---
title: "Letters · Epistulae"
author: "Ausonius"
translator: "Hugh G. Evelyn-White"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Classical Latin"
section: 3 of 3
url: https://scriptura.si/works/ausonius-letters/3/
cite: "Ausonius, tr. Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Letters · Epistulae, section 3. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/ausonius-letters/3/"
---

# Letters · Epistulae

*Ausonius, tr. Hugh G. Evelyn-White*

Letters in verse and prose to friends, among them his former pupil Paulinus, who had left the world for a Christian life.

> Latin: ed. Hugh G. Evelyn-White, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, stoa0045.stoa011, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Hugh G. Evelyn-White, from the Perseus Digital Library (stoa0045.stoa011.perseus-eng1). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 3. Letters 28–34

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/ausonius-letters/3/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/ausonius-letters/3/#p-N

[¶0] WRITTEN JUST AFTER THE PRECEDING I hoped that the complaint which filled my latest letter might be able to move thee, Paulinus, and that my caressing reproof might lure thee to reply. But thou, as if after swearing by holy things thou wast vowed to keep deep silenee, abidest obstinately by the rule of speechlessness.1 Is it not allowed? Or art thou ashamed to have a friend still alive who claims a father's rights, whilst thou remainest the dependent heir? Let cowards quake with such dread, but have thou no fear, and boldly keep the custom of giving and returning greeting. Or if an informer is beside thee, and if 'tis an inquisitor's2 too stern rebuke is feared, baffle it with a device whereby secrets are oft eoncealed. She whom the brutal outrage of the Thracian king had robbed of her tongue, revealed her sorrows by means of woven threads and committed the story of her wrongs to the silent loom.3 Also a shamefast maid entrusted the tale of her love to an apple,4 and blushed not to share her secret with fruit which could never speak. To deep-dug pits a servant revealed his royal lord's deformity,5 and long the earth hid the secret most faithfully: thereafter the reed, breathed on by the wind, sang the story. Trace letters with milk: the paper as it dries will keep them ever invisible; yet with ashes the writing is brought to light.6 Or imitate the Spartan scytale, writing on strips of parchment wound about a rounded stick in continuous lines, which, afterwards unrolled, will show characters incoherent because sequence is lost, until they are rolled again about just such another stick.1 I can show thee countless codes of the ancients for concealing and unlocking secret messages 2; it thou, Paulinus, fearest to be betrayed and dread'st the charge of my friendship, let thy Tanaquil 3 know naught of it. Do thou scorn others, but disdain not to address thy father. I am thy nourisher, thy old tutor, the first to lavish on thee the honours of old time,4 the first to introduce thee into the guild of the Aonides.

> Latin: PROXIMA quae nostrae fuerat querimonia chartae,
credideram quod te, Pauline, inflectere posset
eliceretque tuam blanda obiurgatio vocem.
set tu, iuratis velut alta silentia sacris
devotus teneas, perstas in lege tacendi.
non licet? anne pudet, si quis tibi iure paterno
vivat amicus adhuc maneasque obnoxius heres?
ignavos agitet talis timor, at tibi nullus
sit metus et morem missae acceptaeque salutis
audacter retine, vel si tibi proditor instat
aut quaesitoris gravior censura finietur,
occurre ingenio, quo saepe occulta teguntur.
Thraeicii quondam quam saeva licentia regis
fecerat elinguem, per licia texta querellas
edidit et tacitis mandavit crimina telis.
et pudibunda suos malo commisit amores
virgo nec erubuit tacituro conscia pomo.
depressis scrobibus vitium regale minister
credidit idque diu texit fidissima tellus:
inspirata dehinc vento cantavit harundo.
lacte incide notas: arescens charta tenebit
semper inaspicuas; prodentur scripta favillis.
vel Laccdaemoniam scytalen imitare, libelli
segmina Pergamei tereti circumdata ligno
perpetuo inscribens versu, «pii deinde solutus,
non respondentes sparso dabit ordine formas,
donec consimilis ligni replicetur in orbem.
Innumcras possum celandi ostendere formas
et clandestinas veterum reserare loquellas:
si prodi, Pauline, times nostraeque vereris
crimen amicitiae; Tanaquil tua nesciat istud,
tu contemne alios nec dedignare parentem
adfari verbis, ego sum tuus altor ei ille
praeceptor, primus veterum largitor honorum,
primus in Aonidum qui te collegia duxi.

[¶1] THIS is the fourth letter in which I have laid bare to thee, Paulinus, my familiar complaint, and with caressing words sought to stir thee from thy lethargy. But never a page comes to repay my loving attentions, no propitious words writ at the head of sheets which bring me greeting.5 How has my luckless letter, for which your long neglect shows such disdain, deserved this rebuff? Yet foe from foe receives greeting 6 in savage speech and “hail” comes between opposed arms. Even rocks make answer to mankind and speech beating back from caves returns, returns too the vocal mimicry of the woods; cliffs by the sea-shore cry out, streams utter their murmurs, the hedges, whereon bees of Hybla feed,1 are ever whispering. Reed-grown banks also have their tuneful harmonies, and the pine's foliage in trembling accents talks with its beloved winds. So oft as the light eastern breeze leans on the shrill-voiced leaves, strains of Dindymus respond to the grove of Gargara. 2 Nature made nothing dumb. Birds of the air and four-footed beasts are not mute, even the serpent has its own hissing note, and the herds of the deep sigh with faint semblance of a voice. Cymbals give sound at a clash, stages at beat of bounding feet, the taut skins of hollow drums give back a booming; Mareotie 3 sistra raise rattling din in Isis' honour nor does Dodona's brazen tinkling cease as oft as the lavers at the clappers' measured stroke obediently reply with rhythmic beat.1 2,; Thou, as though thou wert a mute citizen of Oebalian Amyclae,5 or Egyptian Sigalion 6 were sealing thy lips, stubbornly keepest silence, Paulinus. I recognise shame in thee, for continued negligence cherishes her own defeet, and in shame for long silenee thou dost resolve not to maintain interchange of courtesies; and lengthened idleness loves its own fault. Who forbids you to write “hail” and “farewell” with studied brevity, and to commit to paper these words of greeting? I do not demand that thy page should weave a long drawn out web of verse and burden thy letter with a multitude of words. Twas but one letter wherewith the Spartans made reply and, though refusing, pleased the angry king.1 For indeed terseness is courteous; so, report says, taught reborn Pythagoras.2 While babblers would be stringing indecisive words, in all cases he would answer only “Yes” or “No.” O stable rule of speech! For nothing is shorter and more adequate than these, which approve the valid or reject the invalid. None pleased by silence; many by brief reply. 45"But I, whither with foolish amplitude of speech have I been long careering? How distant from itself and yet how near is error! I with long speech, thou with utter silence, we both displease. Yet can not keep silence, for free affection never bears yoke, nor loves to screen truth with glozing words. Hast thou, dearest Paulinus, changed thy nature? Do Biscayan glades and sojourns in the snowy Pyrenees and doth forgetfulness of our clime work thus? What curse shall I not righteously call down on thee, O land of Spain? May Carthaginians ravage thee, may faithless Hannibal waste thee with fire, may banished Sertorius again seek in thee the seat of war! Shall then Birbilis or Calagorris clinging to its crags, or parched Ilcrda3 whose ruins, littered over rugged hills, look down on brawling Sicoris, possess him who is mine and his country's pride, the mainstay of the Senate? Here dost thou, Paulinus, establish thy robe consular and Roman curule chair, and wilt thou bury there thy native honours? But who is that unhallowed wretch who has urged you to so long silence? May he turn no sound to any advantage, may no joys enliven him, no sweet poets' lays, no melting harmonies of seductive elegy, may no cry of beast nor low of cattle nor song of bird cheer him, nor yet Echo, who hidden in shepherds' bosky groves consoles us while repeating our complaints. Sad, needy let him dwell in waste places and in silence roam the borders of Alpine hills, even as, 'tis said, in days of old Beller-ophon, distraught, avoided the company of men and wandered straying through untrodden places.1 This is my prayer, this cry, Boeotian Muses divine, receive ye and with Latin strains call back your bard!

