Jerome: Epistulae

[1] Saepe a me, Innocenti carissime, postulasti, ut de eius miraculo rei, quae in nostram aetatem inciderat, non tacerem. cumque ego id verecunde et vere, ut nunc experior, negarem meque adsequi posse diffiderem, sive quia omnis humanus sermo inferior esset laude caelesti, sive quia otium quasi quaedam ingenii robigo parvulam licet facultatem pristini siccasset eloquii, tu e contrario adserebas in dei rebus non possibilitatem inspici debere, sed animum, neque eum posse verba deficere, qui credidisset in verbo.

[1] Often, dearest Innocent, you have asked of me that I not be silent about the miracle of that affair which had fallen into our age. And whereas I modestly and truly, as I now experience, was denying it and was distrusting that I could attain it, whether because all human speech would be inferior to celestial praise, or because leisure, as a kind of rust of talent, had dried up—though small—the faculty of my former eloquence, you on the contrary were asserting that in God’s matters one ought not to inspect possibility, but spirit, and that words could not fail him who had believed in the Word.

[2.1] Quid igitur faciam? quod inplere non possum, negare non audeo. super onerariam navem rudis vector inponor et homo, qui necdum scalmum in lacu rexi, Euxini maris credor fragori.

[2.1] What then shall I do? What I cannot fulfill, I do not dare to deny. I am set upon a cargo ship as a raw passenger, and I—a man who has not yet steered at an oarlock on a lake—am entrusted to the roar of the Euxine Sea.

nunc mihi evanescentibus terris "caelum undique et undique pontus" [Verg. Aen. 3.193], nunc unda tenebris inhorrescens et caeca nocte nimborum spumei fluctus canescunt.

now, as the lands evanesce for me, "sky on every side and on every side sea" [Verg. Aen. 3.193], now the wave, bristling with darkness, and in the blind night of storm-clouds the spumy billows grow canescent.

[2.2] hortaris, ut tumida malo vela suspendam, rudentes explicem, clavum regam. pareo iam iubenti et, quia caritas omnia potest, spiritu sancto cursum prosequente confidam habiturus in utraque parte solacium: si me ad optatos portus aestus adpulerit, gubernator putabor; si inter asperos orationis anfractus inpolitus sermo substiterit, facultatem forsitan quaeras, voluntatem certe flagitare non poteris.

[2.2] you exhort me, that I suspend the swelling sails from the mast, unroll the ropes, the helm I govern. I already obey the one commanding, and, since charity can do all things, with the Holy Spirit accompanying the course I shall be confident, about to have on either side solace: if the surge drives me to the desired harbors, I shall be thought a helmsman; if among the rough anfractuosities of oration unpolished speech should halt, you may perhaps seek the faculty, but surely you will not be able to upbraid the will.

[3.1] Igitur Vercellae Ligurum civitas haud procul a radicibus Alpium sita, olim potens, nunc raro habitatore semiruta. hanc cum ex more consularis inviseret, oblatam sibi quandam mulierculam una cum adultero -- nam id crimen maritus inpegerat -- poenali carceris horrore circumdedit. [3.2] neque multo post, cum lividas carnes ungula cruenta pulsaret et sulcatis lateribus dolor quaereret veritatem, infelicissimus iuvenis volens conpendio mortis longos vitare cruciatus, dum in suum mentitur sanguinem, accusavit alienum solusque omnium miser merito visus est percuti, quia non reliquit innoxiae, unde posset negare.

[3.1] Therefore Vercellae, a city of the Ligurians situated not far from the roots of the Alps, once powerful, now half-ruined with a rare inhabitant. When the consular, according to custom, visited this place, a certain little woman offered to him together with her adulterer — for the husband had fastened that charge — he surrounded with the penal horror of prison. [3.2] And not long after, when a bloody claw was beating the livid flesh and, the sides being furrowed, pain was seeking the truth, a most unlucky young man, willing by the shortcut of death to avoid long torments, while he lied unto his own blood, accused another’s; and he alone of all the wretched seemed deservedly to be struck, because he did not leave to the innocent woman anything from which she could deny.

[3.3] at vero mulier sexu fortior suo, cum eculeus corpus extenderet et sordidas paedore carceris manus post tergum vincula cohiberent, oculis, quos tantum tortor alligare non poterat, suspexit ad caelum et volutis per ora lacrimis: 'tu,' inquit, testis, domine Iesu, cui occultum nihil est, qui es scrutator renis et cordis, non ideo me negare velle, ne peream, sed ideo mentiri nolle, ne peccem. [3.4] at tu, miserrime homo, si interire festinas, cur duos interimis innocentes? equidem et ipsa cupio mori, cupio invisum hoc corpus exuere, sed non quasi adultera.

[3.3] but in truth
the woman, stronger than her sex, while the rack stretched her body
and bonds held fast behind her back her hands, filthy with the prison’s foulness,
with her eyes—which alone the torturer could not bind—
looked up to heaven, and with tears rolling over her face: “You,” she said,
“witness, Lord Jesus, to whom nothing is hidden, who are
the Scrutator of reins and heart, it is not for this that I wish to deny, lest I perish,
but for this that I am unwilling to lie, lest I sin. [3.4] But you, most wretched
man, if you are in haste to perish, why do you slay two innocents? I too myself desire to die, I desire to strip off this hateful body,
but not as an adulteress.”

praesto iugulum, micantem intrepida excipio mucronem, innocentiam tantum mecum feram. non moritur, quisquis victurus occiditur.'

I present my throat, undaunted I receive the flashing blade, I will bear only innocence with me. He does not die, whoever is slain to live.'

[4] Igitur consularis pastis cruore luminibus ut fera, quae gustatum semel sanguinem semper sitit, duplicari tormenta iubet, et saevum dentibus frendens similem carnifici minitatus est poenam, nisi confiteretur sexus infirmior, quod non potuerat robur virile reticere.

[4] Therefore the consular, his eyes fed on gore like a wild beast which, once it has tasted blood, is forever athirst, orders the torments to be doubled; and, gnashing his teeth savagely, menacing like an executioner, he threatened punishment unless the weaker sex should confess what virile strength had not been able to keep in reticence.

[5.1] 'Succurre, domine Iesu: ad unum hominem tuum quam plura sunt inventa supplicia!' crines ligantur ad stipitem et toto corpore ad eculeum fortius alligato vicinus pedibus ignis adponitur, utrumque latus carnifex fodit nec papillis dantur indutiae: inmota mulier manet et a dolore corporis spiritu separato, dum conscientiae bono fruitur, vetuit circa se saevire tormenta. [5.2] iudex crudelis quasi superatus adtollitur, illa dominum deprecatur; solvuntur membra conpagibus, illa oculos ad caelum tendit; de communi scelere alius confitetur, illa pro confitente negat et periclitans ipsa alium vindicat periclitantem.

[5.1] 'Succor, Lord Jesus: against your one servant how many tortures have been invented!' Her hair is tied to a stake, and with her whole body more tightly bound to the rack a fire is set near her feet; the executioner pierces each flank, nor is a truce granted to the nipples: the woman remains unmoved, and with her spirit separated from the pain of the body, while she enjoys the good of conscience, she forbade the torments to rage around her. [5.2] The cruel judge, as if overcome, rises up; she entreats the Lord; her limbs are released from their fastenings; she stretches her eyes to heaven; another confesses to the common crime; she, on behalf of the confessor, denies it, and she herself, being in peril, vindicates another in peril.

[6.1] Una interim vox: 'caede, ure, lacera; non feci. si dictis tollitur fides, veniet dies, quae hoc crimen diligenter excutiat; habebo iudicem meum.' [6.2] iam lassus tortor suspirabat in gemitum nec erat novo vulneri locus, iam victa saevitia corpus, quod laniarat, horrebat: extemplo ira excitus consularis: 'quid miramini,' inquit, 'circumstantes, si torqueri mavult mulier, quam perire? adulterium certe sine duobus committi non potest et esse credibilius reor noxiam ream negare de scelere, quam innocentem iuvenem confiteri.'

[6.1] Meanwhile one single utterance: 'Kill, burn, lacerate; I did not do it. If trust is taken away from words, there will come a day which will diligently examine this charge; I shall have my judge.' [6.2] Already the torturer, weary, was sighing into a groan, and there was no place for a new wound; already his savagery, conquered, shuddered at the body which it had lacerated: straightway the consular, roused by wrath: 'Why do you marvel,' he says, 'you bystanders, if a woman prefers to be tortured rather than to perish? Adultery certainly cannot be committed without two, and I reckon it more credible that a guilty defendant should deny a crime than that an innocent young man should confess.'

[7.1] Pari igitur prolata in utrumque sententia damnatos carnifex trahit. totus ad spectaculum populus effunditur et, prorsus quasi migrare civitas putaretur, stipatis proruens portis turba densatur. et quidem miserrimi iuvenis ad primum statim ictum amputatur gladio caput truncumque in suo sanguine volutatur cadaver.

[7.1] Accordingly, with a like sentence pronounced against both, the executioner drags the condemned. The whole populace pours out to the spectacle, and, absolutely as if the city were thought to be migrating, with the gates packed and the throng rushing headlong, it grows dense. And indeed, at the very first stroke, the head of the most wretched youth is cut off by the sword, and the truncated corpse rolls in its own blood.

[7.2] postquam vero ad feminam ventum est et flexis in terram poplitibus super trementem cervicem micans elevatus est gladius et exercitatam carnifex dexteram totis viribus concitavit, ad primum corporis tactum stetit mucro letalis et leviter perstringens cutem rasurae modicae sanguinem adspersit. inbellem manum percussor expavit et victam dexteram gladio marcescente miratus in secundos impetus torquet. [7.3] languidus rursum in feminam mucro delabitur et, quasi ferrum ream timeret adtingere, circa cervicem torpet innoxium.

