Letter 20: Procopius turns a gift of fish into a witty praise of generous fields and sea.

Once again you send fish from the vineyards. Your fields, it seems, supply the things of the sea, and you are able to harvest both land and sea at once, gathering clusters in one place and fish in another. The sea seems to imitate your character: you give eagerly, and she too wants to serve your generosity. Our sea, by contrast, makes us just like mainlanders, except that it provides waves and offers the threat of itself without fish.

Στρατηγίωι καὶ Ἰλασίωι Πάλιν ὑμῖν ἐκ τῶν ἀμπέλων ἰχθῦς, καὶ ἀγροὶ τὰ τῆς θαλάσσης, ὡς ἔοικε, χορηγοῦσι, καὶ ἅμα χωρία καὶ θάλατταν ὑμῖν ὑπάρχει τρυγᾶν καὶ πῆ μὲν βότρυς λαμβάνειν πῆ δὲ πάλιν ἰχθῦς. καὶ ἔοικεν ἡ θάλαττα τοὺς ὑμετέρους τρόπους μιμεῖσθαι· ὑμεῖς τε γὰρ προθύμως χορηγεῖτε, κἀκείνη πρὸς τὴν ὑμετέραν ὑπουργεῖν ἐθέλει φιλοτιμίαν. ἡ δὲ παρ' ἡμῖν θάλαττα ἴσα καὶ ἠπειρώτας ἡμᾶς ἀπεργάζεται, πλὴν ὅτι παρέχει τὰ κύματα καὶ χορηγεῖ τὴν ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀπειλὴν ἰχθύων χωρίς.