Ep. 5.17.1Sciō quantō opere bonīs artibus faveās, quantum gaudium capiās, sī nōbilēs iuvenēs dignum aliquid maiōribus suīs faciant.I know how much you favour the liberal arts, and how much joy you take if young men of noble birth do something worthy of their ancestors. Ep. 5.17.1Quō festīnantius nūntiō tibi fuisse mē hodiē in audītōriō Calpurnī Pīsōnis.All the more eagerly, then, I tell you that I was today in the audience of Calpurnius Piso. Ep. 5.17.2Recitābat ērudītam sānē lūculentam que māteriam.He was reciting a poem on the transformation into stars, a truly learned and splendid subject. Ep. 5.17.2Scrīpta elegīs erat fluentibus et tenerīs et ēnōdibus, sublīmibus etiam, ut poposcit locus.It was written in elegiacs that were flowing, tender and smooth, and also lofty, as the passage demanded. Ep. 5.17.2Aptē enim et variē nunc attollēbātur, nunc residēbat;For aptly and with variety he now rose, now sank; Ep. 5.17.2excelsa dēpressīs, exīlia plēnīs, sevērīs iūcunda mūtābat, omnia ingeniō parī.he alternated the lofty with the low, the slender with the full, the pleasant with the severe, all with equal talent.
Ep. 5.17.3Commendābat haec vōce suāvissimā, vōcem verēcundiā: multum sanguinis, multum sollicitūdinis in ōre, magna ōrnāmenta recitantis.He commended all this with a very sweet voice, and his voice with modesty: much blushing, much anxiety in his face, great ornaments in one who recites. Ep. 5.17.3Etenim nesciō quō pactō magis in studiīs hominēs timor quam fīdūcia decet.For somehow diffidence suits men in literary pursuits better than confidence. Ep. 5.17.4Nē plūra - quamquam libet plūra, quō sunt pulchriōra dē iuvene, rāriōra dē nōbilī -, recitātiōne fīnītā multum ac diū exōsculātus adulēscentem, quī est ācerrimus stimulus monendī, laudibus incitāvī, pergeret quā coepisset, lūmenque quod sibi maiōrēs suī praetulissent, posterīs ipse praeferret.Not to say more — though I would like to say more, since such things are finer in a young man and rarer in a nobleman — when the recitation was over I kissed the young man warmly and long, and, since praise is the keenest spur to encouragement, urged him on with praises to continue as he had begun, and to carry before his descendants the torch which his ancestors had carried before him.
Ep. 5.17.5Grātulātus sum optimae mātrī, grātulātus et frātrī, quī ex audītōriō illō nōn minōrem pietātis glōriam quam ille alter ēloquentiae retulit: tam notābiliter prō frātre recitante prīmum metus eius, mox gaudium ēminuit.I congratulated his excellent mother, and congratulated his brother too, who carried away from that recitation no less glory for brotherly devotion than the other did for eloquence: so conspicuous was first his anxiety and then his joy as his brother recited. Ep. 5.17.6Dī faciant ut tālia tibi saepius nūntiem!May the gods grant that I can often bring you such news! Ep. 5.17.6Faveō enim saeculō nē sit sterile et effētum, mīrēque cupiō nē nōbilēs nostrī nihil in domibus suīs pulchrum nisi imāginēs habeant;For I am on the side of our age, that it may not be barren and worn out, and I wonderfully desire that our nobles should not have nothing fine in their houses except the portrait masks of their ancestors; Ep. 5.17.6quae nunc mihi hōs adulēscentēs tacitae laudāre adhortārī, et quod ambōrum glōriae satis magnum est, agnōscere videntur.and these now seem to me silently to praise and encourage these young men and, what is great enough for the glory of both, to acknowledge them as their own.
Ep. 5.17.6Valē.Farewell.