Letter 497

To Germanus the Cancellarius [a court usher or chancery official, from the Latin cancellarius]. Half-wicked one: you seem to me to be that, yet not wholly wicked. And so, discerning even small good qualities in you, I sow within myself good hopes concerning you, and I pray to see your change for the better come the sooner.

Ἡμιμόχθηρε· ὑπάρχειν μοι ἔοικας, οὐ μὴν ὁλομόχθηρος. Ὅθεν καὶ μικρὰ καλά ἐν σοὶ καταμανθάνων, ἐλπίδας χρηστὰς ἐμαυτῷ περὶ σοῦ ὑποσπείρω, καὶ εὔχομαι ἰδεῖν σου θᾶττον τὴν ἐπὶ τὰ βέλτιστα μεταβολήν.