Ep. 7.25.1Ō quantum ērudītōrum aut modestia ipsōrum aut quiēs operit ac subtrahit fāmae!Oh, how many learned men are hidden and withdrawn from fame by their own modesty or their love of quiet! Ep. 7.25.1At nōs eōs tantum dictūrī aliquid aut lēctūrī timēmus, quī studia sua prōferunt, cum illī quī tacent hoc amplius praestent, quod maximum opus silentiō reverentur.Yet when we are about to speak or read anything, we fear only those who bring their studies forward, whereas those who keep silent excel by this much more, that they honour the greatest work with silence. Ep. 7.25.2Expertus scrībō quod scrībō.I write what I write from experience. Ep. 7.25.2Terentius Iūnior, equestribus mīlitiīs atque etiam prōcūrātiōne Narbōnēnsis prōvinciae integerrimē fūnctus, recēpit sē in agrōs suōs, parātīsque honōribus tranquillissimum ōtium praetulit.Terentius Junior, after discharging the equestrian military posts and also the procuratorship of the province of Narbonensis with the greatest integrity, withdrew to his estates and preferred the most tranquil leisure to the honours that awaited him. Ep. 7.25.3Hunc ego invītātus hospitiō ut bonum patrem familiae, ut dīligentem agricolam intuēbar, dē hīs locūtūrus, in quibus illum versārī putābam;Invited to stay with him, I looked on him as a good head of household and a diligent farmer, intending to talk of the matters with which I supposed him to be occupied; Ep. 7.25.3et coeperam, cum ille mē doctissimō sermōne revocāvit ad studia.and I had begun, when he called me back to literature with most learned conversation.
Ep. 7.25.4Quam tersa omnia, quam Latīna, quam Graeca!How polished everything was, how Latin, how Greek! Ep. 7.25.4Nam tantum utrāque linguā valet, ut eā magis videātur excellere, quā cum maximē loquitur.For he is so strong in both languages that he seems to excel more in whichever he happens at the moment to be speaking. Ep. 7.25.4Quantum ille lēgit, quantum tenet!How much he has read, how much he remembers! Ep. 7.25.4Athēnīs vīvere hominem, nōn in vīllā putēs.You would think the man lived in Athens, not in a country house. Ep. 7.25.5Quid multa?Need I say more? Ep. 7.25.5Auxit sollicitūdinem meam effēcitque ut illīs quōs doctissimōs nōvī, nōn minus hōs sēductōs et quasi rūsticōs verear.He has increased my anxiety and made me fear these retired and, as it were, rustic men no less than those whom I know to be most learned. Ep. 7.25.6Idem suādeō tibi: sunt enim ut in castrīs sīc etiam in litterīs nostrīs, plūrēs cultū pāgānō quōs cinctōs et armātōs, et quidem ārdentissimō ingeniō, dīligenter scrūtātus inveniēs.I advise you to do the same: for just as in the army, so also in our literary world there are many in civilian dress whom, if you search them out carefully, you will find girt and armed, and indeed with a most ardent talent.
Ep. 7.25.6Valē.Farewell.