Ep. 2.5.1Āctiōnem et ā tē frequenter efflāgitātam, et ā mē saepe prōmissam, exhibuī tibi, nōndum tamen tōtam;The speech which you have often demanded and I have often promised, I have sent you, though not yet the whole of it; Ep. 2.5.1adhūc enim pars eius perpolītur.for part of it is still being polished. Ep. 2.5.2Interim quae absolūtiōra mihi vidēbantur, nōn fuit aliēnum iūdiciō tuō trādī.Meanwhile it seemed not out of place to submit to your judgement the parts which seemed to me more finished. Ep. 2.5.2Hīs tū rogō intentiōnem scrībentis accommodēs.To these, I ask you, give the close attention of a writer. Ep. 2.5.2Nihil enim adhūc inter manūs habuī, cui maiōrem sollicitūdinem praestāre dēbērem.For I have never yet had anything in hand on which I ought to bestow greater care. Ep. 2.5.3Nam in cēterīs āctiōnibus exīstimātiōnī hominum dīligentiā tantum et fidēs nostra, in hāc etiam pietās subiciētur.For in my other speeches only my diligence and good faith will be submitted to men's judgement; in this one my devotion to my country as well. Ep. 2.5.3Inde et liber crēvit, dum ōrnāre patriam et amplificāre gaudēmus, pariterque et dēfēnsiōnī eius servīmus et glōriae.Hence too the book has grown, as I delight in adorning and magnifying my native town, and serve at once both its defence and its glory.
Ep. 2.5.4Tū tamen haec ipsa quantum ratiō exēgerit resecā.Yet you must cut back even these passages as far as reason demands. Ep. 2.5.4Quotiēns enim ad fastīdium legentium dēliciāsque respiciō, intellegō nōbīs commendātiōnem et ex ipsā mediocritāte librī petendam.For whenever I consider the fastidiousness and delicate taste of readers, I understand that I must seek favour even from the very moderate length of the book. Ep. 2.5.5Īdem tamen quī ā tē hanc austēritātem exigō, cōgor id quod dīversum est postulāre, ut in plērīsque frontem remittās.Yet I who demand this severity of you am compelled to ask for the very opposite as well, that in many places you relax your brow. Ep. 2.5.5Sunt enim quaedam adulēscentium auribus danda, praesertim sī māteria nōn refrāgētur;For some things must be granted to the ears of young men, especially if the material does not resist; Ep. 2.5.5nam dēscrīptiōnēs locōrum, quae in hōc librō frequentiōrēs erunt, nōn historicē tantum sed prope poēticē prōsequī fās est.for descriptions of places, which will be rather frequent in this book, may properly be treated not only in the manner of history but almost in that of poetry.
Ep. 2.5.6Quod tamen sī quis exstiterit, quī putet nōs laetius fēcisse quam ōrātiōnis sevēritās exigat, huius - ut ita dīxerim - trīstitiam reliquae partēs āctiōnis exōrāre dēbēbunt.But if anyone should appear who thinks that I have written more exuberantly than the severity of oratory demands, the remaining parts of the speech will have to beg off his – if I may so call it – austerity. Ep. 2.5.7Adnīsī certē sumus, ut quamlibet dīversa genera lēctōrum per plūrēs dīcendī speciēs tenērēmus, ac sīcut verēmur, nē quibusdam pars aliqua secundum suam cuiusque nātūram nōn probētur, ita vidēmur posse cōnfīdere, ut ūniversitātem omnibus varietās ipsa commendet.Certainly I have striven to hold readers of the most varied kinds by means of several styles of speaking, and just as I fear that some part may fail to win the approval of certain readers, according to the nature of each, so I think I can be confident that the very variety will commend the whole to all. Ep. 2.5.8Nam et in ratiōne convīviōrum, quamvīs ā plērīsque cibīs singulī temperēmus, tōtam tamen cēnam laudāre omnēs solēmus, nec ea quae stomachus noster recūsat, adimunt grātiam illīs quibus capitur.For at dinners too, though each of us abstains from most dishes, we all usually praise the whole meal, and those things which our stomach refuses do not take away the charm of those by which it is captivated.
Ep. 2.5.9Atque haec ego sīc accipī volō, nōn tamquam assecūtum esse mē crēdam, sed tamquam assequī labōrāverim, fortasse nōn frūstrā, sī modo tū cūram tuam admōveris interim istīs, mox iīs quae sequuntur.And I want this to be taken, not as if I believed that I had achieved it, but as if I had laboured to achieve it, perhaps not in vain, if only you apply your care to these parts for now, and soon to those that follow. Ep. 2.5.10Dīcēs tē nōn posse satis dīligenter id facere, nisi prius tōtam āctiōnem cognōveris: fateor.You will say that you cannot do this carefully enough unless you have first come to know the whole speech: I admit it. Ep. 2.5.10In praesentiā tamen et ista tibi familiāriōra fīent, et quaedam ex hīs tālia erunt ut per partēs ēmendārī possint.For the present, however, these parts will become more familiar to you, and some of them will be such that they can be corrected piece by piece. Ep. 2.5.11Etenim, sī āvulsum statuae caput aut membrum aliquod īnspicerēs, nōn tū quidem ex illō possēs congruentiam aequālitātemque dēprendere, possēs tamen iūdicāre, an id ipsum satis ēlegāns esset;For if you were examining a head, or some limb, torn from a statue, you could not, it is true, make out from it the harmony and proportion of the whole, but you could still judge whether that piece itself was elegant enough; Ep. 2.5.12nec aliā ex causā prīncipiōrum librī circumferuntur, quam quia exīstimātur pars aliqua etiam sine cēterīs esse perfecta.and for no other reason are books of opening passages passed around than because it is thought that some part may be perfect even without the rest.
Ep. 2.5.13Longius mē prōvexit dulcēdō quaedam tēcum loquendī;A certain pleasure in talking with you has carried me on too far; Ep. 2.5.13sed iam fīnem faciam nē modum, quem etiam ōrātiōnī adhibendum putō, in epistulā excēdam.but now I shall make an end, so as not to exceed in a letter the limit which I think should be observed even in a speech. Ep. 2.5.13Valē.Farewell.