Ep. 8.20.1Ad quae nōscenda iter ingredī, trānsmittere mare solēmus, ea sub oculīs posita neglegimus, seu quia ita nātūrā comparātum, ut proximōrum incūriōsī longinqua sectēmur, seu quod omnium rērum cupīdō languēscit, cum facilis occāsiō, seu quod differimus tamquam saepe vīsūrī, quod datur vidēre quotiēns velīs cernere.Things which we usually set out on a journey and cross the sea to get to know, we neglect when they are placed before our eyes, whether because nature has so arranged it that we are incurious about what is nearest and pursue what is far off, or because desire for all things grows faint when the opportunity is easy, or because we put off, as if we shall often see it, what we are able to see whenever we wish to look. Ep. 8.20.2Quācumque dē causā, permulta in urbe nostrā iūxtāque urbem nōn oculīs modo sed nē auribus quidem nōvimus, quae sī tulisset Achāia Aegyptos Asia aliave quaelibet mīrāculōrum ferāx commendātrīxque terra, audīta perlēcta lūstrāta habērēmus.Whatever the reason, there are a great many things in our city and near the city which we know not only not by sight but not even by hearsay, which, if Achaia, Egypt, Asia or any other land fertile in wonders and quick to advertise them had produced, we would have heard of, read about and visited.
Ep. 8.20.3Ipse certē nūper, quod nec audieram ante nec vīderam, audīvī pariter et vīdī.I myself at least recently heard of and saw at the same time something which I had neither heard of nor seen before. Ep. 8.20.3Exēgerat prosocer meus, ut Amerīna praedia sua īnspicerem.My wife's grandfather had asked me to inspect his estates at Ameria. Ep. 8.20.3Haec perambulantī mihi ostenditur subiacēns lacus nōmine Vadimōnis;As I was walking over them I was shown a lake lying below, called Vadimon; Ep. 8.20.3simul quaedam incrēdibilia narrantur.at the same time some incredible things were told me about it. Ep. 8.20.4Pervēnī ad ipsum.I went to the lake itself. Ep. 8.20.4Lacus est in similitūdinem iacentis rotae circumscrīptus et undique aequālis: nūllus sinus, oblīquitās nūlla, omnia dīmēnsa paria, et quasi artificis manū cavāta et excīsa.The lake is shaped like a wheel lying on its side and is even all round: no bay, no irregularity, everything measured and equal, as though hollowed and cut out by the hand of a craftsman. Ep. 8.20.4Color caerulō albidior, viridior et pressior;Its colour is paler than sky-blue, greener and deeper; Ep. 8.20.4sulpuris odor saporque medicātus;it has a smell of sulphur and a medicinal taste; Ep. 8.20.4vīs quā frācta solidantur.it has a power by which broken bones are knitted.
Ep. 8.20.4Spatium modicum, quod tamen sentiat ventōs, et flūctibus intumēscat.Its size is moderate, yet such that it feels the winds and swells with waves. Ep. 8.20.5Nūlla in hōc nāvis - sacer enim -, sed innatant īnsulae, herbidae omnēs harundine et iuncō, quaeque alia fēcundior palūs ipsaque illa extrēmitās lacūs effert.There is no boat on it — for it is sacred — but islands float on it, all grassy with reeds and rushes and whatever else the more fertile marsh and that very edge of the lake produce. Ep. 8.20.5Sua cuique figūra ut modus;Each has its own shape, as its own size; Ep. 8.20.5cūnctīs margō dērāsus, quia frequenter vel lītorī vel sibi illīsae terunt terunturque.all have their edges worn away, because they often strike either the shore or one another, and wear and are worn. Ep. 8.20.5Pār omnibus altitūdō, pār levitās;All have the same height, the same lightness; Ep. 8.20.5quippe in speciem carīnae humilī rādīce dēscendunt.for they go down with a shallow base, in the shape of a keel. Ep. 8.20.6Haec ab omnī latere perspicitur, eādem aquā pariter suspēnsa et mersa.This can be seen from every side, as they are at the same time held up by the water and submerged in it.
Ep. 8.20.6Interdum iūnctae cōpulātaeque et continentī similēs sunt, interdum discordantibus ventīs dīgeruntur, nōn numquam dēstitūtae tranquillitāte singulae fluitant.Sometimes they are joined and linked together and look like a continuous land, sometimes they are scattered by contending winds; sometimes, left alone in a calm, they float about singly. Ep. 8.20.7Saepe minōrēs maiōribus velut cumbulae onerāriīs adhaerēscunt, saepe inter sē maiōrēs minōrēsque quasi cursum certāmenque dēsūmunt;Often the smaller ones cling to the larger, like skiffs to cargo ships, often the larger and smaller take up a sort of race and contest among themselves; Ep. 8.20.7rūrsus omnēs in eundem locum appulsae, quā stetērunt prōmovent terram, et modo hāc modo illā lacum reddunt auferuntque, ac tum dēmum cum medium tenuēre nōn contrahunt.again, all driven to the same spot, they extend the land where they have stopped, and now on this side, now on that, they give back and take away the lake, and only when they hold the middle do they not shrink it. Ep. 8.20.8Cōnstat pecora herbās secūta sīc in īnsulās illās ut in extrēmam rīpam prōcēdere solēre, nec prius intellegere mōbile sōlum quam lītorī abrepta quasi illāta et imposita circumfūsum undique lacum paveant;It is well known that cattle, following the grass, are accustomed to walk onto those islands as if onto the edge of the bank, and do not realise that the ground is moving until, carried away from the shore as if put on board and embarked, they take fright at the lake poured round them on all sides; Ep. 8.20.8mox quō tulerit ventus ēgressa, nōn magis sē dēscendisse sentīre, quam sēnserint ascendisse.soon, stepping off where the wind has carried them, they no more feel that they have gone down than they felt that they had gone up.
Ep. 8.20.9Īdem lacus in flūmen ēgeritur, quod ubi sē paulisper oculīs dedit specū mergitur altēque conditum meat ac, sī quid antequam subdūcerētur accēpit, servat et prōfert.The same lake discharges into a river, which, after showing itself to the eyes for a little while, plunges into a cave and runs deep underground, and if it has received anything before it was drawn under, it keeps it and brings it out again. Ep. 8.20.10Haec tibi scrīpsī, quia nec minus ignōta quam mihi nec minus grāta crēdēbam.I have written this to you because I believed it to be no less unknown to you than to me, and no less welcome. Ep. 8.20.10Nam tē quoque ut mē nihil aequē ac nātūrae opera dēlectant.For you too, like me, are delighted by nothing so much as the works of nature. Ep. 8.20.10Valē.Farewell.