[7.2] After, however, it came to the woman, and with her knees bent to the ground, above her trembling
neck the flashing sword was lifted, and the executioner with all his strength drove his practiced
right hand, at the first touch of the body the lethal point stood still, and, lightly grazing the skin
with a slight razure, it aspersed with blood. The striker grew afraid of his unwarlike hand and, amazed
at his right hand vanquished, the sword growing faint, he winds up for second attempts. [7.3] Again the
languid point slips down upon the woman and, as if the iron were afraid to touch the accused, around the
neck it is torpid, innoxious.

itaque furens et anhelus lictor paludamento in cervicem retorto, dum totas expedit vires, fibulam, quae chlamydis mordebat oras, in humum excussit ignarusque rei ensem librat in vulnus et 'en tibi,' ait mulier, 'ex umero aurum ruit. collige multo quaesitum labore, ne pereat.'

and so, raging and panting, the lictor, with his paludamentum
twisted back onto his neck, while he deploys all his strength, the fibula,
which was biting the borders of the chlamys, he shook out onto the ground;
and, unaware of the matter, he poises the sword at the wound, and “see—for you,”
says the woman, “from the shoulder gold is falling. Gather what was sought
with much labor, lest it perish.”

[8.1] Rogo, quae est ista securitas? inpendentem non timet mortem, laetatur percussa, carnifex pallet; oculi gladium non videntes tantum fibulam vident et, ne parum esset, quod non formidabat interitum, praestabat beneficium saevienti. [8.2] iam igitur et tertius ictus: sacramentum frustraverat trinitatis.

[8.1] I ask, what is this security? she does not fear the impending death, struck she rejoices, the executioner grows pale; eyes not seeing the sword see only the fibula (brooch), and, lest it were too little that she did not dread destruction, she was bestowing a beneficence upon the raging one. [8.2] now therefore even a third stroke: she had frustrated the sacrament of the Trinity.

iam speculator exterritus et non credens ferro mucronem aptabat in iugulum, ut, qui secare non poterat, saltim premente manu corpori conderetur: -- o omnibus inaudita res saeculis! -- ad capulum gladius reflectitur et velut dominum suum victus aspiciens confessus est se ferire non posse.

now the executioner, terrified and not trusting the steel was fitting the point to the jugular, so that, since he could not cut, at least with a pressing hand it might be buried in the body: -- o deed unheard-of to all ages! -- the sword is turned back to the hilt, and, as if—vanquished—looking at its master it confessed that it could not smite.

[9.1] Huc, huc mihi trium exempla puerorum, qui inter frigidos flammarum globos hymnos edidere pro fletibus, circa quorum sarabara sanctamque caesariem innoxium lusit incendium. huc beati Danihelis revocetur historia, iuxta quem adulantibus caudis praedam suam leonum ora timuerunt. [9.2] nunc Susanna nobilis fide mentes omnium subeat, quae iniquo damnata iudicio sancto spiritu puerum replente servata est.

[9.1] Here, here, let the examples of the three boys be brought to me, who amid the cold
globes of flames uttered hymns instead of tears, around whose
sarabara and holy hair the harmless fire played. Here let the story of blessed Daniel be called back, beside whom, with fawning
tails, the mouths of the lions feared their own prey. [9.2] Now let Susanna, noble
in faith, come into the minds of all, who, condemned by an unjust judgment, was saved, the Holy
Spirit filling the boy.

ecce non dispar in utraque misericordia domini: illa liberata per iudicem, ne iret ad gladium, haec a iudice damnata absoluta per gladium est.

behold, not unlike in both is the mercy of the Lord: that one was freed by the judge, lest she go to the sword,
this one, condemned by the judge, was absolved by the sword.

[10.1] Tandem ergo ad feminam vindicandam populus armatur. omnis aetas, omnis sexus carnificem fugat et coetu in circulum coeunte non credit paene unusquisque, quod vidit. turbatur tali nuntio urbs propinqua et tota lictorum caterva glomeratur.

[10.1] At length, therefore, the people are armed to vindicate the woman. every age, every sex puts the executioner to flight, and, the assembly coming together into a circle, scarcely does almost each person believe what he saw. the nearby city is thrown into turmoil by such a message, and the whole band of lictors is massed.

[10.2] e quibus medius, ad quem damnatorum cura pertinebat, erumpens et "canitiem inmundam perfuso pulvere turpans" [Verg. Aen. 12.611]: 'meum,' inquit, 'o cives, petitis caput, me illi vicarium datis!

[10.2] From among them the one in the middle, upon whom the care of the condemned pertained, bursting forth and "disfiguring his unclean gray hair with dust poured over" [Verg. Aen. 12.611]: 'My head, O citizens, you seek; me you are giving to him as a vicarious substitute!'

si misericordes, si clementes estis, si vultis servare damnatam, innocens certe perire non debeo.' quo fletu vulgi concussus est animus maestusque se per omnes torpor insinuat et mirum in modum voluntate mutata, cum pietatis fuisset, quod ante defenderant, pietatis visum est genus, ut paterentur occidi.

'If you are merciful, if you are clement, if you wish
to save the condemned woman, I, being innocent, surely ought not to perish.' By this weeping
the spirit of the crowd was shaken, and a mournful torpor insinuates itself through all,
and, in a wondrous manner, with their will changed, though it had been of piety, what
they had previously defended seemed a kind of piety, that they should suffer her to be killed.

[11] Novus igitur ensis, novus percussor adponitur. stat victima Christo tantum favente munita. semel percussa concutitur, iterum repetita quassatur, tertio vulnerata prosternitur et -- o divinae potentiae sublimanda maiestas!

[11] Therefore a new sword, a new striker is appointed. The victim stands, with Christ
alone favoring, fortified. Struck once, she is shaken; assailed again,
she is battered; wounded a third time, she is cast down, and -- O majesty of divine potency
to be exalted!

-- quae prius fuerat quarto percussa nec laesa, ideo paululum visa est mori, ne pro ea periret innoxius.

-- who earlier had been struck a fourth time and not harmed, therefore seemed to die a little, lest an innocent perish on her account.

[12.1] Clerici, quibus id officii erat, cruentum linteo cadaver obvolvunt et fossam humum lapidibus construentes ex more tumulum parant. festinato sol cursu occasum petit et misericordiam domini celatura nox advenit. [12.2] subito feminae palpitat pectus et oculis quaerentibus lucem corpus animatur ad vitam: iam spirat, iam videt, iam sublevatur et loquitur, iam in illam potest vocem erumpere: "dominus auxiliator meus, non timebo, quid faciat mihi homo" [Ps. 117.6].

[12.1] The clerics, whose duty it was, wrap the bloody cadaver with a linen cloth and, lining the dug earth with stones, according to custom prepare the sepulcher. With its course hastened the sun seeks its setting, and night, about to conceal the mercy of the Lord, arrives. [12.2] Suddenly the woman’s breast palpitates, and with eyes seeking the light the body is animated to life: now she breathes, now she sees, now she is lifted up and speaks, now into that voice she can burst forth: "the Lord my helper mine, I will not fear, what can a man do to me" [Ps. 117.6].

[13.1] Anus interim quaedam, quae ecclesiae sustentabatur opibus, debitum caelo spiritum reddidit et quasi de industria ordine currente rerum vicarium tumulo corpus operitur. dubia adhuc luce in lictore zabulus occurrit, quaerit cadaver occisae, sepulchrum sibi monstrari petit; vivere putat, quam mori potuisse miratur. [13.2] recens a clericis caespes ostenditur et dudum superiecta humus cum his vocibus ingeritur flagitanti: 'erue scilicet ossa iam condita, infer novum sepulchro bellum et, si hoc parum est, avibus ferisque lanianda membra discerpe; septies percussa debet aliquid morte plus perpeti.'

[13.1] Meanwhile a certain old woman, who was sustained by the resources of the church, rendered her due spirit to heaven, and, as if on purpose with the order of events running on, the vicarious body of the affair is covered with a tomb. with the light still doubtful, in the lictor the Devil runs up, seeks the corpse of the slain woman, asks that the sepulcher be shown to him; he thinks she lives, he marvels that she could have died. [13.2] fresh turf is shown by the clerics, and the earth lately thrown over is thrust back at the one demanding with these words: 'by all means dig up the bones now laid to rest, bring a new war upon the sepulcher, and, if this is too little, tear apart the limbs to be mangled by birds and wild beasts; she who was struck seven times ought to suffer something more than death.'

[14] Tali invidia carnifice confuso clam domi mulier focilatur et, ne forte creber ad ecclesiam medici commeatus suspicionis panderet viam, cum quibusdam virginibus ad secretiorem villulam secto crine transmittitur. ibi paulatim virili habitu veste mutata in cicatricem vulnus obducitur. et -- o vere "ius summum summa malitia!" [Ter.

[14] With the executioner confounded by such ill-will, the woman is secretly nursed back at home; and, lest perhaps the physician’s frequent going to the church should open a path of suspicion, with certain virgins she is transferred to a more secluded little villa, her hair having been cut. there gradually, with her garment changed to a virile habit, the wound is drawn over into a scar. and -- oh truly, "the highest law, the highest malice!" [Ter.

Heaut. 796] -- post tanta miracula adhuc saeviunt leges.

Heaut. 796] -- after such great miracles the laws still rage on.

[15.1] En quo me gestorum ordo protraxit! iam enim ad Evagrii nostri nomen advenimus. cuius ego pro Christo laborem si arbitrer a me dici posse, non sapiam, si penitus tacere velim, voce in gaudium erumpente non possim.

[15.1] Lo, to what point the order of deeds has drawn me! For now we have come to the name of our Evagrius. Whose labor for Christ, if I should judge that it could be told by me, I should not be wise; if I should wish to be utterly silent, with my voice erupting into joy, I cannot.

[15.2] quis enim valeat digno canere praeconio Auxentium Mediolanii incubantem huius excubiis sepultum paene ante quam mortuum, Romanum episcopum iam paene factionis laqueis inretitum et vicisse adversarios et non nocuisse superatis?

