Letter 554: Do you still remember the dog and the old woman and those days when you used to invoke Socrates and everything about...
Εὐγνωμονίῳ. (357)
Ἆρ᾿ ἔτι μέμνησαι τῆς κυνὸς καὶ τοῦ γραιδίου καὶ
ἐκάλεις τὸν Σωκράτην καὶ πάντων δὴ τῶν Ἀθήνησιν ἐκεί-
νων, ἢ σεμνὸς ἡμῖν γέγονας καὶ λόγος οὐδεὶς τῶν ἀρχαίων;
ἐγὼ δὲ συγχαίρω μέν σοι τῆς γλώττης καὶ πλέον γε τοῦ
δευτέρου· τῶν δὲ γραμμάτων, οἷς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ τὴν πανή-
γυριν ἐκάλει τὴν πόλιν, ἡκόντων ἃ παρέστη τοῖς τῇδε περὶ
τῶν γραμμάτων, ἄκουσον.
ἐξῆλθον ἐκ τοῦ διδασκαλείου
περὶ μεσημβρίαν, τῶν δ’ ἀκουσάντων οἷς ἦν αἴσθησις λόγων
ἐντυχόντες μοι σῆς ἔφασαν ἀκηκόαμεν ἐπιστολῆς. πῶς
ἔφην ἐμῆς; ὅτι, νὴ Δία, τοιαύτας ἔφασαν ἐργάζῃ.
καὶ τό τε κάλλος ἐπῄνουν καὶ τὸ μὴ μάταιον μῆκος ἐνοχλεῖν
τῷ κάλλει. ἐμοὶ μὲν οὖν τιμήν τινα τοῦτο ἡγούμην ἔχειν, εἰ
δὲ μὴ σοί τινα ὕβριν, αὐτὸς σκόπει.
καὶ τὸν Λητόιον σύ
τε ὅ τι ἔχεις ὠφέλει καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους συμπαρακάλει. καὶ γὰρ
εὖ γεγονὼς καὶ μετειληφὼς λόγων καὶ λαμπρὸς ἐκ λειτουργιῶν
καὶ νοῦν ἔχων καὶ φρόνημα δίκαιον καὶ χάριν πρὸς τῷ λα-
βεῖν εἰδὼς ἀποδοῦναι καί, ὁ δὴ μάλιστα σὺ ποθεῖς, ἡμῖν ἀντὶ
τείχους καὶ δορυφόρων.
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