> Latin: quarta tibi haec notos detexit epistula questus,
Pauline, et blando residem sermone lacessit.
officium set nulla pium mihi pagina reddit,
fausta salutigeris adscribens orsa libellis,
unde istam meruit non felix charta repulsam,
spernit tam longo cessatio quam tua fastu?
hostis ab hoste tamen per barbara verba salutem
accipit et Salve mediis intervenit armis,
respondent et saxa homini et percussus ab antris
sermo redit, redit et nemorum vocalis imago;
litorei clamant scopuli, dant murmura rivi,
Hyblacis apibus saepes depasta susurrat.
est et harundineis modulatio musica ripis
cumque suis loquitur tremulum coma pinea ventis,
incubuit foliis quotiens levis curus acutis,
Dindyma Gargarico respondent cantica luco.
nil inlitum natura dedit, non aeris ales
quadrupedesve silent, habet et sua sibila serpens,
et pecus aequoreum tenui vice vocis anhelat.
cymbala dant flictu sonitum, dant pulpita saltu
icta pedum, tentis reboant cava tympana tergis;
Isiacos agitant Mareotica sistra tumultus
nec Dodonaci cessat tinnitus aeni,
in numerum quotiens radiis ferientibus ictae
respondent dociles modulato verbere pelves.
Tu velut Oebaliis habites taciturnus Amyclis
aut tua Sigalion Aegyptius oscula signet,
obnixum, Pauline, taces, agnosco pudorem,
quod vitium fovet ipsa suum cessatio iugis,
dumque pudet tacuisse diu, placet officiorum
non servare vices; et amant longa otia culpam,
quis prohibet Salve atque Vale brevitate parata
scribere felicesque notas mandare libellis?
non ego, longinquos ut texat pagina versus,
postulo multiplicique oneret sermone tabellas.
una fuit tantum, qua respondere Lacones
littera, et irato regi placuere negantes,
est etenim comis brevitas: sic fama renatum
Pythagoram docuisse refert, cum multa loquaces
ambiguis sererent verbis, contra omnia solum
Est, respondebat, vel Non. o certa loquendi
regula! nam brevius nihil est et plenius istis,
quae firmata probant aut infirmata relidunt.
nemo silens placuit, multi brevitate loquendi.
Verum ego quo stulte dudum spatiosa locutus
provehor? ut diversa sibi vicinaque culpa est!
multa loquens et cuncta silens non ambo placemus.
nec possum reticere, iugum quod libera numquam
fert pietas nec amat blandis postponere verum,
vertisti, Pauline, tuos dulcissime mores?
Vasconis hoc saltus et ninguida Pyrenaei
hospitia et nostri facit hoc oblivio caeli?
inprecer ex merito quid non tibi, Hiberia tellus!
te populent Poeni, te perfidus Hannibal urat,
te belli sedem repetat Sertorius exul.
ergo meum patriaeque decus columenque senati
Birbilis aut haerens scopulis Calagorris habebit,
aut quae deiectis iuga per seruposa ruinis
arida torrentem Sicorim despectat Hilerda?
hic trabeam, Pauline, tuam Latiamque curulem
constituis, patriosque istic sepelibis honores?
Quis tamen iste tibi tam longa silentia suasit
impius? ut nullos hie vocem vertat in usus,
gaudia non illum vegetent, non dulcia vatum
carmina, non blandae modulatio flexa querellae,
non fera, non illum peeudes, non mulceat ales,
non quae pastorum nemoralibus abdita lueis
solatur nostras Eeho resecuta loquellas.
tristis, egens deserta eolat tacitusque pererret
Alpinis conexa iugis, eeu dicitur olim
mentis inops coetus hominum et vestigia vitans
avia perlustrasse vagus loca Bellerophontes.
Haec preeor, hanc vocem, Boeotia numina M usae,
accipite et Latiis vatem revocate eamenis.

[¶2] THOU tellest me that my tongue keeps unbroken silence while thou art never dumb, and reproachest me with choosing idleness in secret retreats, and withal addest the charge of neglected friendship and tauntest me with terror of my spouse, launching a cruel line against my very heart.3 Cease, I prithee, to wound thy friend, and seek not to mingle bitterness—as wormwood with honey —with a father's words. My care has been and still, endures, to honour thee with every friendly token, to compass thee with faithful affection. No blemish, however slight, has ever marred my devotion towards thee; even by a look I have ever feared to hurt thee and to wrong thee with an. unguarded aspect; and when I have approached thee, out of respect I have the more heedfully ordered my looks and given my features a bright and cheerful cast, that no ungrounded suspicion might bring down a cloud upon thee, my revered father, even though arising from an unspoken thought. After like pattern my household has honoured and honours thee, and in love for thee we are as agreed together as our hearts are linked together in worship of Christ. What rancour, I beg of thee, against thy friends is crept over thy heart? With what idle tale has nimble Slander forced her way into thy ears, smitten thy fond heart, and aimed late blows against the tried affection of ancient faith, so as to harm a son by cozening a sire from his peace? But my heart is conscious of no feigned sincerity, my devotion, guiltless of neglect towards my father, hurls back with scorn every undeserved taunt, and brooks not to be scarred with a false charge because in truth innocent: as easy hurt as it is free from fault, it is the more sorely injured by an unjust blow. Thou dost complain that I have shaken off the yoke 1 wherewith I was joined with thee in the pursuit of letters. This I declare that I have never even borne. For only equals share one yoke: no one links the powerful with the weak, and no team works with one will, if the forced yoke-fellows are of unequal measure. If thou dost match calves with bulls or horses with wild-asses; if thou comparest moorhens with swans, and nightingales with owls, hazels with chestnuts, or rankest wayside shrubs with cypresses;—then place me beside thee: Tully and Maro scarce could uphold a like yoke with thee. If I be yoked in love, in that alone will I dare boast myself thy yoke-fellow wherein the humble vies with the great in even career. Sweet friendship makes us peers through the eternal bond betwixt me and thee and through the equal laws of endless mutual love. This yoke no malicious tale has unloosed from my neck, no long absence from my land has broken it nor ever shall destroy it, though I should be removed from thee by the whole span of space and time. Never shall I live separate from thee in soul: sooner shall life itself depart from my frame than thy face from my heart. Through all the length of time given to mortals and ordained, so long as I shall be confined in this halting frame, though I be held a world apart, thee neither parted by a world nor severed from my sight I will keep implanted in my inmost being: in heart I shall see thee, in loving thought embrace thee, having thee with me everywhere. And when, released from the prison of the body, I shall have (town forth from the earth, in whatever clime our general Father shall place me, there also will I bear thee in my heart; nor shall the selfsame end which severs me from my body, unloose me from love of thee. For the soul, which, surviving the body's ruin, endures in virtue of heavenly birth, must needs keep both its own faculties and affections no less than its own life, and so admits forgetfulness no more than death, remaining ever living, ever mindful. Farewell, illustrious master.

