§5.14.1S. V. B. E. V., sicut soleo, paululo tamen etiam deterius quam soleo.
If you are well, it is well; I am well, as I usually am, though indeed a little worse than I usually am.
te requisivi saepius, ut viderem; Romae quia postea non fuisti quam discesseram miratus sum; quod item nunc miror.
I have looked for you more than once, that I might see you; I wondered that you were not in Rome after I had departed; which indeed I wonder at now.
non habeo certum quae te res hinc maxime retrahat.
I do not know for certain what thing especially keeps you away from here.
si solitudine delectare, cum scribas et aliquid agas eorum, quorum consuesti, gaudeo neque reprehendo tuum consilium.
If you take pleasure in solitude, while you write and do some of those things which you are accustomed to do, I rejoice and do not blame your plan.
nam nihil isto potest esse iucundius non modo miseris his temporibus et luctuosis, sed etiam tranquillis et optatis, praesertim vel animo defetigato tuo, qui nunc requiem quaerat ex magnis occupationibus, vel erudito, qui semper aliquid ex se promat, quod alios delectet, ipsum laudibus inlustret.
For nothing can be more pleasant than that, not only in these miserable and mournful times, but even in tranquil and desirable ones, especially whether for your exhausted mind, which now seeks rest from great occupations, or for your learned mind, which always produces something from itself to delight others and illuminate itself with praises.
§5.14.2sin autem, sicut hinc discesseras, lacrimis ac tristitiae te tradidisti, doleo, quia doles et angere, non possum te non, si concedis, quod sentimus, ut liberius dicamus, accusare.
But if, just as you had departed from here, you have given yourself up to tears and sadness, I grieve, because you grieve and are anxious, and I cannot, if you permit us to speak rather freely what we feel, but blame you.
quid enim? tu solus aperta non videbis, qui propter acumen occultissima perspicis? tu non intelleges te querelis cotidianis nihil proficere? non intelleges duplicari sollicitudines, quas elevare tua te prudentia postulat?
For why? Will you alone not see what is obvious, you who through your sharpness perceive the most hidden things? Will you not understand that you gain nothing by daily complaints? Will you not understand that those anxieties are being doubled, which your prudence demands that you alleviate?
§5.14.3quod si non possimus aliquid proficere suadendo, gratia contendimus et rogando, si quid nostra causa vis, ut istis te molestiis laxes et ad convictum nostrum redeas atque ad consuetudinem vel nostram communem vel tuam solius ac propriam.
But if we cannot effect anything by persuading, we strive by favor and entreaty, if you wish anything for our sake, that you release yourself from those troubles and return to our society and to our custom, either our common one or your own exclusive and proper one.
cupio non obtundere te, si non delectare nostro studio, cupio deterrere ne permaneas in incepto.
I desire not to annoy you, if you do not delight in our zeal, but I desire to deter you lest you persist in your undertaking.
nunc duae res istae contrariae me conturbant, ex quibus aut in altera mihi velim, si potes, obtemperes aut in altera non offendas.
Now these two contrary things disturb me, from which I would wish that you either comply with me in the one, if you can, or not offend me in the other.
vale.
Farewell.