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!
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 salutemaccipit et Salve mediis intervenit armis,respondent et saxa homini et percussus ab antrissermo redit, redit et nemorum vocalis imago;litorei clamant scopuli, dant murmura rivi,Hyblacis apibus saepes depasta susurrat.est et harundineis modulatio musica ripiscumque suis loquitur tremulum coma pinea ventis,incubuit foliis quotiens levis curus acutis,Dindyma Gargarico respondent cantica luco.nil inlitum natura dedit, non aeris alesquadrupedesve silent, habet et sua sibila serpens,et pecus aequoreum tenui vice vocis anhelat.cymbala dant flictu sonitum, dant pulpita saltuicta pedum, tentis reboant cava tympana tergis;Isiacos agitant Mareotica sistra tumultusnec Dodonaci cessat tinnitus aeni,in numerum quotiens radiis ferientibus ictaerespondent dociles modulato verbere pelves.Tu velut Oebaliis habites taciturnus Amyclisaut tua Sigalion Aegyptius oscula signet,obnixum, Pauline, taces, agnosco pudorem,quod vitium fovet ipsa suum cessatio iugis,dumque pudet tacuisse diu, placet officiorumnon servare vices; et amant longa otia culpam,quis prohibet Salve atque Vale brevitate paratascribere felicesque notas mandare libellis?non ego, longinquos ut texat pagina versus,postulo multiplicique oneret sermone tabellas.una fuit tantum, qua respondere Laconeslittera, et irato regi placuere negantes,est etenim comis brevitas: sic fama renatumPythagoram docuisse refert, cum multa loquacesambiguis sererent verbis, contra omnia solumEst, respondebat, vel Non. o certa loquendiregula! 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 locutusprovehor? ut diversa sibi vicinaque culpa est!multa loquens et cuncta silens non ambo placemus.nec possum reticere, iugum quod libera numquamfert pietas nec amat blandis postponere verum,vertisti, Pauline, tuos dulcissime mores?Vasconis hoc saltus et ninguida Pyrenaeihospitia 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 senatiBirbilis aut haerens scopulis Calagorris habebit,aut quae deiectis iuga per seruposa ruinisarida torrentem Sicorim despectat Hilerda?hic trabeam, Pauline, tuam Latiamque curulemconstituis, patriosque istic sepelibis honores?Quis tamen iste tibi tam longa silentia suasitimpius? ut nullos hie vocem vertat in usus,gaudia non illum vegetent, non dulcia vatumcarmina, non blandae modulatio flexa querellae,non fera, non illum peeudes, non mulceat ales,non quae pastorum nemoralibus abdita lueissolatur nostras Eeho resecuta loquellas.tristis, egens deserta eolat tacitusque pererretAlpinis conexa iugis, eeu dicitur olimmentis inops coetus hominum et vestigia vitansavia perlustrasse vagus loca Bellerophontes.Haec preeor, hanc vocem, Boeotia numina M usae,accipite et Latiis vatem revocate eamenis.
'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.
