Letter 619: Hear what the bearer of this letter says: he accuses the negligent servants and asks you to correct what has gone wrong.

To Modestus. (361) You hear what the man who received the letter says: that he accuses the household slaves of having been negligent, but asks you to set right what has happened. Some wicked spirit, it seems, has laid hold of the matter and begrudges the young man his goal. But, my good friend, in the words of the poet, yield even to a spirit, and to one who is in no way harsh, by Zeus; for we, apart from the harm done, cannot even bear the disgrace of it, if we should seem to have ruined the whole affair by sleeping through it, and that too when word has spread everywhere that you have devoted yourself to taking forethought about these matters. I think, then, that there is no labor in the matter either. For one does not need to receive a second favor, but rather not to fall away from the one already granted; which could come about with very few letters. But even if it is more laborious than the Olympic contests, this will not be the first time you have toiled on our behalf.

Μοδέστῳ. (361) Ἀκούεις ἅ φησιν ὁ λαβὼν τὴν ἐπιστολήν, ὅτι κατηγορεῖ μὲν τῶν οἰκετῶν ἐρρᾳθυμηκότων, σὲ δ’ ἀξιοῖ τὸ συμβὰν ἐπαν- ὀρθῶσαι. πονηρὸς δὲ ἄρα δαίμων ἥψατο τοῦ πράγματος καὶ φθονεῖ τῷ νεανίσκῳ τοῦ τέλους. ἀλλ’, ὦ ’γαθέ, κατὰ τὸ ἔπος καὶ πρὸς δαίμονά περ καὶ μηδενὶ δυσκόλῳ, πρὸς Δῖός, εἴξῃς· ὡς ἡμῖν ἄνευ τῆς βλάβης οὐδὲ τὸ τῆς αἰσχύνης οἷον φέρειν, εἰ δόξαιμεν ὕπνῳ τὸ πᾶι διεφθαρκέναι καὶ ταῦτα λόγου πανταχῆ πεφοιτηκότος, ὡς ἔδωκας σαυτὸν τῇ περὶ ταῦτα προνοίᾳ. οἶμαι μὲν οὖν καὶ πόνον ἀπεῖναι τοῦ πράγματος. οὐ γὰρ δευτέραν δεῖ χάριν λαβεῖν, ἀλλὰ μὴ τῆς δοθείσης ἐκπεσεῖν· ὃ γένοιτ’ ἂν ὀλίγοις κομιδῆ γράμμασιν. εἰ δ’ οὖν καὶ τῶν Ὀλυμπιακῶν ἐπιπονώτερον ἄθλων, οὐ νῦν πρῶτον ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πονήσεις.