[15.2] for who indeed could be strong enough to sing with worthy proclamation: Auxentius of Milan, weighed upon by this man’s vigils, buried almost before he was dead; the Roman bishop already almost ensnared in the nooses of a faction; and that he both conquered his adversaries and did no harm to those overcome?

[15.3] "Verum haec ipse equidem spatiis exclusus iniquis praetereo atque aliis post <me> memoranda relinquo" [Verg. G. 4.147-148]. praesentis tantum rei fine contentus sum: imperatorem industria adit, precibus fatigat, merito lenit, sollicitudine promeretur, ut redditam vitae redderet libertati.

[15.3] "But these things indeed I myself, shut out by inequitable bounds, pass over,
and leave to others after me to be remembered" [Verg. G. 4.147-148].
I am content with only the end of the present matter: he approaches the emperor with industry,
wearies him with prayers, rightly softens him, by solicitude earns his favor, so that
he might give back to liberty the one given back to life.

2: Ad Theodosium et ceteros anachoretas intrinsicus commorantes

2: To Theodosius and the other anchorites dwelling within

Quam, quam vellem nunc vestro interesse conventui et admirandum consortium, licet isti oculi non mereantur aspicere, tota cum exultatione conplecti! spectarem desertum, omni amoeniorem civitatem, viderem desolata ab accolis loca quasi ad quoddam paradisi instar sanctorum coetibus obsideri. verum quia hoc mea fecere delicta, ne consortio beatorum insereretur obsessum omni crimine caput, idcirco obsecro, quia vos impetrare posse non ambigo, ut me ex istius saeculi tenebris vestro liberetis oratu.

How, how I would now wish to be present at your gathering and to embrace with all exultation the admirable consortium, although these eyes do not deserve to behold it! I would gaze upon the desert, more delightful than any city, I would see places deserted by dwellers as if, to a certain likeness of paradise, being besieged by the assemblies of the saints. But because my sins have brought this to pass, that a head beleaguered by every crime should not be inserted into the fellowship of the blessed, therefore I beseech—since I do not doubt that you can obtain it—that you may free me by your prayer from the darkness of this age.

et ante dixeram praesens et nunc per litteras votum indicare non cesso, quod mens mea omni ad id studium cupiditate rapiatur; nunc vestrum est, ut voluntatem sequatur effectus. meum est, ut velim; obsecrationum vestrarum est, ut et velim et possim. ego ita sum quasi a cuncto grege morbida aberrans ovis.

and I had said before in person and now by letters I do not cease to declare my vow, that my mind is swept away with every zeal of desire toward that; now it is yours, that the effect follow the will. it is mine, to will; it is of your supplications, that I both will and can. I am thus as a sick sheep straying from the whole flock.

quod nisi me bonus pastor ad sua stabula umeris inpositum reportarit, lababunt gressus et in ipso conamine vestigia concident adsurgentis. ego sum ille prodigus filius, qui omni, quam mihi pater crediderat, portione profusa necdum me ad genitoris genua submisi necdum coepi prioris a me luxuriae blandimenta depellere. et quia paululum non tam desivi a vitiis, quam coepi velle desinere, nunc me novis diabolus retibus ligat, nunc nova inpedimenta proponens maria undique circumdat et undique pontum, nunc in medio constitutus elemento nec regredi volo nec progredi possum.

unless the good shepherd carries me back to his own folds, set upon his shoulders, my steps will wobble and in the very attempt the tracks of one rising will collapse. i am that prodigal son, who, having squandered every portion which the father had entrusted to me, have not yet bowed myself to the knees of my begetter, nor yet begun to drive away from me the blandishments of former luxury. and because for a little while i have not so much ceased from vices as begun to be willing to cease, now the devil binds me with new nets, now, proposing new impediments, he surrounds me on every side with seas and on every side with the deep; now, set in the midst of the element, i neither wish to go back nor am able to go forward.

superest, ut oratu vestro sancti spiritus aura me provehat et ad portum optati litoris prosequatur.

It remains, that by your prayer the breeze of the Holy Spirit may bear me onward and
accompany me to the port of the longed-for shore.

3: Ad Rufinum

3: To Rufinus

[1.1] Plus deum tribuere, quam rogatur, et ea saepe concedere, "quae nec oculus vidit nec auris audivit nec in cor hominis ascenderunt" [1 Cor. 2:9], licet ex sacrorum magisterio voluminum ante cognoverim, tamen in causa propria nunc probavi, Rufine carissime. ego enim, qui audacia satis vota credebam, si vicissitudine litterarum imaginem nobis praesentiae mentiremur, audio te Aegypti secreta penetrare, monachorum invisere choros et caelestem in terris circuire familiam.

[1.1] That God bestows more than is asked, and often grants those things "which neither eye has seen nor ear has heard nor have ascended into the heart of man" [1 Cor. 2:9], although from the magistery of the sacred volumes I had previously learned it, yet in my own case I have now proved, dearest Rufinus. For I, who thought it bold enough in my prayers, if by the vicissitude of letters we might counterfeit for ourselves an image of presence, hear that you are penetrating the secrets of Egypt, visiting the choirs of monks, and going about the heavenly family on earth.

[1.2] o si mihi nunc dominus Iesus Christus vel Philippi ad eunuchum vel Ambacum ad Danihelum translationem repente concederet, quam ego nunc arte tua stringerem colla conplexibus, quam illud os, quod mecum vel erravit aliquando vel sapuit, inpressis figerem labiis! verum quia non mereor et invalidum etiam cum sanum est corpusculum crebri fregere morbi, has mei vicarias et tibi obvias mitto, quae te copula amoris innexum ad me usque perducant.

[1.2] O if now the Lord Jesus Christ would suddenly grant me a translation, as of Philip to the eunuch or of Habakkuk to Daniel, how tightly would I now clasp your neck with embraces, how would I fasten that mouth—which with me has at times erred or been wise—with lips pressed upon it! But since I do not deserve it, and frequent illnesses have shattered my little body, which is weak even when it is sound, I send these substitutes for me, which meet you, that they may lead you, bound by the bond of love, all the way to me.

[2.1] Prima inopinati gaudii ab Heliodoro nuntiata felicitas. non credebam certum, quod certum esse cupiebam, praesertim cum et ille ab alio audisse se diceret et rei novitas fidem sermonis auferret. rursum suspensam voto nutantemque mentem quidam Alexandrinus monachus, qui ad Aegyptios confessores et voluntate iam martyres pio plebis fuerat transmissus obsequio, manifestus ad credulitatem nuntii auctor inpulerat.

[2.1] The first felicity of the unlooked-for joy was announced by Heliodorus. I did not believe as certain that which I desired to be certain, especially since he too said that he had heard it from another, and the novelty of the matter took away the credence of the report. Again my mind, held in suspense by desire and wavering, a certain Alexandrian monk—who had been sent to the Egyptian confessors and, already martyrs by will, by the pious service of the people— as a manifest guarantor of the message, had impelled me to credulity.

[2.2] fateor et in hoc meam labasse sententiam. nam cum et patriam tuam ignoraret et nomen, in eo plus tantum videbatur adferre, quod eadem adserebat, quae iam alius indicaverat. tandem plenum veritatis pondus erupit; Rufinum enim Nitriae esse et ad beatum perrexisse Macarium crebra conmeantium multitudo referebat.

[2.2] I confess that even in this my opinion had lapsed. For since he was ignorant both of your homeland and your name, in this he seemed to bring only more, in that he was asserting the same things which another had already indicated. At length the full weight of truth burst forth; for a frequent multitude of those coming-and-going reported that Rufinus was at Nitria and had proceeded to the blessed Macarius.

[2.3] hic vero tota credulitatis frena laxavi et tunc vere aegrotum esse me dolui. et nisi me adtenuatae corporis vires quadam conpede praepedissent, nec mediae fervor aestatis nec navigantibus semper incertum mare pia festinatione gradienti valuisset obsistere. credas mihi velim, frater, non sic tempestate iactatus portum nauta prospectat, non sic sitientia imbres arva desiderant, non sic curvo adsidens litori anxia filium mater expectat.

[2.3] Here indeed I loosened all the reins of credulity, and then I truly was pained that I was sick. And if the attenuated strength of my body had not hampered me with a kind of fetter, neither the heat of mid-summer nor the sea, ever uncertain for those sailing, would have been able to withstand me advancing with pious haste. I would have you believe me, brother: not so does a sailor, tempest-tossed, look out for a harbor; not so do thirsting fields long for showers; not so does an anxious mother, sitting on the curved shore, await her son.

[3.1] Postquam me a tuo latere subitus turbo convolvit, postquam glutino caritatis haerentem inpia distraxit avulsio, "tunc mihi caeruleus supra caput adstitit imber" [Verg. Aen. 3.194], tunc "maria undique et undique caelum" [Verg.

[3.1] After a sudden whirlwind rolled me from your side, after an impious tearing-away tore apart me, clinging by the glue of charity, "then for me a cerulean shower stood above my head" [Verg. Aen. 3.194], then "seas on every side and on every side sky" [Verg.

Aen. 5.9]. tandem in incerto perigrinationis erranti, cum me Thracia, Pontus atque Bithynia totumque Galatiae vel Cappadociae iter et fervido Cilicum terra fregisset aestu, Syria mihi velut fidissimus naufrago portus occurrit. ubi ego quicquid morborum esse poterat expertus e duobus oculis unum perdidi; Innocentium enim, partem animae meae, repentinus febrium ardor abstraxit.

Aen. 5.9].
at length, as I wandered in the uncertainty of peregrination, when Thrace,
Pontus and Bithynia and the whole journey of Galatia or Cappadocia,
and the land of the Cilicians with fervid heat had shattered me, Syria
presented itself to me as the most faithful harbor for a shipwrecked man. where I,
having experienced whatever diseases there could be, out of two eyes lost one; for
a sudden ardor of fevers carried off Innocent, a part of my soul.