> Latin: CONTINUVTA meae durare silentia linguae
te numquam tacito memoras placitamque latebris
desidiam exprobras neglectaeque insuper addis
crimen amicitiae formidatamque iugalem
obicis et durum iacis in mea viscera versum.
parce, precor, lacerare tuum, nec amara paternis
admiscere velis, eeu melle absinthia, verbis.
Cura mihi semper fuit et manet officiis te
omnibus excolere, adfectu observare fideli,
non umquam tenui saltim tua gratia naevo
conmaculata mihi est; ipso te laedere vultu
semper et incauta timui violare figura;
eumque tua accessi, venerans mea cautius ora
conposui et laeto formavi lumine frontem,
ne qua vel a tacito contractam pectore nubem
duceret in sanctum suspicio falsa parentem.
hoc mea te domus exemplo coluitque colitque
inque tuum tantus nobis consensus amorem est,
quantus et in Christum conexa mente colendum.
Quis tua, quaeso, tuis obduxit pectora livor?
quo rumore pium facilis tibi fama per aures
inrupit pepulitque animum contraque vetustam
experta pietate fidem nova vulnera movit,
laederet ut natis placidum male suada parentem?
Set mihi non fictae mens conscia simplicitatis
nec patris inculti pietas rea respuit omne
iumentum et falso perstringi crimine non fert,
inmunis vero: gravius violatur iniquo
vulnere, tam tenera offensae, quam libera culpae.
Diseussisse iugum querens me, quo tibi doctis
iunctus eram studiis, hoc nec gestasse quidem me
adsero. namque pares subeunt iuga: nemo valenles
copulat infirmis neque sunt concordia frena,
si sit conpulsis mensura iugalibus inpar.
si vitulum tauro vel equum committis onagro;
si confers fulicas cycnis et acdona parrae,
castaneis corulos; aequas viburna cupressis:
me conpone tibi: vix Tullius et Maio tecum
sustineant aequale iugum, si iungar amore,
hoc tantum tibi me iactare audebo iugalem,
quo modicus sociis magno contendit habenis.
dulcis amicitia aeterno mihi foedere tecum
et paribus semper redamandi legibus aequat.
hoc nostra cervice iugum non scaeva resolvit
fabula, non terris absentia longa diremit,
nec perimet, toto licet abstrahar orbe vel aevo.
numquam animo divisus agam: prius ipsa recedet
corpore vita meo, quam vester pectore vultus.
Ego te per omne quod datum mortalibus
et destinatum saeculum est,
claudente donec continebor corpore,
discernar orbe quamlibet,
nec orbe longe nec remotum lumine
tenebo fibris insitum:
videbo corde, mente complectar pia
ubique praesentem mihi.
et cum solutus corporali carcere
terraque provolavero,
quo me locant axe communis pater,
illic quoque animo te geram;
neque finis idem, qui meo me corpore
et amore laxabit tuo.
mens quippe, lapsis quae superstes artubus
de stirpe durat cacliti,
sensus necesse est simul et adfectus suos
teneat aeque ut vitam suam,
et ut mori, sic oblivisci non capit,
perenne vivax et memor.
Vale domine illustris.

