Ep. 7.12.1Libellum fōrmātum ā mē, sīcut exēgerās, quō amīcus tuus, immō noster - quid enim nōn commūne nōbīs?The little speech which I composed, as you had demanded, for your friend — or rather ours, for what do we not have in common? Ep. 7.12.1-, sī rēs posceret ūterētur, mīsī tibi ideō tardius nē tempus ēmendandī eum, id est disperdendī, habērēs.— to use if the occasion required it, I have sent you rather late on purpose, so that you would not have time to correct it, that is, to ruin it. Ep. 7.12.2Habēbis tamen, an ēmendandī nesciō, utique disperdendī.You will have time all the same — whether to correct it I do not know, but certainly to ruin it. Ep. 7.12.2optima quaeque dētrahitis εὔζηλοι optima quaeque detrahitis.For you purists strip out all the best parts. Ep. 7.12.3Quod sī fēceris, bonī cōnsulam.If you do so, I shall take it in good part. Ep. 7.12.3Posteā enim illīs ex aliquā occāsiōne ut meīs ūtar, et beneficiō fastīdī tuī ipse laudābor, ut in eō quod adnotātum inveniēs et suprāscrīptō aliter explicitum.For later, on some occasion, I shall use those passages as my own, and I shall win praise myself thanks to your fastidiousness, as with the passage that you will find marked, and expressed differently in what is written above it.
Ep. 7.12.4Nam cum suspicārer futūrum, ut tibi tumidius vidērētur, quoniam est sonantius et ēlātius, nōn aliēnum exīstimāvī, nē tē torquērēs, addere statim pressius quiddam et exīlius, vel potius humilius et peius, vestrō tamen iūdiciō rēctius.For since I suspected that it would seem to you too inflated, as it is rather sonorous and lofty, I thought it not out of place, to save you from tormenting yourself, to add at once something more concise and plain, or rather humbler and worse, but in your judgement more correct. Ep. 7.12.5Cūr enim nōn usquequāque tenuitātem vestram īnsequar et exagitem?For why should I not pursue and harass your plainness at every turn? Ep. 7.12.5Haec ut inter istās occupātiōnēs aliquid aliquandō rīdērēs, illud sēriō: vidē ut mihi viāticum reddās, quod impendī datā operā cursōre dīmissō.This I say so that amid those occupations of yours you might have something to laugh at now and then; but this in earnest: see that you repay me the travelling expenses I paid out in sending a courier on purpose. Ep. 7.12.6Nē tū, cum hoc lēgeris, nōn partēs libellī, sed tōtum libellum improbābis, negābisque ūllīus pretiī esse, cuius pretium reposcāris.I warrant that when you read this you will condemn not parts of the book but the whole book, and say it is worth nothing, since you are being asked to pay what it cost.
Ep. 7.12.6Valē.Farewell.