Ep. 1.9.1Mīrum est quam singulīs diēbus in urbe ratiō aut cōnstet aut cōnstāre videātur, plūribus iūnctīsque nōn cōnstet.It is remarkable how, for single days in the city, an account either balances or seems to balance, but for several days taken together it does not. Ep. 1.9.2Nam sī quem interrogēs "Hodiē quid ēgistī?", respondeat: "Officiō togae virīlis interfuī, spōnsālia aut nūptiās frequentāvī, ille mē ad signandum testāmentum, ille in advocātiōnem, ille in cōnsilium rogāvit."For if you ask anyone, 'What did you do today?', he would answer: 'I attended a coming-of-age ceremony, I went to a betrothal or a wedding, one man asked me to witness his will, another to support him in court, another to sit on his council.' Ep. 1.9.3Haec quō diē fēceris, necessāria, eadem, sī cōtīdiē fēcisse tē reputēs, inānia videntur, multō magis cum sēcesseris.These things seem necessary on the day you do them, but the same things seem empty if you reflect that you have done them every day, and much more so when you have gone into retreat. Ep. 1.9.3Tunc enim subit recordātiō: "Quot diēs quam frīgidīs rēbus absūmpsī!"For then the recollection comes over you: 'How many days I have wasted on what dull things!' Ep. 1.9.4Quod ēvenit mihi, postquam in Laurentīnō meō aut legō aliquid aut scrībō aut etiam corporī vacō, cuius fultūrīs animus sustinētur.This is what happens to me after I am at my Laurentine house and am either reading something or writing or even attending to my body, by whose props the mind is supported.
Ep. 1.9.5Nihil audiō quod audīsse, nihil dīcō quod dīxisse paeniteat;I hear nothing that I regret having heard, I say nothing that I regret having said; Ep. 1.9.5nēmō apud mē quemquam sinistrīs sermōnibus carpit, nēminem ipse reprehendō, nisi tamen mē cum parum commodē scrībō;no one in my company carps at anyone with malicious talk, I myself find fault with no one, except, that is, myself when I write poorly; Ep. 1.9.5nūllā spē nūllō timōre sollicitor, nūllīs rūmōribus inquiētor: mēcum tantum et cum libellīs loquor.I am troubled by no hope, no fear, disturbed by no rumours: I talk only with myself and with my books. Ep. 1.9.6Ō rēctam sincēramque vītam!O upright and genuine life! Ep. 1.9.6Ō dulce ōtium honestumque ac paene omnī negōtiō pulchrius!O sweet and honourable leisure, finer almost than any business! Ep. 1.9.6Ō mare, ō lītus, vērum sēcrētumque quam, multa invenītis quam, multa dictātis dictatis!O sea, O shore, true and secret home of the Muses, how much you discover, how much you dictate! Ep. 1.9.7Proinde tū quoque strepitum istum inānemque discursum et multum ineptōs labōrēs, ut prīmum fuerit occāsiō, relinque tēque studiīs vel ōtiō trāde.So you too, as soon as there is an opportunity, leave that din and empty bustle and all those quite pointless labours, and give yourself to study or to leisure.
Ep. 1.9.8Satius est enim, ut Atīlius noster ērudītissimē simul et facētissimē dīxit, ōtiōsum esse quam nihil agere.For it is better, as our friend Atilius said most learnedly and at the same time most wittily, to be at leisure than to be doing nothing. Ep. 1.9.8Valē.Farewell.