Letter 7013: If it were permitted to defer what has been commanded, I would have been granted a delay by the very man who gave...

13. Ennodius to Boethius. If it were permitted to put off what has been commanded, I would still be granted the privilege of not letting the ornaments of silence perish: for it is a gift of taciturnity that you have believed I am able to speak without being uncultivated. See how much native grace a suppressed voice has conferred upon the tongue. But the fact is that an empty heart, once put to the test, does not hold on to its remedies. The care of speech-making is at work, lest the ignorance of the one publishing it be concealed, since the labor of leisure intercepts glory. Behold, I, praised before any proof of my worth, am subjected to scrutiny, and I break in upon my own holidays, lest I should seem worthy of being proclaimed. For while humility renders its obedience, we do not keep what was obtained through silence. You, most flawless of men, deign to proclaim virtues in me, whom industry made old in boyhood years without the prejudice of age, you who through diligence fulfill everything that is required, for whom in the very beginnings of life the constant practice of reading is sport and another man's toil is a delight, in whose hands the torch glows with doubled fire there where the ancients shone with their flame. For what scarcely fell to our forebears around the very end of life, this abounds for you at the threshold. Truly you have given a reward to my loquacity, since you are the first to approach me as I long for conversation. A new thing has befallen a chatterer, that it should be drawn out so far, until written letters demand a reply. Thanks be to God, who by hidden paths reminded you of the obligatory affection owed to a kinsman. Behold, you now hold the grounds for a twofold injury: for after I have become known as a rustic, I presume to call myself a kinsman. My lord, speaking the duty of greeting, I hope that you will lend frequency in the matter of correspondence, in which work an affectionate man shows both assiduity and eloquence.

XIII. ENNODIVS BOETIO. Si liberum esset imperata differri, concederetur mihi adhuc ornamenta silentii non perire: nam taciturnitatis munus est quod non inhumanum loqui me posse credidistis. uidete quantum linguae genium uox pressa contulerit. sed res est uacui pectoris periclitata remedia non tenere. agit sermonis cura, ne promulgantis celetur inscitia, quando otii labor gloriam intercipit. ecce ego ille ante probationem laudatus subdor examini et ferias meas, ne uidear praedicatione dignus, inrumpo. nam dum humilitas reddit obsequium, impetrata per silentium non habemus. tu in me, emendatissime hominum, dignaris praedicare uirtutes, quem in annis puerilibus sine aetatis praeiudicio industria fecit antiquum, qui per diligentiam imples omne quod cogitur, cui inter uitae exordia ludus est lectionis assiduitas et deliciae sudor alienus, in cuius manibus duplicato igne rutilat qua ueteres face fulserunt. nam quod uix maioribus circa extremitatem uitae contigit, hoc tibi abundat in limine. uere dedisti pretium loquacitati meae, dum desiderantem conloquia primus aggrederis. contigit noua res garrulo, ut usque adeo produceretur, donee exigerent scripta responsum. deo gratias, qui occultis itineribus de propinqui uos necessaria affectione commonuit. ecce geminae causas iniuriae iam tenetis: nam postquam agrestis innotui, praesumo dicere me parentem. domine mi, salutis officium dicens spero, ut circa litterarum 1 mi T, mihi LV dicens om. L christi] dei Sirm . 2 ut crebro LV XllI. 6 librum L conderetur L . adhuc mihi Sirm. 11 insitia T 18 cogi**tur (ten eras.) L 19 dupplicato T 20 fasce V, faece LT 21 habundat T lumine T 26 commouit Sirm . 27 innotuit T me dicere LTV 28 mihi Bb salutatis Bb, salutati fort . munia frequentiam commodetis, in quo opere adsiduitatem et amans exhibet et facundus.