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 libellodona 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 acerbumsedit, et e blandis aspera penso animo,ista suo regerenda loco tamen et graviorevindicis heroi sunt agitanda sono.interea levior paucis praecurret iambusdisere to referens mutua verba pede.Nunc elegi salvere iubent dictaque salute,ut fecere aliis orsa gradumque, silent.Ausonio PaulinusQuid abdicatas in meam curam, pater,redire Musas praecipis?negant Camenis nec patent Apollinidicata Christo pectora,fuit ista quondam non ope, sed studio paritecum mihi concordia,ciere surdum Delphica Phoebum specu,vocare Musas numina,fandique munus munere indultum deipetere 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 litterisvetat; suis ut pareamus legibuslucemque cernamus suam,quam vis sophorum callida arsque rhetorum etfigmenta vatum nubilant,qui corda falsis atque vanis imbuunttantumque 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 deumin utrumque se commercia,hic ergo nostris ut suum praecordiisvibraverit eaelo iubar,abstergit aegrum corporis pigri situmhabitumque mentis innovat:exhaurit omne, quod iuvabat antea,castae voluptatis vice,totusque nostra iure domini vindicatet corda et ora et tempora,se cogitari, intellegi, credi, legi,se vult timeri et diligi,aestus inanes, quos movet vitae laborpraesentis aevi tramite,abolet futura cum deo vitae fides.quae, quas videmur spernere,non ut profanas abicit aut viles opes,set ut magis caras monetcaelo reponi ereditas Christo deo,qui plura promisit datis,contempta praesens vel mage deposita sibimulto ut rependat faenore,sine fraude custos, aucta creditoribusbonus aera reddet debitormultaque sprctam largior pecuniamrestituet usura deus.Huic vacantem vel studentem et deditum,in hoc reponentem omniane quaeso segnem neve perversum putesnec crimineris impium,pietas abesse Christiano qui potest?namque argumentum mutuum estpietatis, esse Christianum, et impii,non esse Christo subdilum.hanc cum tenere discimus, possum tibinon exhibere, id est patri,cui cuncta sancta iura, cara nominadebere me voluit deus?tibi disciplinas, dignitatem, litteras,linguae, togae, famae decusprovectus, altus, institutus debeo,patrone, praeceptor, pater.Sed cur remotus tamdiu degam, arguispioque 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 Paulinusdefore me patriis tota trieteride terrisatque alium legisse vagis erroribus orbem,culta prius vestrae oblitum consortia vitae,increpitas sanctis mota pietate querellis.amplector patrio venerandos pectore motuset 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 haerentnec 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 miscetquique 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 nostraet loca disponit, quod si contraria votisconstituat nostri, prece deflectendus in illa est,quae volumus. quid me accusas? si displicet actusquem 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 illotempore qui fuerim, quo non perversus habebaret perversus eram falsi caligine cernens,stulta dei sapiens et mortis pabula vivens.quo magis ignosci mihi fas, quia promptius ex hocagnosci datur a summo genitore novari,quod non more meo geritur: non, arbitror, isticconfessus dicar mutatae in prava notandumerrorem mentis, quoniam sim sponte professusme non mente mea vitam mutasse priorem,mens nova mi,fateor, means nonmea: non meaquondam,set mea nunc auctore deo, qui, si quid in actuingeniove 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 verticonsilia, ut sim promeritus Christi fore, dum sumAusonii, feret ille tuae sua praemia laudideque tua primum tibi deferet arbore fructum.Unde, precor, meliora putes nec maxima perdaspraemia detestando tuis bona fontibus orta.non etenim mihi mens vaga, sed neque participantumvita fugax hominum, Lyciae qua scribis in antrisPcgaseum vixisse equitem, licet avia multinumine agente eolant, clari velut ante sophorumpro studiis musisque suis: ut nunc quoque, castisqui Christum sumpsere animis, agitare frequentant,non inopes animi neque de feritate legentesdesertis habitare locis; sed in ardua versisidera spectantesque deum verique profundaperspicere intenti de vanis libera curisotia amant strepitumque fori rerumque tumultuscunctaque divinis inimica negotia donis,et Christi imperiis et amore salutis, abhorrentspeque 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 mereatursecreta ignitus penetrans caelestia sensus.namque caduca patent nostris, aeterna neganturvisibus; et nunc spe sequimur,quod mente videmus,spernentes varias, rerum spectacula, formaset 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 sitfama? fides voti par est, sed amoena colenti,nunc etiam et blanda posito