Letter 641: To Βασιλείῳ. (361?)

To Βασιλείῳ. (361?) How could I forget those days, those speeches, those bursts of applause? That brief time is engraved in my memory — worth many years and sweeter than any festival. But a man can be shaken from his purpose by many things, especially in a city this large, amid a great swell of trouble that may soon be breaking over us too. You should rejoice when my letters reach you. But if one fails to arrive, suppose anything rather than that you no longer matter to me. And for the young men on whose behalf you came to see me — look to them not only from the point where you left off, but know that I count their progress as my own. Write to me, and often. A letter is a small thing to send, but the friendship it keeps alive is not small.

Βασιλείῳ. (361?) Καὶ πῶς ἂν ἐπιλαθοίμην ἡμερῶν ἐκείνων καὶ λόγων καὶ κρότων; ὡς ἔμοιγε ἀνάγραπτος ὁ βραχὺς ἐκεῖνος χρόνος καὶ πολλῶν ἐτῶν ἀντάξιος καὶ πάσης ἑορτῆς ἡδίων. ἀλλ’, οἶμαι, πολλοῖς ἂν ἄνθρωπος ἐκκρουσθείη σπουδῆς ἄλλως τε καὶ ἐν πόλει τοσαύτῃ καὶ κλύδωνι μεγάλῳ τάχα που καὶ ἡμᾶς περικλύζοντι. δεῖ δή σε τέρπεσθαι μέν, εἰ λαμβάνοις γράμ- μάτα· μὴ λαβεῖν δὲ εἰ συμβαίη, πάντα μᾶλλον εἰκάζειν ἢ ὡς οὐ σὺ παρ’ ἐμοὶ τίμιος. καὶ τοὺς νεανίσκους, ὑπὲρ ὧν ὡς ἡμᾶς ἦλθες, μὴ μόνον ἐκ τῆς κηδείας, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐμὴν χάριν φιλεῖν.