Ep. 1.13.1Magnum prōventum poētārum annus hic attulit: tōtō mēnse Aprīlī nūllus ferē diēs, quō nōn recitāret aliquis.This year has brought a great crop of poets: in the whole month of April there was scarcely a day on which someone was not giving a recitation. Ep. 1.13.1Iuvat mē quod vigent studia, prōferunt sē ingenia hominum et ostentant, tametsī ad audiendum pigrē coitur.I am glad that literary studies thrive, that men's talents put themselves forward and show themselves off, even though people gather sluggishly to listen. Ep. 1.13.2Plērīque in statiōnibus sedent tempusque audiendī fābulīs conterunt, ac subinde sibi nūntiārī iubent, an iam recitātor intrāverit, an dīxerit praefātiōnem, an ex magnā parte ēvolverit librum;Most of them sit in the lounging-places and waste the time for listening in gossip, and every so often have word brought to them whether the reciter has come in yet, whether he has given his preface, whether he has unrolled most of the book; Ep. 1.13.2tum dēmum ac tunc quoque Lentē cūnctanterque veniunt, nec tamen permanent, sed ante fīnem recēdunt, aliī dissimulanter et fūrtim, aliī simpliciter et līberē.only then, and even then slowly and hesitantly, do they come, and yet they do not stay, but leave before the end, some discreetly and stealthily, others openly and without ceremony.
Ep. 1.13.3At herculē memoriā parentum Claudium Caesarem ferunt, cum in Palātiō spatiārētur audīssetque clamōrem, causam requīsīsse, cumque dictum esset recitāre Nōniānum, subitum recitantī inopīnātumque vēnisse.Yet, by Hercules, they say that in our parents' memory Claudius Caesar, while he was walking in the Palace and heard shouting, asked the cause, and when he was told that Nonianus was reciting, came to the reciter suddenly and unexpectedly. Ep. 1.13.4Nunc ōtiōsissimus quisque multō ante rogātus et identidem admonitus aut nōn venit aut, sī venit, queritur sē diem - quia nōn perdidit - perdidisse.Now even the man with the most leisure, though invited long beforehand and reminded again and again, either does not come or, if he does come, complains that he has wasted a day, just because he has not wasted it. Ep. 1.13.5Sed tantō magis laudandī probandīque sunt, quōs ā scrībendī recitandīque studiō haec audītōrum vel dēsidia vel superbia nōn retardat.But all the more are those to be praised and approved whom this idleness or arrogance of listeners does not hold back from their eagerness to write and recite.
Ep. 1.13.5Equidem prope nēminī dēfuī.For my part, I have failed hardly anyone. Ep. 1.13.5Erant sānē plērīque amīcī;Most of them, it is true, were friends; Ep. 1.13.6neque enim est ferē quisquam, quī studia, ut nōn simul et nōs amet.for there is hardly anyone who loves literary studies without loving me as well. Ep. 1.13.6Hīs ex causīs longius quam dēstināveram tempus in urbe cōnsūmpsī.For these reasons I have spent longer in the city than I had intended. Ep. 1.13.6Possum iam repetere sēcessum et scrībere aliquid, quod nōn recitem, nē videar, quōrum recitātiōnibus adfuī, nōn audītor fuisse sed crēditor.I can now return to my retreat and write something which I shall not recite, so as not to seem to have been, at the recitations of those I attended, not a listener but a creditor. Ep. 1.13.6Nam ut in cēterīs rēbus ita in audiendī officiō perit grātia sī reposcātur.For as in other things, so in the duty of listening, the favour is lost if it is demanded back. Ep. 1.13.6Valē.Farewell.