[¶3] 'Tis the fourth summer now returns for hardy reapers, and as oft has winter grown stark with hoary rime, since any syllable from thy lips reached me, since 1 saw any letter penned by thy hand— ere thy page, auspicious with its message of greeting, bestowed manifold the gift so long denied. For indeed 'twas a triple letter enriched with various flowers of composition, but the melodious sheets were a three-fold poem. Tilings sweet, though somewhat soured with manifold complaints, troubled affection had mingled with criticism. Put with me the father's gentleness rather than the critic's bitterness finds a resting place, and in my heart I draw from the kindly words what may weigh against the harsh. But these charges must be refuted in their proper place and canvassed in the sterner tones of the avenging heroic measure. Meanwhile, though briefly, lighter iambus shall hurry on ahead, in separate metre 1 paying back his debt of words. Now my elegiacs bid thee “hail” and having hailed thee, since they have made for others a beginning and a step, cease to speak. Paulinus to Ausonius Why dost thou bid the deposed Muses return to my affection, my father? Hearts consecrate to Christ give refusal to the Camenae, are closed to Apollo. Once was there this accord betwixt me and thee, equals in zeal but not in power—to call forth deaf Apollo from his Delphic cave, to invoke the Muses as divine, to seek from groves or hills the gift of utterance by the god's gift bestowed. Now 'tis another force governs my heart, a greater God, who demands another mode of life, claiming for himself from man the gift he gave, that we may live for the Father of life. To spend time on empty things, whether in pastime or pursuit, and on literature full of idle tales, he forbids; that we may obey his laws and behold his light which sophists' cunning skill, the art of rhetoric, and poets' feignings overcloud. For these steep our hearts in things false and vain, and train our tongues alone imparting naught which can reveal the truth. For what good thing or true can they hold who hold not the head of all, God, the enkindler and source of the good and true, whom no man seeth save in Christ. He is the light of truth, the path of life, the strength, mind, hand, and power of the Father, the sun of righteousness, the fount of blessings, the flower of God, born of God, creator of the world, life of our mortality and death of Death. He, the Lord of Virtues, to us God and for us Man, puts on our nature as we must put on his, linking God with man in perpetual intercourse, himself of each partaking. He, then, when he has launched his beams from heaven upon our hearts, wipes off the sorry filth of our dull bodies and renews the disposition of our hearts: he draws forth all which aforetime used to please, giving unsullied pleasure in return, and absolutely with a master's right claims both our hearts and lips and time. He seeks himself to engross our thoughts, our minds, belief and choice, himself to be feared and loved. Those aimless surges, which the toils of life stir up in the course of this present span of time, are brought to naught by faith in a life to come with God. This easts not a way the riches, which we are thought to seorn, as unhallowed or little worth, but, as more dear, bids them be laid up in Heaven in trust with Christ our God, who has promised more than he receives, to pay back with large usury those things now despised or rather laid up in his keeping. A faithful guardian, an unfailing debtor, he will repay with increase wealth entrusted to him, and of his bounty God with abundant interest will restore the money we have spurned. To Him given up, whether waiting or serving, in Him laying up my all, think me not, I beseech thee, slothful nor wayward, nor charge me with want of filial piety. How can piety be wanting in a Christian? For " piety " has the acquired meaning to be a Christian, and " the impious " one not subject to Christ. When I am learning to hold fast this, can I fail to show it toward thee, that is, towards my father, to whom God has willed that I should owe all sacred duties and names of affection? To thee I owe training, honours, learning, my pride of eloquence, of civil rank, of reputation, being by thee advanced, fostered, and instructed, my patron, tutor, father. But why do I live so long retired, thou askest reproachfully, and art stirred with a loving anger. It is expedient, or 'tis necessary, or 'tis my pleasure: whichever of these it be, it will be pardonable. Forgive me, as I love thee, if I do what is convenient; be thankful if I live as pleases me. PAULINUS TO AUSONIUS That I shall be absent from my native land full three years' space, and that I have traversed another world in aimless wanderings, forgetful of that fellowship in thy life, once cherished—thou dost reproach me with complaints hallowed by the love whence they spring. I welcome with reverence due the emotions of a father's heart and the anger which claims my gratitude leaving affection unimpaired. Yet for my return, my father, I would rather thou should'st ask it there where it can be granted. Shall I believe that thou canst call me back to thee while thou pourest forth barren prayers to beings not divine, suppliant to the Castalian Muses while God turns from thee? Not through such deities wilt thou bring me baek to thee and to my country. Thou call'st the deaf, implorest things of naught— a light breeze will bear away what is addressed to a nothing—the Muses, who are names but nonentities. The stormy winds whirl away ineffectual such prayers as these, which, not addressed to God, cateh in the empty clouds nor make their way into the starry court of the King of Heaven. If thou carest for my return, look towards him and pray to him who with his thunder shakes the fiery heights of highest Heaven, who shoots forth his triple flash of flame, nor mingles it with idle sounds, who on the. crops graciously bestows sunshine and rains from heaven, who being above all that is, or wholly in all things everywhere, reigns over all through Christ who permeates all things: through whom he occupies and sways our minds, through whom he orders our times and places. Put if he ordains things opposed to our hopes, by prayer he may be turned aside to that which we desire Why blamest thou me? If thou mislikest the course which I pursue under God's influence, there is an earlier step: let the Author be accused, who is pleased either to shape or change my feelings. For if thou thinkest my nature is as of old and as 'twas known to thee, I will avow of myself that now I am not the man I was about that time when I was not thought wayward though wayward I was, seeing with the darkness of error, wise in what with God is foolishness,1 and living on the food of death. Wherefore thou art the more bound to pardon me, because by this the more readily 'tis permitted thee to recognize that this change is from the most high Father—that 'tis not in accordance with my nature: by this I shall not, methinks, be held to have admitted a lamentable distraction of a mind changed for the worse, since I have openly avowed that not my own mind has caused me to change my former life. I have a new mind, I confess—a mind not my own: not mine aforetime, though mine now through God's influence—and if in my deeds or thoughts he sees anything worthy for his gifts, to thee chief gratitude, to thee the glory falls due, since thy instruction has produced what Christ could love. Wherefore thou shouldst give thanks rather than complain because I—that son of thine, offspring of thy learning and thy character, Paulinus, whose parentage thou dost not deny, even now when thou believest me wayward—have so changed my principles that I have gained grace to become the child of Christ while I am the child of Ausonius. He will confer his rewards upon thy merit and from this tree of thine proffer the first fruit to thee. And so, I pray thee, think nobler thoughts and lose not the highest rewards by execrating good things which have their source from thee. For indeed my mind does not wander, nor even does my life flee from intercourse with men — even as thou writest that Pegasus' rider lived in Lycian caves 1—albeit many dwell in pathless places through God's leading, just as before them men famous among the sages did for the sake of their learning and their inspiration. Even so in these days also, they who with pure hearts have adopted Christ are wont to live—not as beside themselves, nor out of savagery choosing to dwell in desert places; but because—turning their faces to the stars on high, contemplating God, and intent to scan the deep wells of truth—they love repose void of empty cares, and shun the din of public life, the bustle of affairs, and all concerns hostile to the gifts of Heaven both by Christ's command and in desire for salvation. By hope and faith these follow God for the pledged reward which he, whose promise cannot fail, will bestow on such as persevere, if only this present life with its vain interests does not prevail, and the fiery perceptions, penetrating to Heaven's secret places, scorn what they see to gain what they see not. For things perishable are open to our sight, the eternal are denied; and now in hope we pursue what with the mind we see, scorning the various shapes, the images of things, and the attractions which provoke our natural sight. And yet such resolve has been found to lodge