locupletis in actalitoris, unde haec iam tam festinata locoruminvidia est? utinam iustus me carpere livorincipiat: 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 versumincrepites studiis neque me vel coniuge carpasvel mentis vitio: non anxia Bellerophontismens 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, nosnec caeli inmemores nec vivere mentis egentes,humanisque agitare locis, studia ipsa piorumtestantur mores hominum; nec enim impia summumgens poterit novisse deum: sint multa locorum,multa hominum studiis inculta, expertia legum,quae regio agresti ritu earet? aut quid in istisimprobitas aliena nocet? quod tu mihi vastosVaseoniae saltus et ninguida Pyrenaeiobicis hospitia, in primo quasi limine fixusHispanae regionis agam nec sit locus usquamrure vel urbe mihi, summum qua dives in orbemusque 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 haerentinspersae fibris maculae: si Vascone saltuquisquis agit purus sceleris vitam, integer aequenulla ab inhumano morum contagia ducithospite, sed mihi cur sit ab illo nomine crimen,qui diversa colo, ut colui, loca iuncta superbisurbibus et laetis hominum celeberrima cultis?ac si Vasconicis mihi vita fuisset in oris,cur non more meo potius formata ferinosponeret, in nostros migrans, gens barbara ritus?Nam quod in cversis habitacula ponis Hiberaurbibus et deserta tuo legis oppida versumontanamque milli Calagorrim et Birbilim acutispendentem scopulis eodemque iacentis Hilerdacexprobras, velut his habitem laris exul et urbisextra hominum tecta atque vias; — an credis Hiberaehas 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 amoenaet 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 nitentemBurdigalam et piceos malis describere Boios?cumque Maroialicis tua prodigis otia thermisinter et umbrosos donas tibi vivere lucos,laeta locis et mira colens habitacula tectis:nigrantesne casas et texta mapalia culmodignaque pellitis habitas deserta Bigerris?quique superba tuae contemnis moenia Romaeconsul, arenosas non dedignare Vasatas?vel quia Pictonicis tibi fertile rus viret arvis,Raraunum Ausonias heu devenisse curulesconquerar, et trabeam veteri sordescere fano;quae tamen augusta Latiaris in urbe QuiriniCaesareas inter parili titulo palmatasfulget 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 dulcesfermentare iocos satirae mordacis acetosaepe poetarum, numquam decet esse parentum,namque fides pietasque petunt, ut, quod mala nectensinsinuat castis fama auribus, hoc bona votimens patris adfigi fixumque haerescere cordinon sinat, et vulgus scaevo rumore malignumante habitos mores, non semper flectere vitamcrimen habet: namque est laudi bene vertere, eum meinmutatum audis, studium officiumque require.si pravo rectum, si relligiosa profanis,luxurie parcum, turpi mutatur honestum,segnis, iners, obscurus ago, miserere sodalisin mala perversi: blandum licet ira parentemexcitet, ut lapsum rectis instauret amicummoribus et monitu reparet meliora severo.At si forte itidem, quod legi et quod sequor, audis,corda pio vovisse deo venerabile Christiimperium docili pro credulitate sequentem,persuasumque dei monitis aeterna pararipraemia 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 huiuserroris, stultus diversa sequentibus essenil moror, aeterno mea dum sententia regisit 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 errorcumque suo moriens sententia iudice transit.Et nisi, dum tempus praesens datur, anxia nobiscura 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 annisventurum, ut cunctas aequato examine gentesiudicet 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 fibriscorda tremunt gestitque anima id iam cauta futuri,praemetuens, ne vineta aegris pro corpore curisponderibusque gravis rerum, si forte reclusoincrepitet tuba vasta polo, non possit in aurasregis ad occursum levibus se tollere pinnis,inter honora volans sanctorum milia caelo,qui per inane levis neque mundi conpede vinctosardua in astra pedes facili molimine tollentet teneris vecti per sidera nubibus ibunt,caelestem ut medio venerentur in aere regemclaraque adorato coniungant agmina Christo.Hic metus est, labor iste, dies ne me ultimus atrissopitum 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 coruscetet, subitis domini caelo venientis apertopraestrictus radiis, obscurae tristia noctissuffugia inlato confusus lumine quaeram?Quod mihi ne pareret vel diffidentia veri,vel praesentis amor vitae rerumque voluptascurarumque labor, placuit praevertere casusproposito et curas finire superstite vitacommunemque adeo ventura in saecula rebusexpectare trucem securo pectore mortem.Si placet hoc, gratare tui spe divite amici:si contra est, Christo tantum me Inique probari.