as we have taken a breath of relief from present fears, so we fortify the future with our prayers.

A. d. tertium nonas Octobres prinio lucis respondi litteris tuis, quas pro interiectu itineris, quo nunc distinemur, ante mcridiem sumere debuisti. sed ut scripta ad ve- speram mihi reddita prodiderunt, meum officium tuamque curam tabellarii leutitudo nam indicavi IG lectos longus] Urutery lectus longos P 18 beneflcientiae P tentur P 1 m. diem] Qruter (r)y a te meridie P, a memeridie F 33 meamque curam F Q. Atbelits Stmmavbvs. S 58 SYMMACHI EPISTVLAE PF suspendit. ego tamen huic morae suscensere non possum. defuisset enim tibi causa sermonis iterandi, si matnre responsa nostra legisses. quae, ut confido, iam tradita sunt ; nisi forte denuo aliquis ex urbanis divitibus in^essor viarum scripta nostra fura- 2 verit. dii illos mentibus suis puniant! nunc ad quaesita redeamus. humor, qui par- vuli nostri pectus obsederat atque inportunam tussim ciebat, magna parte tenuatus s est; itaque spiramenta faucium libera nihil iam stridulum sonant. deum benignitas velit processum sanitatis eius in solido conlocare. nos ut a metu praesentium respi- ravimus, ita voto futura munimus. XXXXVIIII ante a. 395.