Ep. 5.5.1Nūntiātum mihi C. Fannium dēcessisse;I have been told that Gaius Fannius has died; Ep. 5.5.1quī nūntius mē gravī dolōre cōnfūdit, prīmum quod amāvī hominem ēlegantem disertum, deinde quod iūdiciō eius ūtī solēbam.the news overwhelmed me with deep grief, first because I loved this refined and eloquent man, and secondly because I used to rely on his judgement. Ep. 5.5.1Erat enim acūtus nātūrā, ūsū exercitātus, vēritāte promptissimus.For he was sharp by nature, trained by practice, and very ready with the truth. Ep. 5.5.2Angit mē super ista cāsus ipsīus: dēcessit veterī testāmentō, omīsit quōs maximē dīligēbat, prōsecūtus est quibus offēnsior erat.Besides this, what happened to him personally distresses me: he died under an old will, leaving out those he most loved and favouring those with whom he was more at odds. Ep. 5.5.2Sed hoc utcumque tolerābile;But this is somehow bearable; Ep. 5.5.2gravius illud, quod pulcherrimum opus imperfectum relīquit.what is worse is that he left a very fine work unfinished. Ep. 5.5.3Quamvīs enim agendīs causīs distringerētur, scrībēbat tamen exitūs occīsōrum aut relēgātōrum ā Nerōne et iam trēs librōs absolverat subtīlēs et dīligentēs et Latīnōs atque inter sermōnem historiamque mediōs, ac tantō magis reliquōs perficere cupiēbat, quantō frequentius hī lēctitābantur.For although he was distracted by pleading cases, he was nevertheless writing about the deaths of those who were killed or banished by Nero, and had already completed three books, subtle, careful and in good Latin, midway between conversation and history, and he was all the more eager to finish the rest the more often these were read.
Ep. 5.5.4Mihi autem vidētur acerba semper et immātūra mors eōrum, quī immortāle aliquid parant.To me, however, the death of those who are preparing something immortal always seems bitter and untimely. Ep. 5.5.4Nam quī voluptātibus dēditī quasi in diem vīvunt, vīvendī causās cōtīdiē fīniunt;For those who are given over to pleasures and live, as it were, from day to day, end their reasons for living each day; Ep. 5.5.4quī vērō posterōs cōgitant, et memoriam suī operibus extendunt, hīs nūlla mors nōn repentīna est, ut quae semper incohātum aliquid abrumpat.but those who think of posterity and extend their memory by their works, to them no death is anything but sudden, since it always breaks off something just begun. Ep. 5.5.5Gāius quidem Fannius, quod accidit, multō ante praesēnsit.Gaius Fannius, indeed, had a foreboding long beforehand of what happened. Ep. 5.5.5Vīsus est sibi per nocturnam quiētem iacēre in lectulō suō compositus in habitum studentis, habēre ante sē scrīnium - ita solēbat -;He dreamed in the quiet of the night that he was lying on his couch, settled in the posture of a man studying, with his book-box in front of him — that was his habit; Ep. 5.5.5mox imāginātus est vēnisse Nerōnem, in torō resēdisse, prōmpsisse prīmum librum quem dē sceleribus eius ēdiderat, eum que ad extrēmum;revolvissenext he imagined that Nero had come, sat down on the couch, taken out the first book which he had published about his crimes, and unrolled it to the end; Ep. 5.5.5idem in secundō ac tertiō fēcisse, tunc abīsse.that he did the same with the second and third, and then went away.
Ep. 5.5.6Expāvit et sīc interpretātus est, tamquam īdem sibi futūrus esset scrībendī fīnis, quī fuisset illī legendī: et fuit īdem.He was terrified, and interpreted it as if the end of his writing would be the same as had been the end of Nero's reading: and it was the same. Ep. 5.5.7Quod mē recordantem miserātiō subit, quantum vigiliārum quantum labōris exhauserit frūstrā.When I recall this, pity comes over me at how many sleepless nights, how much labour he spent in vain. Ep. 5.5.7Occursant animō mea mortālitās mea scrīpta.My own mortality, my own writings, come into my mind. Ep. 5.5.7Nec dubitō tē quoque eādem cōgitātiōne terrērī, prō istīs quae inter manūs habēs.And I do not doubt that you too are alarmed by the same thought, on behalf of the work you have in hand. Ep. 5.5.8Proinde, dum suppetit vīta, ēnītāmur ut mors quam paucissima quae abolēre possit inveniat.So, while life lasts, let us strive that death may find as little as possible that it can destroy. Ep. 5.5.8Valē.Farewell.