in those to whom already is revealed the light of the good and true, the eternity of the world to come and the emptiness of that which is. But I, who have not the same cause for boasting, why do I bear the same reproach? My surety of hope is no less; but since I dwell in pleasant places, and even now abide upon the agreeable shores of a prosperous coast, whence this so premature carping at my abode? I would that jealousy with good grounds may begin to pluck at me: bearing the name of Christ I shall welcome taunts. A mind strengthened by power divine feels no weak shame, and the praise I here despise is restored to me when Christ is judge. Do not, then, chide me, my honoured father, as though I had turned to these pursuits perversely, and do not twit me with my wife or with defect of mind: mine is not the perturbed mind of Bellerophon, nor is my wife a Tanaquil but a Lucretia. Nor am I now forgetful, as thou thinkest, of the heavens 'neath which my fathers dwelt, seeing that I look up to the all-highest Father, and that whoso worships Him alone he is truly mindful of Heaven.1 Believe then, father, that I am not unmindful of the heavens and do not live distraught in mind, but dwell in a civilized place: pursuits themselves bear witness to the character of righteous men; for an unrighteous race will not be able to know the most high God: granted that much of the country, much of the folk is unimproved and ignorant of laws, yet what tract is without its rustic worship? Or what offence in them is wiekeduess common to other parts? 1 And yet thou dost taunt me with the woodlands of Vasconin and snowy lodgings in the Pyrenees, as though I live tied down at the very frontier of the whole realm of Spain and have no place of my own anywhere in country or in town, where wealthy Spain outstretched along the world's boundary watches the suns dip down into the sea. Put suppose it had been my lot to dwell amid the hills of brigands, have I become a block in a savage's hut, changed into the very serfs amid whom I lived, partaking of their wildness? A pure heart admits no evil, even as filth spattered upon smooth bristles does not stick: if one without stain of wickedness spends his life in a Vasconian glade, his character, unblemished as before, draws no infection from his host's barbarity. Put why am I charged on that account when I dwell, as I have dwelt, in a far different country bordering on splendid cities and thickly covered with man's prosperous tillage? And if my life had been led on the borders of Vasconia, why should not the savage folk rather have been moulded after my mode of life, laying aside their barbarous customs to come over to our own? For whereas thou dost fix my Spanish dwelling-place in ruined cities, traversing in thy verse desolate towns, and eastest in my teeth mountain Calahorra, Bambola hanging from its jagged crags, and Lerida prostrate on its hill-side—as though, an exile from home and city, I were dwelling in these far from the dwellings and highways of men; dost thou believe these are the resources of the Iberian land, ignorant of the Spanish world where laden Atlas took his stand beneath the load of Heaven, he whose mountain, now the furthest fragment and boundary of the earth, shuts out with its lofty peak Calpe that lies betwixt two seas? Are only Bambola, Calahorra, Lerida, placed to the credit of this land which has its Saragossa, pleasant Barcelona, and Tarragona looking from majestic heights down to the sea? What need for me to tell over the cities, distinguished for their territories and walls which prosperous Spain thrusts forth between two seas; where Betis 1 swells the Atlantic, Hiberus 2 the Tuscan sea—Spain whose compass occupies the wide intervening tract which parts main from main, setting its bounds at the extreme verge of the world? If thou, O famous master, wert minded to describe the region where thou dwellest, wouldst thou be content to leave unnamed cheerful Bordeaux preferring to write of the pitchy Boii 3? And when thou bestowest thy leisure on the hot springs of Maroiahnn4 and permittest thyself to live amid shady groves, dwelling amid cheerful scenery and habitations marvellously built, dost thou inhabit murky hovels and cabins of twisted straw amid a wilderness fit for the skin-clad natives of Bigorre? Dost thou, a consul, scorn the proud walls of thine own Rome while not disdaining Bazas amid its sand hills? Or because the fertile country and green fields of Poiteau are about thee, shall I lament that the Ausonian consulate—alas! — has sunk to the level of Raraunum,5 and that the official robe grows shabby in some mouldering shrine; whereas in fact it hangs in the renowned city of Roman Quirinus along with the imperial palm-broidered robes, trophies of like distinction, there gleaming, long venerable, with unfrayed gold, keeping fresh the glorious bloom of thy deathless achievement? Or when thou art lodged under the roof of Lucanus,1 thy country house, inhabiting a pile vying with the halls of Rome, shall we take the pretext afforded by the place which gives its name to the vicinity, saying thou dwellest in the hamlet of Condate 2? Let much admit of jests, let sportive fiction also be allowed; but with a smooth tongue to strike against an aching tooth, to sport with stinging-compliments, and to season jests ill-relished with the vinegar of tart satire, oft befits a poet, never a father. For loyalty and natural affection demand that what slander-spinning Rumour instils into guileless ears, that the good-hoping mind of a father should not suffer to take hold and gain firm lodgment in the heart. Even the common herd, malignant in its brutal sneers towards habits formerly observed, does not always hold it crime to alter one's life: for to alter wisely is accounted praise. When thou hearest 1 am changed, ask what is ray pursuit and my business. If 'tis a change from right to wrong, from godliness to wickedness, from temperance to luxury, from honour to baseness, if I live slothful, sluggish, ignoble, take pity on a comrade strayed into evil; a gentle father well may be stirred with anger to restore a fallen friend to right living and by stern reproof to bring him back to better things. But if perchance thou dost likewise hear—and 'tis what I have chosen and what I pursue—that I have vowed my heart to our holy God, following in accord with obedient belief the awful behest of Christ, and that I am convinced by God's word that deathless rewards are laid up for man, purchased by present loss, that, methinks, has not so displeased my revered father that he thinks it a perversion of the mind so to live for Christ as Christ appointed. This is my delight, and this “perversion” I regret not. That I am foolish in the eyes of those who follow other aims gives me no pause, if only in sight of the eternal King my opinion be wise. A short-lived thing is man at best, man with his frail body and passing season, dust and a shadow without Christ: his praise and blame are so much worth as the arbiter himself. Himself he perishes and his own mistake must bear him company, and with the judge who pronounced it a verdict dies and passes. And unless, while this present time is granted, we take careful heed to live according to the command of Christ our Lord, too late, when man has put off his mortal frame, will be his complaint that while he feared the light rebuke of human tongues, he feared not the severe wrath of the Heavenly Judge. And that He sitteth on the throne at the right hand of the eternal Father, that He is set over all as king, and that as years roll away He will come to try all races with even-balanced judgment, and bestow due rewards upon their several deeds, I for my part believe, and, fearing, toil with restless zeal that, if so it may be, I be not cut off by death ere I am cut off from sin. Against His coming my believing heart trembles with fluttering strings and my soul, even now aware of what shall be, quakes with foreboding lest, shackled with paltry cares for the body and weighted with a load of business, if perchance the awful trump should peal from the opened heaven, it should fail to raise itself on light pinions into the air to meet the Lord,1 flitting in Heaven amid glorified thousands of the saints, who through the void up to the stars on high shall with unlaborious effort uplift light feet, unshackled with the world's fetters, and wafted on soft clouds shall pass amid the stars to worship the Heavenly King in mid air and join their glorious companies with Christ whom they adore. This is my fear, this my task, that the Last Day overtake me not asleep in the black darkness of profitless pursuits, spending wasted time amid empty cares. For what shall I do if, while I drowse amid sluggish hopes, Christ, disclosed to me from his heavenly citadel, should flash forth, and 1, dazzled by the sudden beams of my Lord coming from opened Heaven, should seek the doleful refuge of murky night, confounded by the o'erwhelming light? Wherefore, that neither doubt of the truth, nor love of this present life with delight in worldly things and anxious toil should bring this on me, I am resolved to forestall calamity by my plan of life, to end anxieties while life remains, awaiting with untroubled heart fierce Death, the general doom of things for ages yet to come. If this thou dost approve, rejoice in thy friend's rich hope: if otherwise, leave me to be approved by Christ alone.

