Letter 6081: When your boy delivered a single letter, he insisted I write back immediately, as if he were about to rush straight...
When your boy delivered a single letter, he insisted I write back immediately, as if he were about to rush straight home to you. But as I discovered, he was actually heading further on and used a sly trick: his companion Rusticus would carry my letter back while he went on his way. Now he's returned and collected a second letter. I imagine you're laughing that I was outfoxed by a servant's ruse and paid double for a single delivery -- the cunning little slave got two letters for the price of one trip.
I'd go on, but there's nothing more to add. You're closer to the city and busier with more important matters, enjoying equal leisure. It's your job to share the news with those of us stuck out here. Farewell.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
25 Cum mihi puer vester unam epistulam reddidisset, ut rescriberem protinus, tam-
quam mox ad vos reditums incubuit. sed ut didici, ipse ad ulteriora contendens mi-
mica usus est techna, ut paginam nostram comes eius Rusticus reportaret. ille alte-
ram nunc regressus accepit. ridere vos arbitror, quod servili circumscriptus stropha
pro sorte simplici duplum solverim. nam callidus vemula, quod semel pertulit, bis
30 recepit. pergerem longius , si adicienda suppeterent. vos in propinquo urbis cele-
briore fama rerum agitis et pari otio : vestram est procul positos ditare conpertis. vale.
tanae lluor] (J7), niaMu////ll/// Whor P mecum (27'), me/// P 18 meum] (/7), m/// P 19 ut
Unti] (rj, uiUnti P
sorte] F, pttHi in P 29 nam cailidus] F, periit in P bis recepit] F, //////epit P
176 SYMMACIII EPISTVLAE
LXXVim (LXXX).
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