[3.2] nunc uno et toto mihi lumine Evagrio nostro fruor, cui ego semper infirmus quidam ad laborem cumulus accessi. erat nobiscum et Hylas sanctae Melaniae famulus, qui puritate morum maculam servitutis abluerat; et hic necdum obductam rescidit cicatricem. verum quia de dormientibus contristari apostoli voce prohibemur [cf. 1 Thess.

[3.2] now I enjoy in our Evagrius my one and whole light, to whom I, always somewhat infirm, have come as an added burden to the labor. there was with us also Hylas, the servant of holy Melania, who by purity of morals had washed away the stain of servitude; and he too tore open a scar not yet skinned over. but because we are forbidden by the voice of the apostle to be saddened about those who sleep [cf. 1 Thess.

4:12] et nimia vis maeroris laeto superveniente nuntio temperata est, indicamus tibi, ut, si nescis, discas, si ante cognovisti, pariter gaudeamus.

4:12] and the excessive force of sorrow was tempered, as a joyful
supervening announcement arrived; we indicate to you, that, if you do not know,
you may learn; if you have known before, let us rejoice together.

[4.1] Bonosus tuus, immo meus et, ut verius dicam, noster, scalam praesagatam Iacob somniante iam scandit: portat crucem suam nec de crastino cogitat nec post tergum respicit. seminat in lacrimis, ut in gaudio metat, et sacramento Moysi serpentem in heremo suspendit. cedant huic veritati tam Graeco quam Romano stilo mendaciis ficta miracula.

[4.1] Your Bonosus, rather mine and, to speak more truly, ours, already climbs the ladder presaged while Jacob was dreaming: he carries his cross and neither thinks about the morrow nor looks back behind him. He sows in tears, that he may reap in joy, and by the sacrament of Moses he hangs the serpent in the wilderness. Let miracles fabricated by lies, in both Greek and Roman style, yield to this truth.

[4.2] ecce puer honestis saeculo nobiscum artibus institutus, cui opes adfatim, dignitas adprime inter aequales, contempta matre, sororibus et carissimo sibi germano insulam pelago circumsonante navifragam, cui asperae cautes et nuda saxa et solitudo terrori est, quasi quidam novus paradisi colonus insedit. nullus ibi agricolarum, nullus monachorum, ne parvulus quidem quem nosti Onesimus, quo velut fratre minusculo fruebatur, in tanta vastitate adhaeret lateri comes. [4.3] solus ibi, immo iam Christo comitante non solus, videt gloriam dei, quam apostoli nisi in deserto non viderant.

[4.2] behold a boy, brought up with us in the honorable secular arts, to whom wealth is in abundance, distinction foremost among his equals, having scorned his mother, his sisters, and his dearest own brother, has settled, like a certain new colonist of paradise, upon an island ship-wrecking, the sea resounding around it, to whom rugged crags and naked rocks and solitude are a terror. there is there no farmer, no monk,
not even the little one Onesimus whom you know, with whom he enjoyed himself as with a very small brother, in so great a vastness clings to his side as companion. [4.3] alone there,
nay now, with Christ accompanying, not alone, he sees the glory of God, which the apostles had not seen except in the desert.

non quidem conspicit turritas urbes, sed in novae civitatis censu dedit nomen suum. horrent sacco membra deformi, sed sic melius obviam Christo rapietur in nubibus. nulla euriporum amoenitate perfruitur, sed de latere domini aquam vitae bibit.

he does not indeed behold turreted cities, but in the census of the new city he has given his name. his limbs bristle with misshapen sackcloth, but thus the more he will be caught up to meet Christ in the clouds. he enjoys no amenity of euripi, but from the Lord’s side he drinks the water of life.

propone tibi ante oculos, amice dulcissime, et in praesentiam rei totus animo ac mente convertere; tunc poteris laudare victoriam, cum laborem proeliantis agnoveris. [4.4] totam circa insulam fremit insanum mare et sinuosis montibus inlisum scopulis aequor reclamat; nullo terra gramine viret; nullis vernans campus densatur umbraculis; abruptae rupes quasi quendam horroris carcerem claudunt. ille securus, intrepidus et totus de apostolo armatus nunc deum audit, cum divina relegit, nunc cum deo loquitur, cum dominum rogat, et fortasse ad exemplum Iohannis aliquid videt, dum in insula commoratur.

Set before your eyes, sweetest friend, and turn yourself wholly in spirit and mind into the presence of the matter;
then you will be able to praise the victory, when you have recognized the labor of the one battling.
[4.4] Around the whole island the insane sea roars, and the level deep, dashed upon crags of sinuous
mountains, echoes back; the land greens with no grass; no shady arbors thicken the blooming plain;
sheer cliffs enclose, as it were, a certain prison of horror. He, secure, undaunted,
and wholly armed from the Apostle, now hears God when he re-reads the divine things,
now he speaks with God when he entreats the Lord; and perhaps, after the example of
John, he sees something, while he remains on the island.

[5.1] Quas nunc diabolum nectere credis tricas, quas parare arbitraris insidias? forsitan antiquae fraudis memor famem suadere temptabit. sed iam illi responsum est non in solo pane vivere hominem.

[5.1] What tricks do you now believe the devil to be weaving, what ambushes do you suppose him to be preparing? Perhaps, mindful of the ancient fraud, he will try to urge hunger. But already to him it has been answered that man does not live by bread alone.

opes forsitan gloriamque proponet, sed dicetur illi: "qui cupiunt divites fieri, incidunt in muscipulam et temptationes" [1 Tim. 6:9], et: "mihi gloriatio omnis in Christo est" [Gal. 6:14]. fessa ieiuniis membra morbo gravante concutiet, sed apostoli repercutietur eloquio: "quando infirmor, tunc fortior sum" [2 Cor.

he will perhaps set forth wealth and glory, but it will be said to him: "those who desire to become rich, fall into a snare and temptations" [1 Tim. 6:9], and: "my whole gloriation is in Christ" [Gal. 6:14]. he will shake the limbs wearied by fasts with a burdensome sickness, but he will be struck back by the apostle’s saying: "when I am weak, then I am stronger" [2 Cor.

12:10], et: "virtus in infirmitate perficitur" [2 Cor. 12:9]. minabitur mortem, sed audiet: "cupio dissolvi et esse cum Christo" [Phil. 1:23]. ignita iacula vibrabit, sed excipientur scuto fidei.

[12:10], and: "virtue is perfected in infirmity" [2 Cor. 12:9]. he will threaten death, but he will hear: "I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ" [Phil. 1:23]. he will brandish fiery javelins, but they will be received by the shield of faith.

et, ne multa, inpugnabit satanas, sed tutabitur Christus. [5.2] gratias tibi, domine Iesu, quod in die tuo habeo, qui pro me te possit rogare. scis ipse -- tibi enim patent pectora singulorum, qui cordis arcana rimaris, qui tantae bestiae alvo inclusum prophetam in profundo vides -- ut ego et ille a tenera pariter infantia ad florentem usque adoleverimus aetatem, ut idem nos nutricum sinus, idem amplexus foverint baiulorum et, cum post Romana studia ad Rheni semibarbaras ripas eodem cibo, pari frueremur hospitio, ut ego primus coeperim velle te colere.

and, to be brief, Satan will assail, but Christ will defend. [5.2] thanks to you, Lord Jesus, that on your day I have one who can intercede with you on my behalf. you yourself know—for to you the breasts/hearts of individuals lie open, you who probe the arcana of the heart, you who see the prophet enclosed in the belly of so great a beast in the deep—that he and I together from tender infancy up to blooming youth have grown, that the same laps of nurses, the same embraces of our bearers have cherished us, and that, after Roman studies, on the half‑barbarous banks of the Rhine, we enjoyed the same food and equal hospitality, and that I was the first to begin to wish to worship you.

memento, quaeso, istum bellatorem tuum mecum quondam fuisse tironem. habeo promissum maiestatis tuae: "qui docuerit et non fecerit, minimus vocabitur in regno caelorum; <qui autem fecerit et docuerit, hic magnus vocabitur in regno caelorum>" [Matth. 5:19]. [5.3] fruatur ille virtutis corona et ob cotidiana martyria stolatus agnum sequatur <mihi> -- "multae sunt mansiones apud patrem" [Ioh.

remember, I pray, that this your warrior was once a tyro with me. I have the promise of your Majesty: "who shall have taught and
not done, he shall be called least in the kingdom of the heavens; <but whoever shall have done
and taught, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens>" [Matt. 5:19].
[5.3] let him enjoy the crown of virtue and, on account of daily martyrdoms, stole-clad, let him follow the Lamb
<for me> -- "there are many mansions with the Father" [John.

14:2] et "stella ab stella differt in claritate" [1 Cor. 15:41] --, mihi concede ut inter sanctorum calcanea possim levare caput; [ut] cum ego voluerim, ille perfecerit; mihi ignoscas, quia inplere non potui, illi tribuas praemium, quod meretur.

[14:2] and "star
differs from star in brightness" [1 Cor. 15:41] --, grant to me that among
the heels of the saints I may be able to lift my head; [that] when I have willed, he
has accomplished; forgive me, because I could not fulfill, to him grant the reward
that he merits.

[6] Plura fortasse, quam epistulae brevitas patiebatur, longo sermone protraxerim, quod mihi semper accidere consuevit, quando aliquid de Bonosi nostri laude dicendum est. sed ut ad id redeam, unde discesseram, obsecro te, ne amicum, qui diu quaeritur, vix invenitur, difficile servatur, pariter cum oculis mens amittat. fulgeat quilibet auro et pompaticis ferculis corusca ex sarcinis metalla radient: caritas non potest conparari; dilectio pretium non habet; amicitia, quae desinere potest, vera numquam fuit.