> Latin: Quarta redit duris haec iam messoribus aestas,
et totiens cano bruma gelu riguit,
ex quo nulla tuo mihi littera venit ab ore,
nulla tua vidi scripta notata manu,
ante salutifero felix quam charta libello
dona negata diu multiplicata daret,
trina etenim vario florebat epistula textu,
set numerosa triplex pagina carmen erat.
dulcia multimodis quaedam subamara querellis,
anxia censurae miscuerat pietas,
sed milli mite patris plus quam censoris acerbum
sedit, et e blandis aspera penso animo,
ista suo regerenda loco tamen et graviore
vindicis heroi sunt agitanda sono.
interea levior paucis praecurret iambus
disere to referens mutua verba pede.
Nunc elegi salvere iubent dictaque salute,
ut fecere aliis orsa gradumque, silent.
Ausonio Paulinus
Quid abdicatas in meam curam, pater,
redire Musas praecipis?
negant Camenis nec patent Apollini
dicata Christo pectora,
fuit ista quondam non ope, sed studio pari
tecum mihi concordia,
ciere surdum Delphica Phoebum specu,
vocare Musas numina,
fandique munus munere indultum dei
petere e nemoribus aut iugis,
nunc alia mentem vis agit, maior deus,
aliosque mores postulat.
sibi reposeens ab homine 1 munus suum,
vivamus ut vitae patri,
vacare vanis, otio aut negotio,
et fabulosis litteris
vetat; suis ut pareamus legibus
lucemque cernamus suam,
quam vis sophorum callida arsque rhetorum et
figmenta vatum nubilant,
qui corda falsis atque vanis imbuunt
tantumque linguas instruunt,
nihil adferentes, ut salutem conferant,
quod veritatem detegat.
quid enim tenere vel bonum aut verum queant,
qui non tenent summae caput,
veri bonique fomitem et fontem deum,
quem nemo nisi in Christo videt?
Hic veritatis lumen est, vitae via,
vis, mens, manus, virtus patris,
sol aequitatis, fons bonorum, flos dei,
natus deo, mundi sator,
mortalitatis vita nostrae et mors necis.
magister hic virtutium,
deusque nobis atque pro nobis homo,
nos induendus induit,
aeterna iungens homines inter et deum
in utrumque se commercia,
hic ergo nostris ut suum praecordiis
vibraverit eaelo iubar,
abstergit aegrum corporis pigri situm
habitumque mentis innovat:
exhaurit omne, quod iuvabat antea,
castae voluptatis vice,
totusque nostra iure domini vindicat
et corda et ora et tempora,
se cogitari, intellegi, credi, legi,
se vult timeri et diligi,
aestus inanes, quos movet vitae labor
praesentis aevi tramite,
abolet futura cum deo vitae fides.
quae, quas videmur spernere,
non ut profanas abicit aut viles opes,
set ut magis caras monet
caelo reponi ereditas Christo deo,
qui plura promisit datis,
contempta praesens vel mage deposita sibi
multo ut rependat faenore,
sine fraude custos, aucta creditoribus
bonus aera reddet debitor
multaque sprctam largior pecuniam
restituet usura deus.
Huic vacantem vel studentem et deditum,
in hoc reponentem omnia
ne quaeso segnem neve perversum putes
nec crimineris impium,
pietas abesse Christiano qui potest?
namque argumentum mutuum est
pietatis, esse Christianum, et impii,
non esse Christo subdilum.
hanc cum tenere discimus, possum tibi
non exhibere, id est patri,
cui cuncta sancta iura, cara nomina
debere me voluit deus?
tibi disciplinas, dignitatem, litteras,
linguae, togae, famae decus
provectus, altus, institutus debeo,
patrone, praeceptor, pater.
Sed cur remotus tamdiu degam, arguis
pioque motu irasceris,
conducit istud aut necesse est aut placet:
veniale, quidquid horum, erit.
ignosce amanti, si geram quod expedit;
gratare, si vivam, ut libet.
Ausonio Paulinus
defore me patriis tota trieteride terris
atque alium legisse vagis erroribus orbem,
culta prius vestrae oblitum consortia vitae,
increpitas sanctis mota pietate querellis.
amplector patrio venerandos pectore motus
et mihi gratandas salvis adfectibus iras.
set reditum inde meum, genitor, te poscere mallem,
unde dari possit, revocandum me tibi credam,
cum steriles fundas non ad divina precatus,
Castalidis supplex averso numine Musis?
non his numinibus tibi me patriaeque reduces.
surda vocas et nulla rogas (levis hoc feret aura,
quod datur in nihilum) sine numine nomina Musas.
inrita ventosae rapiunt haec vota procellae,
quae non missa deo vacuis in nubibus haerent
nec penetrant superi stelantem regis in aulam.
Si tibi eum mei reditus, illum adspice et ora,
qui tonitru summi quatit ignea culmina caeli,
qui trifido igne micat nec inania murmura miscet
quique satis caelo soles largitur et imbres,
qui super omne, quod est, vel in omni totus ubique,
omnibus infuso rebus regit omnia Christo:
quo mentes tenet atque movet, quo tempora nostra
et loca disponit, quod si contraria votis
constituat nostri, prece deflectendus in illa est,
quae volumus. quid me accusas? si displicet actus
quem gero agente deo, prius est: fiat reus auctor,
cui placet aut formare meos aut vertere sensus.
nam mea si reputes, quae pristina, quae tibi nota.
sponte fatebor eum modo me non esse, sub illo
tempore qui fuerim, quo non perversus habebar
et perversus eram falsi caligine cernens,
stulta dei sapiens et mortis pabula vivens.
quo magis ignosci mihi fas, quia promptius ex hoc
agnosci datur a summo genitore novari,
quod non more meo geritur: non, arbitror, istic
confessus dicar mutatae in prava notandum
errorem mentis, quoniam sim sponte professus
me non mente mea vitam mutasse priorem,
mens nova mi,fateor, means nonmea: non meaquondam,
set mea nunc auctore deo, qui, si quid in actu
ingeniove meo sua dignum ad munia vidit,
gratia prima tibi, tibi gloria debita cedit,
cuius praeceptis partum est, quod Christus amaret.
Quare gratandum magis est tibi, quam queritandum,
quod tuus ille, tuis studiis et moribus ortus,
Paulinus, cui te non infitiare parentem,
nec modo, cum credis perversum, sic mea verti
consilia, ut sim promeritus Christi fore, dum sum
Ausonii, feret ille tuae sua praemia laudi
deque tua primum tibi deferet arbore fructum.
Unde, precor, meliora putes nec maxima perdas
praemia detestando tuis bona fontibus orta.
non etenim mihi mens vaga, sed neque participantum
vita fugax hominum, Lyciae qua scribis in antris
Pcgaseum vixisse equitem, licet avia multi
numine agente eolant, clari velut ante sophorum
pro studiis musisque suis: ut nunc quoque, castis
qui Christum sumpsere animis, agitare frequentant,
non inopes animi neque de feritate legentes
desertis habitare locis; sed in ardua versi
sidera spectantesque deum verique profunda
perspicere intenti de vanis libera curis
otia amant strepitumque fori rerumque tumultus
cunctaque divinis inimica negotia donis,
et Christi imperiis et amore salutis, abhorrent
speque fideque deum sponsa mercede sequuntur,
quam referet certus non desperantibus auctor,
si modo non vincant vacuis praesentia rebus,
quaeque videt spernat, quae non videt ut mereatur
secreta ignitus penetrans caelestia sensus.
namque caduca patent nostris, aeterna negantur
visibus; et nunc spe sequimur,quod mente videmus,
spernentes varias, rerum spectacula, formas
et male corporeos bona sollicitantia visus.
attamen haec sedisse illis sententia visa est,
tota quibus iam lux patuit verique bonique,
venturi aeternum saecli et praesentis inane.
At mihi, non eadem cui gloria, cur eadem sit
fama? fides voti par est, sed amoena colenti,
nunc etiam et blanda posito locupletis in acta
litoris, unde haec iam tam festinata locorum
invidia est? utinam iustus me carpere livor
incipiat: Christi sub nomine probra placebunt,
non patitur tenerum mens numine firma pudorem,
et laus hic contempta redit mihi iudice Christo.
Ne me igitur, venerande parens, his ut male versum
increpites studiis neque me vel coniuge carpas
vel mentis vitio: non anxia Bellerophontis
mens est nec Tanaquil mihi, sed Lucretia coniunx,
nec mihi nunc patrii est, ut visa, oblivio caeli,
qui summum suspecto patrem, quem qui colit unum,
hic vere memor est caeli, crede ergo, pater, nos
nec caeli inmemores nec vivere mentis egentes,
humanisque agitare locis, studia ipsa piorum
testantur mores hominum; nec enim impia summum
gens poterit novisse deum: sint multa locorum,
multa hominum studiis inculta, expertia legum,
quae regio agresti ritu earet? aut quid in istis
improbitas aliena nocet? quod tu mihi vastos
Vaseoniae saltus et ninguida Pyrenaei
obicis hospitia, in primo quasi limine fixus
Hispanae regionis agam nec sit locus usquam
rure vel urbe mihi, summum qua dives in orbem
usque patet mersos spectans Hispania soles.
sed fuerit fortuna iugis habitasse latronum,
num lare barbarico rigui mutatus in ipsos,
inter quos habui, socia feritate colonos?
non recipit mens pura malum neque levibus haerent
inspersae fibris maculae: si Vascone saltu
quisquis agit purus sceleris vitam, integer aeque
nulla ab inhumano morum contagia ducit
hospite, sed mihi cur sit ab illo nomine crimen,
qui diversa colo, ut colui, loca iuncta superbis
urbibus et laetis hominum celeberrima cultis?
ac si Vasconicis mihi vita fuisset in oris,
cur non more meo potius formata ferinos
poneret, in nostros migrans, gens barbara ritus?
Nam quod in cversis habitacula ponis Hibera
urbibus et deserta tuo legis oppida versu
montanamque milli Calagorrim et Birbilim acutis
pendentem scopulis eodemque iacentis Hilerdac
exprobras, velut his habitem laris exul et urbis
extra hominum tecta atque vias; — an credis Hiberae
has telluris opes, Hispani nescius orbis,
quo gravis ille poli sub pondere constitit Atlans,
ultima nunc eius mons portio metaque terrae,
discludit bimarem celso qui vertice Calpen?
Birbilis huic tantum, Calagorris, Hilerda notantur,
Caesarea est Augusta cui, Barcinus amoena
et capite insigni despectans Tarraco pontum?
Quid numerem egregias terris et moenibus urbes,
quas geminum felix Hispania tendit in aequor,
qua Betis Oceanum Tyrrhenumque auget Hiberus,
lataque distantis pelagi divortia conplet,
orbe suo finem ponens in limite mundi?
anne tibi, o domine inlustris, si scribere sit mens,
qua regione habites, placeat reticere nitentem
Burdigalam et piceos malis describere Boios?
cumque Maroialicis tua prodigis otia thermis
inter et umbrosos donas tibi vivere lucos,
laeta locis et mira colens habitacula tectis:
nigrantesne casas et texta mapalia culmo
dignaque pellitis habitas deserta Bigerris?
quique superba tuae contemnis moenia Romae
consul, arenosas non dedignare Vasatas?
vel quia Pictonicis tibi fertile rus viret arvis,
Raraunum Ausonias heu devenisse curules
conquerar, et trabeam veteri sordescere fano;
quae tamen augusta Latiaris in urbe Quirini
Caesareas inter parili titulo palmatas
fulget inadtrito longum venerabilis auro,
florentem retinens meriti vivacis honorem.
aut eum Lucani retinens culmine fundi,
aemula Romuleis habitans fastigia tectis,
materiam praebente loco, qui proxima signat,
in Condatino dicetis degere vieo?
Multa iocis pateant, liceat quoque ludere fictis;
sed lingua mulcente gravem interlidere dentem,
ludere blanditiis mentibus et male dulces
fermentare iocos satirae mordacis aceto
saepe poetarum, numquam decet esse parentum,
namque fides pietasque petunt, ut, quod mala nectens
insinuat castis fama auribus, hoc bona voti
mens patris adfigi fixumque haerescere cordi
non sinat, et vulgus scaevo rumore malignum
ante habitos mores, non semper flectere vitam
crimen habet: namque est laudi bene vertere, eum me
inmutatum audis, studium officiumque require.
si pravo rectum, si relligiosa profanis,
luxurie parcum, turpi mutatur honestum,
segnis, iners, obscurus ago, miserere sodalis
in mala perversi: blandum licet ira parentem
excitet, ut lapsum rectis instauret amicum
moribus et monitu reparet meliora severo.
At si forte itidem, quod legi et quod sequor, audis,
corda pio vovisse deo venerabile Christi
imperium docili pro credulitate sequentem,
persuasumque dei monitis aeterna parari
praemia mortali damnis praesentibus empta,
non reor id sancto sic displicuisse parenti,
mentis ut errorem credat sic vivere Christo,
ut Christus sanxit, iuvat hoc nec paenitet huius
erroris, stultus diversa sequentibus esse
nil moror, aeterno mea dum sententia regi
sit sapiens, breve, quidquid homo est, homo corporis aegri,
temporis occidui et sine Christo pulvis et umbra:
quod probat aut damnat tanti est, quanti arbiter ipse.
ipse obit atque illi suus est comitabilis error
cumque suo moriens sententia iudice transit.
Et nisi, dum tempus praesens datur, anxia nobis
cura sit ad domini praeceptum vivere Christi,
sera erit exutis homini querimonia membris,
dum levia humanae metuit convicia linguae,
non timuisse graves divini iudicis iras:
quem patris aeterni solio dextraque sedentem,
omnibus impositum regem et labentibus annis
venturum, ut cunctas aequato examine gentes
iudicet et variis referat sua praemia gestis,
credo equidem et metuens studio properante laboro,
si qua datur, ne morte prius quam crimine solvar.
Huius in adventum trepidis mihi credula fibris
corda tremunt gestitque anima id iam cauta futuri,
praemetuens, ne vineta aegris pro corpore curis
ponderibusque gravis rerum, si forte recluso
increpitet tuba vasta polo, non possit in auras
regis ad occursum levibus se tollere pinnis,
inter honora volans sanctorum milia caelo,
qui per inane levis neque mundi conpede vinctos
ardua in astra pedes facili molimine tollent
et teneris vecti per sidera nubibus ibunt,
caelestem ut medio venerentur in aere regem
claraque adorato coniungant agmina Christo.
Hic metus est, labor iste, dies ne me ultimus atris
sopitum tenebris sterili deprendat in actu,
tempora sub vacuis ducentem perdita curis,
nam quid agam, lentis si, dum coniveo votis,
Christus ab aetheria mihi proditus arce coruscet
et, subitis domini caelo venientis aperto
praestrictus radiis, obscurae tristia noctis
suffugia inlato confusus lumine quaeram?
Quod mihi ne pareret vel diffidentia veri,
vel praesentis amor vitae rerumque voluptas
curarumque labor, placuit praevertere casus
proposito et curas finire superstite vita
communemque adeo ventura in saecula rebus
expectare trucem securo pectore mortem.
Si placet hoc, gratare tui spe divite amici:
si contra est, Christo tantum me Inique probari.

