Letter 2006: How long will this abstinence be permitted?

Ennodius to Pomerius. How long will so much self-restraint be permitted? How long will your noble reputation grow old, deprived of the exchange of letters? I do not wish to escape the opinion that I am rash, provided that I can come to be known as a man of accomplishment. I wish to be the foremost dispatcher of pages, so that the good things of the Gauls may migrate to Italy, conveyed without any loss to their proper form. Or did you perhaps suppose that you could lie hidden in any place whatsoever, you whom the light of learning displayed to the gaze of those set far away? And were it not that, in the matter of your praises, our domestic report indeed -- but, through its own ignorance, a poor one -- hems me in, and the meagerness of the reporter narrows the most ample proclamations of your merits, you would have bitten off the greatest portions of the clasp of perfection of both libraries, coming as it does from a twofold side, taking care that your talent should grow fat upon such abundance. I say nothing of the highest gift of heavenly benefit conferred, and of one furnished with supernal endowments without human aid. For rightly is this judged to come from those above which is established among men by no precedent. But these things I think had better be reserved for the times to come, with life as companion. I come to that point in which you, most aloof of men, took me to task. How much weight did the assertion of the holy Felix, the present bearer, carry, when in my letters, dictated without care, you, a foster-child of the Rhone, were searching out a Roman evenness and the vein of the Latin stream! A solicitous searcher, I believe, and a diligent one, found what the file might polish, while he ranged over my unwrought words. Do we not know with what mind a man has read a thing, who with this deliberation brings forth his opinion? -- especially since it has been written: The very father of bards, the chief of Helicon, Homer himself, received the severe darts of the censorious mark. I ask: even if among the native-born, and among those versed in the wrestling-school of their own studies, Latinity shines forth -- a marvel to tell, that it loves foreigners. I ought not, nor do I presume, to make trial concerning the pomp of eloquence, to test how strong anyone may be, since for my profession it suffices to apply myself to simple doctrine. Yet if, while I was still rejoicing in the novelty of liberal studies, someone had touched me with such a tooth, I would have prepared either what would be suitable for excuse, or what would not be shameful as a retort. Now farewell, my lord, and in my regard exercise rather the favor of ecclesiastical discipline. Write or send word what parents Melchizedek had, the explanation of the threshing-floor, the secret of circumcision, and the things that are enclosed within the prophetic mysteries. Let those things be rejected which are the schemes of worldly men, bent upon perishable persuasions, like the web of Penelope.

VI. ENNODIVS POMERIO. Quousque tantum licebit abstinentiae? quousque fama nobilis epistularibus destituta conmerciis ueterescet ? nolo euadere opinionem temerarii, dummodo ad notitiam possim peruenire perfecti. uolo esse paginarum praeuius destinator, ut Galliarum bona ad Italiam migrent sine ullo formae suae translata dispendio. an forsitan putabas te in quocumque loci delitescere, quem scientiae lux longe positorum monstrabat aspectui? et nisi me in laudibus tuis domestica quidem relatio, sed per inperitiam sui pauper angustet et amplissima meritorum tuorum praeconia relatoris artet exilitas, utriusque bibliothecae fibula perfectionis ex gemino latere uenientis partes maximas momordisti, procurando ut tali ingenium tuum saturitate pinguesceret. taceo summam caelestis conlatam beneficii et dotibus sine humano adiutorio supernis instructum. recte enim hoc aestimatur uenire de superis quod inter homines nullo constat 1 conpotare B 4 exspectans V non uolui B 7 mi PT, mihi BLV 8 distinatum B 10 contigat B berborum Bl VI. 13 abstinentiae B, absentiae LPTVb 14 distituta B, t U destitna V commercium T ueterescit B 16 praeius L 18 dilitisciTe B, delitiscire L corr. V, delitiscere LlT 21 angustit B\' ut uidetur 22 relatoris B, perlatoris LPTVb bybliotheeae BV (sed V y in ras.) 23 partis Bl 24 pinguisceret B 25 summam] ecclesiam add. B et] et te fort . exemplo. sed haec melius secuturis uita comite censeo reseruanda temporibus. ad illud uenio, in quo me seiunctissimus instruxisti. quantum habuit praesentium portitoris sancti Felicis adsertio, in epistulis meis sine cura dictatis Romanam aequalitatem et Latiaris undae uenam alumnus Rhodani perquirebas. sollicitus credo scrutator et diligens quid lima poliret inuenit, dum per infabricata uerba discurreret. nescimus qua quid mente homo legerit quod hac profert deliberatione sententiam? maxime cum scriptum sit: ipse parens uatum, princeps Heliconis, Homerus, iudicis excepit tela seuera notae. rogo et si indigenis et inter studiorum suorum palaestra uersatis fulget latinitas: mirum dictu, quod amat extraneos. periclum facere de eloquentiae pompa non debeo nec praesumo qualiter quis ualeat experiri, cum professionem meam simplici sufficiat studere doctrinae. si me tamen quondam studiorum liberalium adhuc nouitate gaudentem aliquis tali dente tetigisset, parassem uel quod ad excusationem esset idoneum uel quod non puderet obiectum. nunc uale, mi domine, et circa me ecclesiasticae magis disciplinae exerce fauorem. scribe uel manda Melchisedech parentes quos habuerit, 10 Claudianus in Aletium Carm. min. VI (LXXIV) ns. 13 (= II p. 140 lo.) c 1 hac L, hae V saecutaris B 3 instrux|∗insti L felices B 5 alumpnus PT rodani BLPTVb 6 polliret P, T polleret b 7 infabicata B bene scimus maiim qua quid T corr., quia quid LPTlV, quia quid qua B b 8 quod T in ras . m. 2 10 Homerus] umerus B 11 excipit B note BT, no∗te L, sui b 12 rogo et si] raro si et fort., cf. Wiener Studien II p. 244 indigenis scripai, indigenas BLPTVb palestra BLPTV uersatis L, uersatus BV1, uersatos PTV corr. b tl 13 fulgit BV (g ex c corr.), fnlit L lanita∗∗s L ti eras. et ti s. I . n add . m. 2 quod B, quod V (si alio atramento supra scr.), quod si T, uel Bi L, quid Pb 14 facere om. L\' 15 ualeat] debeat Pb professiomem B1 17 nobilitate Sirm . 18 excussationem L\' 20 fauorem LT, fautorem Bb, fautorem V, fouerem P 21 mandata V melcbisedhaec L, melcisedech B explanationem areae, circumcisionis secretum et quae propheticis mysteriis includuntur. ista quae sunt saecularium schemata respuantur, caducis intenta persuasionibus, telae similia Penelopae. v