[6] Perhaps I have protracted more, than the brevity of an epistle allowed, in a long discourse, which is wont always to befall me, whenever something must be said in praise of our Bonosus. But to return to that whence I had departed, I beseech you, let not the mind lose a friend—who is long sought, scarcely found, with difficulty kept—along with the eyes. Let anyone shine with gold, and let glittering metals flash from the baggage on showy platters: charity cannot be compared; love has no price; friendship which can cease was never true.

4: Ad Florentinum de ortu amicitiae

4: To Florentinus on the origin of friendship

[1.1] Quantus beatitudinis tuae rumor diversa populorum ora conpleverit, hinc poteris aestimare, quod ego te ante incipio amare quam nosse. ut enim apostolus ait: "quorundam hominum peccata manifesta sunt praecedentia ad iudicium" [1 Tim. 5:24], ita e contrario tuae dilectionis fama dispergitur, ut non tantum laudandus sit ille, qui te amat, quam scelus putetur facere ille, qui non amat.

[1.1] How greatly the rumor of your beatitude has filled the diverse regions of peoples, from this you will be able to estimate, that I begin to love you before to know you. For as the Apostle says: "the sins of certain men are manifest, going before to judgment" [1 Tim. 5:24], so conversely the fame of your affection is dispersed abroad, so that not so much should he be praised, who loves you, as he be thought to commit a crime, who does not love.

[1.2] praetermitto innumerabiles, in quibus Christum sustentasti, pavisti, vestisti, visitasti: Heliodori fratris a te adiuta necessitas mutorum etiam potest ora laxare. quibus gratiis, quo ille praeconio peregrinationis incommoda a te fota referebat, ut ego ille tardissimus, quoniam intolerabilis languor, pinnatis, ut aiunt, pedibus charta caritatis et voto te salutaverim et iam conplexus sim! gratulor itaque tibi et, nascentem amicitiam ut dominus foederare dignetur, precor.

[1.2] I pass over the innumerables, in which you have sustained Christ, fed, clothed, visited him: the need of brother Heliodorus, aided by you, can even loosen the mouths of the mute. With what thanks, with what proclamation he recounted that the inconveniences of the peregrination, fostered by you, were borne—so that I, that slowest one, since intolerable languor, with winged, as they say, feet, by a page of charity and of vow, have greeted you and have already embraced you! I congratulate you, therefore, and I pray that the Lord may deign to bind with a covenant the friendship that is being born.

[2.1] Et quia frater Rufinus, qui cum sancta Melania ab Aegypto Hierosolymam venisse narratur, individua mihi germanitatis caritate conexus est, quaeso ut epistulam meam huic tuae epistulae copulatam ei reddere non graveris. noli nos ex eius aestimare virtutibus. in illo conspicies expressa sanctitatis insignia; ego cinis et vilissimi pars luti et iam favilla, dum vegetor, satis habeo si splendorem morum eius inbecillitas oculorum meorum ferre sustineat.

[2.1] And because brother Rufinus, who is reported to have come to Jerusalem with holy Melania from Egypt, is bound to me by the indivisible charity of germanity, I beg that you not be unwilling to deliver to him my epistle, coupled to this your epistle. Do not estimate us by his virtues. In him you will behold the expressed insignia of sanctity; I am ash and a portion of the vilest clay and now cinder; while I am still animate, I count it enough if the weakness of my eyes can endure to bear the splendor of his morals.

[2.2] ille modo lavit, mundus est et tamquam nix dealbatus; ego cunctis peccatorum sordibus inquinatus diebus ac noctibus opperior cum tremore reddere novissimum quadrantem. sed tamen quia "dominus solvit conpeditos" [Ps. 145.7] et super humilem et trementem verba sua requiescit, forsitan et mihi in sepulchro scelerum iacenti dicat: 'Hieronyme, veni foras'. sanctus presbyter Evagrius plurimum te salutat; et Martianum fratrem iuncto salutamus obsequio, quem ego videre desiderans catena languoris innector.

[2.2] he has just washed, he is clean and whitened as snow; and I, defiled with all the filths of sins, by days and nights await with trembling to pay the last farthing. yet nevertheless because "the Lord looses the shackled" [Ps. 145.7] and upon the humble and trembling his words rest, perhaps even to me, lying in the sepulcher of crimes, he may say: 'Jerome, come forth.' the holy presbyter Evagrius greets you most warmly; and we, with joined dutiful homage, greet Brother Martian, whom I, longing to see, am ensnared by the chain of languor.

5: Ad Florentinum

5: To Florentinus

[1] In ea mihi parte heremi commoranti, quae iuxta Syriam Sarracenis iungitur, tuae dilectionis scripta sunt perlata, quibus lectis ita reaccensus est animus Hierosolymam proficiscendi, ut paene nocuerit proposito, quod profuerit caritati. nunc igitur, quomodo valeo, pro me tibi litteras repraesento. etsi corpore absens, amore et spiritu venio inpendio exposcens, ne nascentes amicitias, quae Christi glutino cohaeserunt, aut temporis aut locorum magnitudo divellat.

[1] While I was staying in that part of the desert which, next to Syria, is conjoined with the Saracens, the writings of your dilection were delivered; and on reading them the animus of setting out to Jerusalem was so rekindled that what benefited charity nearly harmed my purpose. Therefore now, as I am able, I present letters to you on my behalf. Although absent in body, in love and spirit I come, most earnestly entreating that the nascent friendships, which have cohered by the glue of Christ, be not torn asunder by the magnitude of time or of places.

quin potius foederemus eas reciprocis epistulis; illae inter nos currant, illae se obvient, illae nobiscum loquantur. non multum perditura erit caritas, si tali secum sermone fabuletur.

Why not rather bind them with reciprocal epistles; let them run between us, let them meet one another, let them speak with us. Charity will not lose much, if it converse with itself in such a discourse.

[2.1] Rufinus autem frater, ut scribis, necdum venit et, si venerit, non multum proderit desiderio meo, cum eum iam visurus non sim. ita enim et ille longo a me intervallo separatus est, ut huc non possit currere, et ego arreptae solitudinis terminis arceor, ut coeperit mihi iam non licere, quod nolui. [2.2] ob hoc et ego obsecro et, ut tu petas, plurimum quaeso, ut tibi beati Reticii Augustodunensis episcopi commentarios ad describendum largiatur, in quibus Canticum Canticorum sublimi ore disseruit.

[2.1]
Rufinus, however, brother, as you write, has not yet come, and, if
he should come, he will not much avail my desire, since I am now
not going to see him. For he too has been separated from me by a long interval,
so that he cannot run hither, and I am kept back by the limits of the
solitude I have taken up, so that what I did not wish has now begun not to be permitted
to me. [2.2] On this account I too beseech, and that you ask, I very much
beg, that he may grant you the commentaries of the blessed Reticius, bishop
of Augustodunum, to be copied, in which on the Song of Songs
he discoursed in lofty speech.

scripsit mihi et quidam de patria supra dicti fratris Rufini Paulus senex Tertulliani suum codicem apud eum esse, quem vehementer repoposcit. et ex hoc quaeso, ut eos libros, quos non habere me brevis subditus edocebit, librarii manu in charta scribi iubeas. [2.3] interpretationem quoque psalmorum Daviticorum et prolixum valde de synodis librum sancti Hilarii, quae ei apud Treveris manu mea ipse descripseram, aeque ut mihi transferas peto.

and a certain Paulus, an old man from the homeland of the above-said brother Rufinus, wrote to me
that his own codex of Tertullian is with him, which he very vehemently demanded back. And from
this I ask, that those books which a brief subjoined will inform you that I do not have, you order to be written by a copyist’s hand on paper. [2.3] The interpretation also of the Davidic psalms and the very
prolix book on synods of Saint Hilary, which for him at Trier I myself had copied out in my own hand,
I likewise ask that you transfer to me.

nosti hoc esse Christianae animae pabulum, si in lege domini meditetur die ac nocte. ceteros hospitio recipis, solacio foves, sumptibus iuvas; mihi si rogata praestiteris, multa largitus es. [2.4] et quoniam tribuente domino multis sacrae bibliothecae codicibus abundamus, impera vicissim: quodcumque vis, mittam. nec putes mihi grave esse, si iubeas: habeo alumnos, qui antiquariae arti serviant.

You know that this is the nourishment of the Christian soul, if it meditates upon the law of the Lord day and night. You receive others with hospitality, you foster with solace, you aid with expenses; if you grant to me what is asked, you have bestowed much. [2.4] And since, the Lord granting, we abound in many codices of the sacred library, command in turn: whatever you wish, I will send. Nor think it burdensome to me, if you give orders: I have alumni who serve the antiquarian art.

neque vero beneficium pro eo, quod postulo, polliceor. Heliodorus frater mihi indicavit te multa de scripturis quaerere nec sic invenire; aut si omnia habes, incipiet sibi caritas vindicare plus petere.

nor indeed do I promise a benefit in return for what I request. Brother Heliodorus has indicated to me that you are seeking many things from the Scriptures and not so finding them; or if you have everything, charity will begin to vindicate for itself the right to ask for more.

[3] Magistrum autem pueri tui, de quo dignatus es rescribere, quem plagiatorem esse eius non dubium est, saepe Evagrius presbyter, dum adhuc Antiochiae essem, me praesente corripuit. cui ille respondit: 'ego nihil timeo'. dicit se a domino suo fuisse dimissum et, si vobis placet, ecce hic est; transmittite eum, quo vultis. arbitror me non peccare, si hominem vagum non sinam longius fugire.

[3] As for the teacher of your boy, about whom you deigned to write back, whom it is not doubtful is his plagiary—kidnapper—, the presbyter Evagrius often, while I was still at Antioch, rebuked in my presence. To whom he replied: 'I fear nothing.' He says that he was dismissed by his master, and, if it pleases you, behold he is here; send him, wherever you wish. I judge that I do not sin, if I do not allow the wandering man to flee farther.

quapropter quia ego in hac solitudine constitutus non possum agere quod iussisti, rogavi carissimum mihi Evagrium, ut tam tui quam mei causa instanter negotium prosequatur.