[¶4] Almighty Father of all things, to whom supreme power belongs, hear, if I pray aright. Let no day be passed by me in sadness, no night disturb my calm repose. Let others' goods not attract me, but rather let my own avail such as implore my aid: may none have a wish to hurt me or the means to hurt me. Let me have no occasion to will ill and let the unruffled power to do well be with me. Let my mind, content with its own and not given to base gains, overcome bodily enticements keeping the conscience of chaste conduct. Let that offending member, the ever-guilty tongue, well-pleasing to malicious ears for the poison it sheds, hate lewd jesting and unseemly words. Let me not be overcome by any man's decease, nor prosper through the death of any; let me never envy any man nor ever tell a lie. Be mine a cheerful home, and at my unpurchased 1 repasts may a well-fed slave bred in my house, my trusty comrade and prosperous henchman, serve blithely; and mine an obedient wife with children born of my clear wife. Upon pure conduct God bestows such gifts: such conduct assures itself of life unending against the world to come.

> Latin: Omnipotens genitor rerum, cui summa potestas,
exaudi, si iusta precor, ne sit mihi tristis
ulla dies, placidam nox rumpat nulla quietem,
nec placeant aliena mihi, quin et mea prosint
supplicibus nullusque habeat mihi vota nocendi
aut habeat nocitura mihi. male velle facultas
nulla sit ac bene posse adsit tranquilla potestas,
mens contenta suo nec turpi dedita lucro
vincat corporeas casto bene conscia lecto
inlecebras, turpesque iocos obscenaque dicta
oderit illa nocens et multum grata malignis
auribus effuso semper rea lingua veneno,
non obitu adfligar cuiusquam aut funere crescam,
invideam numquam cuiquam nec mentiar umquam,
adsit laeta domus epulisque adludat inemptis
venia satur fidusque comes nitidusque minister,
morigera et coniunx caraque ex coniuge nati.
Moribus haec castis tribuit deus: hi sibi mores
perpetuam spondent ventura in saecula vitam.

