(Nicobulus asked Gregory to publish a collection of his letters, so Gregory sent him a copy.)
(Nicobulus asked Gregory to publish a collection of his letters. Gregory forwards a copy.)
You are asking for flowers from an autumn meadow and arming Nestor in his old age by demanding from me now something clever in language, after I have long neglected everything enjoyable in language and in life. But still, since you are not imposing an Eurystheus-like or Herculean labor on me, but rather one that is very agreeable and quiet—to gather for you as many of my own letters as I can—you should place this volume among your books. It is a work of rhetoric, not love poetry, intended for practical use rather than for show, and for our own circle. Different authors have different characteristics, whether greater or lesser. Mine is a tendency to teach through maxims and direct statements whenever the opportunity arises. And just as a legitimate child reveals his father, so also does language, no less than bodily features reveal parents. These are my characteristics, as I have described them. You may repay me both by writing and by benefiting from what I have written. I cannot ask for or request any better reward than this—one that is more profitable to the one who asks or more fitting for the one who gives it.
You are asking flowers from an autumn meadow, and arming Nestor in his old age, in demanding from me now something clever in the way of language, after I have long neglected all that is enjoyable in language and in life. But yet (since it is not an Eurysthean or Herculean labour that you are imposing on me, but rather one which is very agreeable and quiet, to collect for you as many of my own letters as I can), do you place this volume among your books — a work not amatory but oratorical, and not for display so much as for use, and that for our own home. For different authors have different characteristics, greater or smaller. Mine is a tendency to instruct by maxims and positive statements wherever opportunity occurs. And as in a legitimate child, so also in language, the father is always visible, not less than parents are shown by bodily characteristics. Mine are such as I have mentioned. You may repay me both by writing and by deriving profit from what I have written. I cannot ask for or request any better reward than this, either more profitable to the asker, or more becoming him who gives it.