Wherefore, since I, stationed in this solitude, am not able to do what you have ordered, I have asked Evagrius, most dear to me, that, for your sake as well as mine, he may urgently prosecute the business.

6: Ad Iulianum diaconum Aquileiae

6: To Julian the deacon of Aquileia

[1.1] Antiquus sermo est: 'mendaces faciunt, ut nec vera dicentibus credatur'; quod mihi ego a te obiurgatus de silentio litterarum accidisse video. dicam: 'saepe scripsi, sed neglegentia baiulorum fuit'? respondebis: 'omnium non scribentium vetus ista excusatio est'. dicam: 'non repperi qui epistulas ferret'? dices hinc illuc isse quam plurimos. contendam me etiam his dedisse?

[1.1]
An ancient saying is: 'liars bring it about that not even those speaking truths
are believed'; which I see has happened to me, having been rebuked by you for the silence of letters.
Shall I say: 'I often wrote, but it was the negligence
of the bearers'? You will answer: 'that is the old excuse of all non-writers.'
Shall I say: 'I did not find someone to carry the letters'? You will say
that very many have gone from here to there. Shall I contend that I even gave them to these?

at illi, quia non reddiderunt, negabunt et erit inter absentes incerta cognitio. quid igitur faciam? [1.2] sine culpa veniam postulabo rectius arbitrans pacem loco motus petere, quam aequo gradu certamina concitare; quamquam ita me iugis tam corporis aegrotatio quam animae aegritudo consumpsit, ut morte inminente nec mei paene memor fuerim.

But they, because they did not deliver them, will deny it, and there will be an uncertain proceeding held in absentia. What then shall I do? [1.2] I will request pardon without fault, deeming it more correct to seek peace in place of agitation than to incite contests on equal footing; although a continual sickness, both of the body and of the soul, has so consumed me that, with death impending, I have been scarcely mindful even of myself.

quod ne falsum putes, oratorio more post argumenta testes vocabo.

so that you may not think it false, in oratorical fashion after the arguments I will call witnesses.

[2.1] Sanctus frater Heliodorus hic adfuit, qui, cum mecum heremum vellet incolere, meis sceleribus fugatus abscessit. verum omnem culpam praesens verbositas excusabit. nam, ut ait Flaccus in satura: "omnibus hoc vitium est cantoribus, inter amicos" rogati ut numquam cantent, "iniussi numquam desistant" [Hor.

[2.1] The holy brother Heliodorus was here present, who, when he wished to inhabit the hermit-wilderness with me, was put to flight by my sins and departed. But the present verboseness will excuse all fault. For, as Flaccus says in a satire: "this vice is common to all singers, among friends" asked that they never sing, "unbidden they never cease" [Hor.

Serm. 1.3.1-3], ita te deinceps fascibus obruam litterarum, ut e contrario incipias rogare, ne scribam. sororem meam, filiam in Christo tuam, gaudeo te primum nuntiante in eo permanere, quo coeperat.

Serm. 1.3.1-3], thus I will hereafter overwhelm you with bundles of letters, so that conversely you begin to beg that I not write.
my sister, your daughter in Christ, I rejoice—with you as the first announcer—that she remains in that in which she had begun,
to remain.

[2.2] hic enim, ubi nunc sum, non solum quid agatur in patria, sed an ipsa patria perstet, ignoro. et licet me sinistro Hibera excetra rumore dilaniet, non timebo hominum iudicium habiturus iudicem meum: "si fractus inlabatur orbis, inpavidum ferient ruinae" [Hor. Carm.

[2.2] For here, where I now am, I am ignorant not only of what is being done in the fatherland, but whether the fatherland itself even persists. And though an Iberian viper may tear me to pieces with a sinister rumor, I shall not fear the judgment of men, having my own judge: "if the shattered world should collapse, the ruins will strike him unafraid" [Hor. Carm.

3.3.7-8]. quapropter quaeso ut apostolici memor praecepti, quo docet opus nostrum permanere debere, et tibi a domino praemium in illius salute pares et me de communi in Christo gloria crebris reddas sermonibus laetiorem.

3.3.7-8]. wherefore I beseech that, mindful of the apostolic precept, by which he teaches that our work ought to remain, you both prepare for yourself from the Lord a reward in his salvation, and make me, by frequent discourses, more joyful concerning the common glory in Christ.

7: Ad Chromatium, Iovinum, Eusebium

7: To Chromatius, Jovinus, Eusebius

[1.1] Non debet charta dividere, quos amor mutuus copulavit, nec per singulos officia mei sunt partienda sermonis, cum sic invicem vos ametis, ut non minus tres caritas iungat, quam duos natura sociavit. quin potius, si rei condicio pateretur, sub uno litterulae apice nomina indivisa concluderem vestris quoque ita me litteris provocantibus, ut et in uno tres et in tribus unum putarem. [1.2] nam postquam sancto Evagrio transmittente in ea ad me heremi parte delatae sunt, quae inter Syros ac Sarracenos vastum limitem ducit, sic gavisus sum, ut illum diem Romanae felicitatis, quo primum Marcelli apud Nolam proelio post Cannensem pugnam superba Hannibalis agmina conciderunt, ego vicerim.

[1.1] Paper ought not to divide those whom mutual love has coupled, nor must the offices of my discourse be portioned out to individuals, since you love one another in such a way that charity joins three no less than nature has associated two. Nay rather, if the condition of the matter permitted, under one little letter’s apex I would enclose your names undivided—your letters also provoking me thus, that I should think three in one and one in three. [1.2] For after, Saint Evagrius transmitting them, they were delivered to me in that part of the desert which draws a vast boundary between the Syrians and the Saracens, I rejoiced so greatly that I could claim to have outdone that day of Roman felicity on which, first, in Marcellus’s battle at Nola, after the battle of Cannae, the proud ranks of Hannibal were cut down.

et licet supra dictus frater saepe me visitet atque ita ut sua in Christo viscera foveat, tamen longo a me spatio seiunctus non minus mihi dereliquit abeundo desiderium, quam adtulerat veniendo laetitiam.

and although the aforesaid brother often visits me and thus
warms his inmost heart in Christ, nevertheless, separated from me by a long space, he has not
left me less a desire by departing than he had brought
joy by coming.

[2.1] Nunc cum vestris litteris fabulor, illas amplexor, illae mecum loquuntur, illae hic tantum Latine sciunt. hic enim aut barbarus seni sermo discendus est aut tacendum est. quotienscumque carissimos mihi vultus notae manus referunt inpressa vestigia, totiens aut ego hic non sum aut vos hic estis.

[2.1] Now, when I converse with your letters, I embrace them; they speak with me; they here alone know Latin. For here either a barbarous speech must be learned by an old man, or one must be silent. Whenever the impressed vestiges of a well-known hand bring back to me the dearest faces, just so often either I am not here, or you are here.

credite amori vera dicenti: et cum has scriberem, vos videbam. [2.2] quibus hoc primum queror, cur tot interiacentibus spatiis maris atque terrarum tam parvam epistulam miseretis, nisi quod ita merui, qui vobis, ut scribitis, ante non scripsi. chartam defuisse non puto Aegypto ministrante commercia.

Believe love telling the truth: and while I was writing these, I kept seeing you. [2.2] To whom I first make this complaint, why, with so many intervening spaces of sea and of lands, you send so small an epistle, unless because I thus deserved it, I who, as you write, did not write to you before. I do not think paper was lacking, with Egypt ministering the commerce.

et si aliqui Ptolomaeus maria clausisset, tamen rex Attalus membranas e Pergamo miserat, ut penuria chartae pellibus pensaretur; unde pergamenarum nomen ad hanc usque diem tradente sibi invicem posteritate servatum est. [2.3] quid igitur? arbitrer baiulum festinasse?

and even if some Ptolemy had closed the seas,
yet King Attalus had sent membranes (parchments) from Pergamum,
so that the shortage of paper might be compensated by hides; whence the name of pergamenae
has been preserved to this very day, posterity handing it down in turn to itself.
[2.3] What then? Am I to suppose the porter hurried?

quamvis longae epistulae una nox sufficit. an vos aliqua occupatione detentos? nulla necessitas maior est caritate.

Even for a long letter, one night suffices. Or were you detained by some
occupation? No necessity is greater than love.

restant duo, ut aut vos piguerit aut ego non meruerim. e quibus malo vos incessere tarditatis, quam me condemnare non meriti. facilius enim neglegentia emendari potest, quam amor nasci.

Two things remain: either it has been irksome to you, or I have not merited it. Of these I prefer to assail you with tardiness rather than to condemn myself for lack of merit. For negligence can be emended more easily than love can be born.

[3.1] Bonosus, ut scribitis, quasi filius ichthyos aquosa petiit, nos pristina contagione sordentes quasi reguli et scorpiones arentia quaeque sectamur. ille iam calcat super colubri caput, nos serpenti terram ex divina sententia comedenti adhuc cibo sumus. ille iam potest summum graduum psalmum scandere, nobis adhuc in primo ascensu flentibus nescio an dicere aliquando contigat: "levavi oculos meos in montes, unde veniat auxilium mihi" [Ps. 120:1]. ille inter minaces saeculi fluctus in tuto insulae, hoc est ecclesiae gremio, sedens ad exemplum Iohannis librum forte iam devorat, ego in scelerum meorum sepulchro iacens et peccatorum vinculis conligatus dominicum de evangelio expecto clamorem: 'Hieronyme, veni foras'. [3.2] Bonosus, inquam, -- quia secundum prophetam omnis diaboli virtus in lumbo est -- trans Euphraten tulit lumbare suum ibi illud in foramine petrae abscondens et postea scissum repperiens cecinit: "domine, tu possedisti renes meos" [Ps. 138:3]; disrupisti vincula mea, tibi sacrificabo hostiam laudis, me verus Nabuchodonosor ad Babylonem, id est confusionem mentis meae, catenatum duxit; ibi mihi captivitatis iugum inposuit, ibi ferri circulum innectens de canticis Sion cantare praecepit.