[¶5] Paulinus to the justly respected lord Gestidius. IT is an insult to present a man of standing who has plenty of sea dainties with anything derived from the land and country-side. But, that I might have excuse for some converse with you, my bosom friend, and to make a show of accompanying these words of mine with some token of respect, I am sending a poor few of the very few fig-peckers which my lads bring home of an evening. And since I blush for their small number, I added on more words to my verses, as though indeed I could increase their number by my chatter. But since both alike are open to criticism, you will do a kind and friendly action by pardoning both, so as to make the fewness of the birds not appear mean, and my wordiness not tiresome. Take, then, these fowl fed in the thickets of the country-side, which the cunning fowler, lurking beneath a screen of bracken, while he beguiles and decoys birds with a call like their own, has taken hanging on his limed twigs—a silly tribe. Then, bringing home his light prey of no slight price, he sets out the catch upon his stall: and the array makes goodly show of prime birds in front gradually thinning out towards the back of the counter. That the more skinny may not displease, the fat birds with their attractive plumpness hold the foremost place, forestalling and delighting the gaze.

> Latin: Iniuria quidem est patri familias maritimis deliciis abundanti terrenum aliquid et agreste praebere; sed ego, ut et causa mihi esset aput unanimitatem tuam aliquid conloquendi et aliquod sermoni huic obsequium viderer adiungere, panculas de paucissimis, quas pueruli vespere inferunt, ficedulas misi. quarum eum erubescerem paucitatem, plura etiam versiculis verba subtexui, quasi vero numerum loquacitate facturus. sed quia utraque culpabilia sunt, tu utrisque benigne ae familiariter ignoscendo facies, ut nec inhumana videatur paucitas nec odiosa garrulitas.
Sume igitur pastas dumoso in rure volucres,
quas latitans filicis sub tegmine callidus anceps,
dum simili mentitur aves fallitque susurro,
agmina viscatis suspendit credula virgis.
tunc referens tenuem non parvo munere praedam
digerit aucupium tabulis: et primus opimis
ordo nitet, sensim tenuatus ad ima tabellae.
ut minus offendat macies, praelata saginae
gratia praeventos pingui iuvat alite visus.

[¶6] THAT thy poor friend's loving gift may find favour with thee, think not on the rich gifts which thou sendest me. For what fit return can I make thee for those fish which the neighbouring shore supplies thee from its teeming pools, so wondrous in appearance, so diverse in shape? But for me in the deep pools amid the rocky shallows only a few shell-fish are bred among the dark seaweed. Of these I give thee a share sending across to thee twice five and twice three shells smelling of the sea's fragrance, filled with delicious meat and substance of double hue. I pray thee accept them gracefully and despise them not as little worth: if they are few, use great love in measuring their quantity.

> Latin: PAUPERIS ut placeat carum tibi munus amici,
munera ne reputes, quae mittis ditia nobis.
nam tibi quid dignum referam pro piscibus illis,
quos tibi vicinum locupleti gurgite litus
suppeditat miros specie formaque diremptos?
at mihi vix alto vada per saxosa profundo
rarus in obscura generatur sphondylus alga.
hinc te participans bis quinque et bis tibi ternas
transmisi aequoreo redolentes nectare testas,
quas viscus praedulce replet bieolore medulla.
Oro libens sumas, nec vilia dedigneris,
quae sunt parva modum magno metitus amore.
Pedite sursum flumina!
investigatum ferre dolo leporem.
quae tantae tenuere morae rumore sub omni?