§12.1.1undecimo die, postquam a te discesseram, hoc litterularum exaravi egrediens e villa ante lucem atque eo die cogitabam in Anagnino, postero autem in Tusculano, ibi unum diem; v Kalend. igitur ad constitutum.
On the eleventh day after I departed from you, I have scribbled this bit of a letter as I was leaving my villa before dawn; and on that day I was planning to be at my estate in Anagnia, and on the next at Tusculum, staying there for one day; therefore, on the fifth day before the Kalends, I shall be at our appointed place.
atque utinam continuo ad complexum meae Tulliae, ad osculum Atticae possim currere! quod quidem ipsum scribe, quaeso, ad me ut, dum consisto in Tusculano, sciam quid garriat, sin rusticatur, quid scribat ad te; eique interea aut scribes salutem aut nuntiabis itemque Piliae.
And I wish I could run immediately to the embrace of my Tullia, to the kiss of Attica! Please write to me about this very thing, so that while I am staying at Tusculum, I may know what she is prattling about, or, if she is in the country, what she is writing to you; and in the meantime, either write your greetings to her or deliver them, and likewise to Pilia.
et tamen etsi continuo congressuri sumus, scribes ad me si quid habebis.
And yet, even though we are about to meet immediately, write to me if you have any news.
§12.1.2cum complicarem hanc epistulam, noctuabundus ad me venit cum epistula tua tabellarius; qua lecta de Atticae febricula scilicet valde dolui.
As I was folding this letter, a messenger who had traveled through the night came to me with your letter; upon reading it, I was, of course, deeply grieved about Attica's slight fever.
reliqua quae exspectabam ex tuis litteris cognovi omnia; sed quod scribis
"igniculum matutinum γεροντικόν,"
γεροντικώτερον est memoriola vacillare.
Everything else that I was expecting I have learned from your letter; but as to what you write, "a morning fire is old-mannish (γεροντικόν)," it is even more old-mannish (γεροντικώτερον) to have one's poor memory slip.
ego enim iiii Kal. Axio dederam, tibi iii, Quinto quo die venissem, id est v Kal.
For I had assigned the fourth day before the Kalends to Axius, the third to you, and to Quintus the day on which I had arrived, that is, the fifth.
Hoc igitur habebis, novi nihil.
You will have this, then; there is nothing new.
quid ergo opus erat epistula? quid, cum coram sumus et garrimus quicquid in buccam? est profecto quiddam λέσχη, quae habet, etiam si nihil subest, conlocutione ipsa suavitatem.
Why then was there need of a letter? Why indeed, when we are together and prattle whatever comes into our mouths? There is indeed something in small talk (λέσχη) which, even if there is nothing underneath it, possesses sweetness by the conversation itself.