Letter 737: The sons of a dear friend have come to a dear friend through a dear friend.

To Ecdicius. (362) The children of a friend have come, through a friend, to a friend; and at them I was at once delighted on their father's account, but, as time went on, on account of their own natures as well. And I praise the elder man both for coming to us slowly and because, though he loves you, he finds fault with you for not having [...] deliberated upon these matters. For he who reckons it a loss to give up time makes it plain that he will, at all events, make use of the time to come. And something has been accomplished even in this short time, perhaps greater than the time itself. And concerning this, trust me, but trust also the old man. For he attends to these affairs no less than to those of his own offspring, and he is a good judge of literary compositions, since he is also a poet; and he would not, to gratify a friend, deceive a friend.

Ἐκδικίῳ. (362) Ἀνδρὸς φίλου παῖδες διὰ φίλου παρὰ φίλον ἥκουσιν οἷς εὐθὺς μὲν ἥσθην διὰ τὸν πατέρα, χρόνου δὲ προἰόντος καὶ διὰ τὰς φύσεις. ἐπαινῶ δὲ τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου τὸ βραδέως τε ἤκειν ἡμῖν καὶ ὅτι σε φιλεῖ μέν, μέμφεται δὲ μὴ πάι·.. ταῦτα βεβουλευμένον. ὁ γὰρ ἐν ζημίᾳ τιθέμενος τὸν προïέμε- νον χρόνον δῆλός ἐστιν ὡς τῷ γε μέλλοντι χρήσεται. πέ- πρακται δέ τι κἀν τούτῳ τῷ μικρῷ χρόνῳ τάχα μεῖζον τοῦ χρόνου. καὶ περὶ τούτου πίστευε μὲν ἐμοί, πίστευε δὲ τῷ πρεσβύτῃ. καὶ γὰρ ἐπιμελεῖται τούτων οὐχ ἧττον ἢ τῶν ἐγ- γόνων καὶ λόγων κριτὴς ἀγαθός, ἐπεὶ καὶ ποιητής, φίλῳ δὲ οὐκ ἂν χαριζόμενος ἐξαπατήσαι φίλον.