[3.1] Bonosus, as you write, like a son of the fish sought the watery things; we,
stained by our former contagion, like basilisks and scorpions pursue whatever is arid.
He already treads upon the head of the adder; we are still food for the serpent
that eats earth by the divine sentence. He already can climb the highest Psalm of Degrees;
for us, still weeping on the first ascent, I do not know whether it may ever be granted to say: "I have lifted my eyes
to the mountains, whence may come help for me" [Ps. 120:1]. He, amid the menacing waves of the world,
sits in the safety of the island—that is, the bosom of the Church—and perhaps, after the example of John,
already devours a book; I, lying in the sepulcher of my crimes and bound by the chains of my sins,
await the Lord’s cry from the Gospel: 'Jerome, come forth'.
[3.2] Bonosus, I say, -- because according to the prophet all the devil’s power is in the loin -- carried his loincloth
across the Euphrates, there hiding it in a hole of the rock, and afterwards, finding it torn, he sang:
"Lord, you have possessed my reins" [Ps. 138:3]; you have burst my bonds, to you I will sacrifice a victim of praise;
the true Nebuchadnezzar has led me in chains to Babylon, that is, to the confusion of my mind;
there he imposed upon me the yoke of captivity, there, fastening an iron ring, he commanded me to sing from the songs of Zion.

cui ego dixi: "dominus solvit conpeditos, dominus inluminat caecos" [Ps. 145:7-8]; et, ut breviter coeptam dissimilitudinem finiam, ego veniam deprecor, ille expectat coronam.

to whom I said: "the lord looses the fettered, the lord illuminates the blind" [Ps. 145:7-8]; and, that I may briefly finish the dissimilarity begun, I beg for pardon, he awaits the crown.

[4.1] Soror mea sancti Iuliani in Christo fructus est: ille plantavit, vos rigate, dominus incrementum dabit. hanc mihi Iesus pro eo vulnere, quod diabolus inflixerat, praestitit vivam reddendo pro mortua. huic ego, ut ait gentilis poeta, omnia etiam tuta timeo [cf. Verg.

[4.1] My sister is the fruit of Saint Julian in Christ: he planted, you water, the Lord will give the increase. Jesus has granted this one to me in place of that wound which the devil had inflicted, by restoring her alive in exchange for the dead one. For her I, as the gentile (pagan) poet says, I fear everything, even things safe [cf. Verg.

Aen. 4.298]. scitis ipsi lubricum adulescentiae iter, in quo et ego lapsus sum et vos sine timore transistis. [4.2] hoc illa cum maxime ingrediens omnium fulcienda praeceptis, omnium est sustentanda solaciis, id est crebris vestrae sanctitudinis epistulis roboranda.

Aen. 4.298].
you yourselves know the slippery
path of adolescence, on which both I have slipped and you have crossed without fear.
[4.2] as she, just now most especially entering upon this, must be buttressed by the precepts of all,
she must be sustained by the solaces of all, that is, she must be strengthened by the frequent epistles of your sanctity.

et quia caritas omnia sustinet, obsecro ut etiam a papa Valeriano ad eam confortandam litteras exigatis. nostis puellares animos his rebus plerumque solidari, si se intellegant curae esse maioribus.

and because charity bears all things, I beseech that you also
obtain letters from Pope Valerian to strengthen her. You know that maidenly
minds are for the most part solidified by these things, if they understand themselves to be a concern
to their elders.

[5] In mea enim patria rusticitatis vernacula deus venter est et de die vivitur: sanctior est ille, qui ditior est. accessit huic patellae iuxta tritum populi sermone proverbium dignum operculum. Lupicinus sacerdos -- secundum illud quoque, de quo semel in vita Crassum ait risisse Lucilius [1299 Marx] : "similem habent labra lactucam asino cardus comedente" --, videlicet ut perforatam navem debilis gubernator regat, et caecus caecos ducat in foveam talisque sit rector, quales illi qui reguntur.

[5] For in my own homeland the vernacular god of rusticity is the belly, and from day to
day one lives: holier is he who is richer. To this dish there has come, according to the proverb worn
smooth in the people’s speech, a worthy lid. Lupicinus
the priest -- in accordance also with that saying at which, Lucilius says, Crassus laughed once in his life
[1299 Marx] : "the lips have a matching lettuce, with an ass eating a thistle" --, namely, that a feeble pilot should steer a perforated ship,
and that a blind man should lead the blind into a pit, and that such be the rector as are those
who are governed.

[6.1] Matrem communem, quae, cum vobis sanctitate societur, in eo vos praevenit, quia tales genuit, cuius vere venter aureus potest dici, eo salutamus honore, quo nostis; una quoque suspiciendas cunctis sorores, quae sexum vicere cum saeculo, quae oleo ad lampadas largiter praeparato sponsi opperiuntur adventum. [6.2] o beata domus, in qua morantur Anna vidua, virgines prophetissae, geminus Samuhel nutritus in templo! o tecta felicia, in quibus cernimus Macchabaeorum martyrum coronis cinctam martyrem matrem!

[6.1] We greet with that honor which you know the common mother, who, though she is associated with you in sanctity, surpasses you in this, because she has borne such ones, whose womb can truly be called golden; likewise the sisters to be looked up to by all, who have conquered their sex together with the world, who, with oil prepared lavishly for their lamps, await the advent of the Bridegroom. [6.2] o blessed house, in which dwell Anna the widow, prophetess virgins, a second Samuel nurtured in the temple! o happy roofs, in which we behold the martyr-mother girt with the crowns of the martyrs of the Maccabees!

nam licet cotidie Christum confiteamini, dum eius praecepta servatis, tamen ad privatam gloriam publica haec accessit vobis et aperta confessio, quod per vos ab urbe vestra Arriani quondam dogmatis virus exclusum est. [6.3] et miremini forsitan, quod in fine iam epistulae rursus exorsus sim. quid faciam?

for although you daily confess Christ, while you keep his precepts,
nevertheless to your private glory there has been added this public and open
confession, that through you from your city the virus of the Arian dogma once
was excluded. [6.3] and perhaps you marvel that, at the end now of the epistle, again
I have begun. What am I to do?

vocem pectori negare non valeo. epistulae brevitas conpellit tacere, desiderium vestri cogit loqui. praeproperus sermo; confusa turbatur oratio; amor ordinem nescit.

I cannot deny a voice to my breast. The brevity of the letter compels me to be silent; my longing for you drives me to speak. Overhasty speech; the confused oration is disturbed; love knows no order.

8: Ad Niceam hypodiaconum Aquileiae

8: To Niceas, hypodeacon of Aquileia

Turpilius comicus tractans de vicissitudine litterarum: 'sola', inquit, 'res est, quae homines absentes praesentes faciat' [Turpil. inc. fab.

Turpilius the comic, treating of the vicissitude of letters: 'the only', he says, 'thing is that which makes absent men present it' [Turpil. inc. fab.

fr. 1 Ribbeck]. nec falsum dedit, quamquam in re non vera, sententiam. quid enim est, ut ita dicam, tam praesens inter absentes, quam per epistulas et adloqui et audire quos diligas? nam et rudes illi Italiae homines, quos cascos Ennius appellat [Enn.

fr. 1 Ribbeck]. nor did he give a false opinion, although on a matter not true, a judgment. what, indeed, is, so to speak, so present among the absent, as through epistles both to address and to hear those whom you love? for even those rude men of Italy, whom Ennius calls “cascos” [Enn.

Ann. 24 Vahlen], qui sibi, ut in Rhetoricis Cicero ait, victu fero vitam requirebant, ante chartae et membranarum usum aut in dedolatis ex ligno codicellis aut in corticibus arborum mutua epistularum adloquia missitabant; unde et portitores earum tabellarios et scriptores a libris arborum librarios vocavere. quanto igitur nos expolito iam artibus mundo id non debemus omittere, quod sibi praestiterunt, apud quos erat cruda rusticitas et qui humanitatem quodammodo nesciebant!

Ann. 24 Vahlen], who, as Cicero says in the Rhetorics, sustained life with a feral way of living, before the use of paper and parchments, either on little tablets planed from wood (codicels) or on the barks of trees kept sending mutual epistolary colloquies; whence also they called the bearers of them “tabellarii,” and the writers, from the liber (inner bark) of trees, “librarii.” How much more, therefore, in a world now polished by the arts, ought we not to omit that which they provided for themselves, among whom there was raw rusticity and who in some measure did not know humanity!

ecce beatus Chromatius cum sancto Eusebio non plus natura quam morum sibi aequalitate germano litterario me provocavit officio. tu modo a nobis abiens recentem amicitiam scindis potius, quam dissuis, quod prudenter Laelius vetat [cf. Cic. Lael.

Behold, the blessed Chromatius, together with holy Eusebius, has provoked me, a literary brother, to duty, no more by kinship of nature than by an equality of character with himself. You, however, just now departing from us, tear rather than unsew a recent friendship, which Laelius prudently forbids [cf. Cic. Lael.

76]; nisi forte ita tibi exosus est oriens, ut litteras quoque tuas huc venire formides. expergiscere, expergiscere, evigila de somno, praesta unam chartae scedulam caritati inter delicias patriae et communis, quam habuimus, perigrinationis aliquando suspiria. si amas, rescribe; si irasceris, iratus licet scribe.

76];
unless perhaps the East is so hateful to you that you even dread your letters to come here.
Wake, wake, rouse from sleep; grant
one little sheet of paper to charity, amid the delights of the fatherland and
the occasional sighs of the peregrination we shared. If you love, write back; if you are angry, angry though you be, write.

magnum et hoc desiderii habebo solamen, si amici litteras vel indignantis accipiam.

