1Muse, at my request take my wishes for joy and success to Celsus Albinovanus, companion and secretary of Nero. If he asks what I am doing, say that, though promising many fine things, I live neither rightly nor pleasantly; 4not because hail has battered my vines and the heat has nipped my olive, nor because my herd is sick in distant pastures; 7but because, less healthy in mind than in my whole body, I will hear nothing, learn nothing, that might relieve my sickness; 9I take offence at faithful doctors, I am angry with my friends for hurrying to rescue me from deadly lethargy; 11I pursue what has harmed me, flee what I believe will help; 12fickle as the wind, at Rome I love Tibur, at Tibur Rome.
13After this, ask how he is, how he manages his affairs and himself, how he pleases the young prince and his staff. If he says 'well', remember first to rejoice, and then to drip this precept into his ears: 'As you bear your fortune, so we shall bear you, Celsus.'