Ep. 3.10.1Composuisse mē quaedam dē fīliō vestrō nōn dīxī vōbīs, cum proximē apud vōs fuī, prīmum quia nōn ideō scrīpseram ut dīcerem, sed ut meō amōrī meō dolōrī satisfacerem;When I was last with you, I did not tell you that I had composed something about your son, first because I had not written it in order to talk about it but to satisfy my love and my grief; Ep. 3.10.1deinde quia tē, Spurinna, cum audīssēs recitāsse mē, ut mihi ipse dīxistī, quid recitāssem simul audīsse crēdēbam.secondly because I believed that you, Spurinna, having heard that I had given a reading, as you yourself told me, had heard at the same time what I had read. Ep. 3.10.2Praetereā veritus sum nē vōs fēstīs diēbus cōnfunderem, sī in memoriam gravissimī lūctūs redūxissem.Besides, I was afraid of upsetting you during the festival days if I brought you back to the memory of your heaviest grief. Ep. 3.10.2Nunc quoque paulisper haesitāvī, id sōlum, quod recitāvī, mitterem exigentibus vōbīs, an adicerem quae in aliud volūmen cōgitō reservāre.Even now I have hesitated a little whether to send, at your request, only what I read, or to add what I am thinking of reserving for another volume.
Ep. 3.10.3Neque enim affectibus meīs ūnō libellō cārissimam mihi et sānctissimam memoriam prōsequī satis est, cuius fāmae lātius cōnsulētur, sī dispēnsāta et dīgesta fuerit.For it does not satisfy my feelings to honour in a single small book a memory so dear and sacred to me, whose fame will be more widely served if it is spread out and arranged. Ep. 3.10.4Vērum haesitantī mihi, omnia quae iam composuī vōbīs exhibērem, an adhūc aliqua differrem, simplicius et amīcius vīsum est omnia, praecipuē cum affirmētis intrā vōs futūra, dōnec placeat ēmittere.But as I hesitated whether to show you everything I have already composed or still to hold some of it back, it seemed more frank and more friendly to show you everything, especially since you assure me that it will stay between you until you decide to publish it. Ep. 3.10.5Quod superest, rogō ut parī simplicitāte, sī qua exīstimābitis addenda commūtanda omittenda, indicētis mihi.For the rest, I ask that with the same frankness you point out to me whatever you think should be added, changed or left out.
Ep. 3.10.6Difficile est hūc ūsque intendere animum in dolōre;It is hard to direct one's mind so far in grief; Ep. 3.10.6difficile, sed tamen, ut scalptōrem, ut pictōrem, quī fīliī vestrī imāginem faceret, admonērētis, quid exprimere quid ēmendāre dēbēret, ita mē quoque fōrmāte regite, quī nōn fragilem et cadūcam, sed immortālem, ut vōs putātis, effigiem cōnor efficere: quae hōc diūturnior erit, quō vērior melior absolūtior fuerit.hard, but still, just as you would advise a sculptor or a painter who was making a portrait of your son what he should bring out and what he should correct, so shape and guide me too, who am trying to create a likeness not fragile and perishable but immortal, as you believe: and it will be the more lasting the more true, good and finished it is. Ep. 3.10.6Valēte.Farewell.