I shall have this too as a great solace of desire, if I receive the letters of a friend, even of one indignant.

9: Ad Chrysocomam monachum Aquileiae

9: To Chrysocomus, monk of Aquileia

Qui erga te affectus meus sit, carissimus ambobus Heliodorus tibi potuit fideliter nuntiare, qui non minori te diligit amore, quam diligo, ut ego semper in ore meo nomen tuum sonem, ut ad primam quamque confabulationem iucundissimi mihi tui consortii recorder, ut humilitatem admirer, virtutem efferam, praedicem caritatem. verum tu, quod natura lynces insitum habent, ne postergum respicientes meminerint priorum et mens perdat, quod oculi videre desierint, ita nostrae necessitudinis penitus oblitus illam epistulam, quam in corde Christianorum scriptam apostolus refert [cf. 2 Cor. 3:2], non praepeti litura, sed imis, quod aiunt, ceris erasisti.

What my affection toward you is, Heliodorus, dearest to us both, could faithfully announce to you, who loves you with no lesser love than I do, so that I ever have your name sounding on my lips, so that at each first confabulation I recall your companionship, most pleasant to me, so that I admire humility, extol virtue, proclaim charity. But you, as lynxes are said by nature to have it implanted, that, looking backward, they do not remember former things, and the mind loses what the eyes have ceased to see—thus, utterly forgetful of our relationship, that letter which the Apostle reports as written in the heart of Christians [cf. 2 Cor. 3:2], you have erased, not by a hasty erasure, but, as they say, from the deepest wax.

et illae quidem, quas diximus, ferae sub frondente captantes arboris ramo fugaces capreas aut timidum, cervos, animal conprehendunt currentemque frustra praedam, dum hostem suum secum vehit, rabido desuper ore dilaniant et tam diu meminere praedandi, quam diu venter vacuus siccum fame guttur exasperat; ubi vero sanguine pasta feritas viscera distenta conpleverit, cum saturitate succedit oblivio tam diu nescitura, quid capiat, donec memoriam revocaverit esuries. tu necdum satiatus e nobis cur finem iungis exordio? cur amittis, antequam teneas?

and those beasts, indeed, which we mentioned, lying in wait beneath the leafy branch of a tree, seize the fleet roe-deer or the timid deer; they grasp the animal, and the prey, running in vain, while it carries its enemy along with it, they from above tear to pieces with a rabid mouth; and they remember preying for just so long as an empty belly and a throat dry with hunger exasperate; but when ferity, fed with blood, has filled its distended viscera, with satiety oblivion succeeds, for so long not to know what it should seize, until hunger has called memory back. you, not yet satiated from us, why do you join an end to a beginning? why do you let go before you hold?

nisi forte neglegentiae semper excusatione socia adseras te non habuisse, quod scriberes, cum hoc ipsum debueris scribere, aliud te non habuisse, quod scriberes.

unless perhaps you allege—excuse ever the consort of negligence—that you had nothing to write, when you ought to have written this very thing: that you had nothing else to write.

10: Ad Paulum senem Concordiae

10: To Paul, an old man, of Concordia

[1.1] Humanae vitae brevitas damnatio delictorum est et in ipso saepe lucis exordio mors secuta nascentem labentia cotidie in vitium saecula profitetur. nam cum primum paradisi colonum viperinis nexibus praepeditum coluber deduxisset ad terras, aeternitas mortalitate mutata in nongentos et eo amplius annos, secundam quodammodo inmortalitatem, maledicti hominis distulerat elogium. exinde paulatim recrudescente peccato totius orbis naufragium gigantum adduxit inpietas.

[1.1]
The brevity of human life is a condemnation of delicts, and at
the very dawn of light itself, as death follows the one being born, the ages,
slipping daily into vice, profess it. For when first the serpent had led down
to the earth the colonist of paradise, hampered by viperine bonds, eternity,
changed into mortality, to nine hundred and even more years—what was, as it
were, a second immortality—had deferred the epitaph of the accursed man.
Thereafter, with sin gradually recrudescing, the impiety of the giants brought
on the shipwreck of the whole world.

[1.2] post illud, ut ita dixerim, purgati baptismum mundi in breve tempus hominum vita contracta est. hoc quoque spatium sceleribus nostris semper contra divina pugnantibus paene perdidimus. quotus enim quisque aut centenariam transgreditur aetatem aut non ad eam sic pervenit, ut pervenisse paeniteat, secundum quod in libro psalmorum scriptura testatur: "dies vitae nostrae septuaginta anni, si autem multum, octoginta; quidquid reliquum est, labor et dolor" [Ps. 89:10]?

[1.2] after that, so to speak, the baptism of a purged world, human life was contracted into a short span. this space too we have almost lost by our crimes, always fighting against the divine. for how many indeed either overstep the hundred-year age, or, on reaching it, do not so reach it as to be sorry to have reached it, according to what Scripture bears witness in the book of Psalms: "the days of our life are seventy years, but if very much, eighty; whatever remains is labor and dolor" [Ps. 89:10]?

[2.1] 'Quorsum', ais, 'ista tam alto repetita principio et ita procul coepta, ut merito quivis Horatiano de nobis possit sale ludere: et "gemino bellum Troianum orditur ab ovo" [Hor. AP 147]? videlicet ut senectutem tuam et caput ad Christi similitudinem candidum dignis vocibus praedicem. [2.2] ecce iam centenarius aetatum circulus volvitur et tu semper domini praecepta custodiens futurae beatitudines vitae per praesentium exempla meditaris.

[2.1] 'To what end,' you say, 'are these things so repeated from so high a beginning and thus begun from so far away, that with good right anyone could make sport of us with Horatian salt: "he begins the Trojan war from the twin egg" [Hor. AP 147]? Evidently so that I may proclaim your old age and your head, white to the likeness of Christ, with worthy words. [2.2] Behold now the centenary circle of ages is rolling, and you, always keeping the Lord’s precepts, meditate on the future beatitudes of life through the examples of present things.

oculi puro lumine vigent, pedes inprimunt certa vestigia, auditus penetrabilis, dentes candidi, vox canora, corpus solidum et suci plenum. cani cum rubore discrepant, virtus cum aetate dissentit. non memoriae tenacitatem, ut in plerisque cernimus, antiquior senecta dissolvit, non calidi acumen ingenii frigidus sanguis obtundit, non contractam rugis faciem arata frons asperat, non denique tremula manus per curvos cerae tramites errantem stilum ducit.

eyes are vigorous with pure light
the feet imprint sure footprints, the hearing penetrating, the teeth candid, the voice canorous, the body solid and full of sap. the gray hairs are discrepant with a blush, vigor dissents from age. the more ancient senescence does not dissolve the tenacity of memory, as we discern in very many; cold blood does not blunt the acumen of a hot wit, a forehead ploughed does not roughen a face contracted with wrinkles, nor, finally, does a trembling hand guide a wandering stylus along the curved tracks of the wax.

[2.3] futurae resurrectionis virorem in te nobis dominus ostendit, ut peccati sciamus esse, quod ceteri adhuc viventes praemoriuntur in carne, iustitiae, quod tu adulescentiam in aliena aetate mentiris. et quamquam multis istam corporis sanitatem, etiam peccatoribus, evenire videamus, tamen illis hoc diabolus ministrat, ut peccent, tibi dominus praestat, ut gaudeas.

[2.3] the vigor of the future resurrection the Lord shows to us in you, so that we may know it to be of sin, that the rest, though still living, pre-die in the flesh; of righteousness, that you feign adolescence in an alien age. And although we see this soundness of body to befall many, even sinners, nevertheless to them the devil ministers this, that they may sin; to you the Lord grants it, that you may rejoice.

[3.1] Doctissimi quique Graecorum, de quibus pro Flacco agens luculente Tullius ait: "ingenita levitas et erudita vanitas" [Cic. Pro Flacco fr. 2], regum suorum vel principum laudes accepta mercede dicebant. hoc ego nunc faciens pretium posco pro laudibus.

[3.1] The most learned of the Greeks, about whom, while pleading for Flaccus,
Tullius says luculently: "innate levity and erudite vanity" [Cic. Pro Flacco fr. 2],
used to speak the praises of their kings or princes for payment received.
Doing this now, I ask a price for the praises.

[3.2] et ne putes modica esse, quae deprecor, margaritam de evangelio postularis, eloquia domini eloquia casta, argentum igne examinatum terrae, purgatum septuplum, scilicet commentarios Fortunatiani et propter notitiam persecutorum Aurelii Victoris historiam simulque epistulas Novatiani, ut, dum scismatici hominis venena cognoscimus, libentius sancti martyris Cypriani bibamus antidotum. [3.3] misimus interim tibi, id est Paulo seni, Paulum seniorem, in quo propter simpliciores quosque multum in deiciendo sermone laboravimus. sed nescio quomodo, etiam si aqua plena sit, tamen eundem odorem lagoena servat, quo, dum rudis esset, inbuta est.

[3.2] And lest you think the things I entreat are trifling, you are asking for a pearl
from the Gospel: the oracles of the Lord are chaste oracles, silver assayed by fire in the earth,
purged sevenfold—namely, the commentaries of Fortunatianus and, for acquaintance with the persecutors,
the history of Aurelius Victor, as well as the epistles of Novatian, so that, while we come to know the poisons
of the schismatic man, we may more willingly drink the antidote of the holy martyr Cyprian. [3.3] Meanwhile we have sent to you,
that is, to old Paul, Paul the elder, in which, for the sake of the rather simple folk, we have labored much in casting down the style.
But I know not how, even if it be filled with water, nevertheless the flagon keeps the same odor with which, while it was raw,
it was imbued.

si hoc munusculum placuerit, habemus etiam alia condita, quae cum plurimis orientalibus mercibus ad te, si spiritus sanctus adflaverit, navigabunt.

if this little gift shall have pleased, we have also other things stored up, which,
together with very many oriental wares, will sail to you, if the holy spirit shall have breathed.