§13.25.1de Andromene ut scribis ita putaram.
Andromenes, I had thought just as you write.
scisses enim mihique dixisses.
For you would have known and would have told me.
tu tamen ita mihi de Bruto scribis ut de te nihil.
Yet you write to me about Brutus in such a way that you write nothing about yourself.
quando autem illum putas? nam ego Romam pridie Idus.
But when do you think he will come? For I shall be at Rome on the day before the Ides.
Bruto ita volui scribere (sed quoniam tu te legisse scribis, fui fortasse ἀσαφέστεροσ) me ex tuis litteris intellexisse nolle eum me quasi prosequendi sui causa Romam nunc venire.
I wanted to write thus to Brutus (but since you write that you read it, I was perhaps rather obscure): that I had understood from your letter that he did not want me to come to Rome now, as if for the sake of escorting him.
sed, quoniam iam adest meus adventus, fac, quaeso, ne quid eum Idus impediant quo minus suo commodo in Tusculano sit.
But, since my arrival is already at hand, please see to it that the Ides do not in any way prevent him from being at his villa in Tusculum at his own convenience.
nec enim ad tabulam eum desideraturus eram (in tali enim negotio cur tu unus non satis es?) sed ad testamentum volebam, quod iam malo alio die ne ob eam causam Romam venisse videar.
For I was not going to need him for the tablet (for in such a business why are you alone not sufficient?), but I wanted him for the will; which now I prefer to be on another day, lest I should seem to have come to Rome for that reason.
scripsi igitur ad Brutum iam illud, quod putassem, Idibus nihil opus esse. velim ergo totum hoc ita gubernes ut ne minima quidem re ulla Bruti commodum impediamus.
Therefore I have already written to Brutus that what I had thought of was of no need on the Ides.
§13.25.3sed quid est tandem quod perhorrescas quia tuo periculo iubeam libros dari Varroni? etiam nunc si dubitas, fac ut sciamus.
I would like you, therefore, to manage this whole business in such a way that we do not hinder Brutus's convenience even in the slightest degree. what on earth is there for you to dread because I order the books to be given to Varro at your own risk? Even now, if you are in doubt, let me know.
nihil est enim illis elegantius.
For nothing is more elegant than those.
volo Varronem, praesertim cum ille desideret; sed est, ut scis,
"δεινὸσ ἀνήρ: τάχα κεν καὶ ἀναίτιον αἰτιόῳτο. "
ita mihi saepe occurrit vultus eius querentis fortasse vel hoc, meas partis in iis libris copiosius defensas esse quam suas, quod me hercule non esse intelleges, si quando in Epirum veneris.
I want Varro, especially since he desires it; but he is, as you know, 'a dread man; quickly might he find fault even with the guiltless.' So there often occurs to my mind the look of him complaining, perhaps even about this: that my part in those books has been defended more copiously than his own; which, by Hercules, you will understand is not the case if ever you come to Epirus.
nam nunc Alexionis epistulis cedimus.
For now we yield to the letters of Alexio.
sed tamen ego non despero probatum iri Varroni et id, quoniam impensam fecimus in macrocolla, facile patior teneri.
But yet I do not despair of its being approved by Varro; and, since we have made an expenditure on large paper, I am well content that it should be kept.
sed etiam atque etiam dico, tuo periculo fiet.
But again and again I say, it will be done at your own risk.
qua re si addubitas, ad Brutum transeamus; est enim is quoque Antiochius.
Therefore, if you hesitate, let us go over to Brutus; for he also is an Antiochian.
o Academiam volaticam et sui similem! modo huc, modo illuc.
O fleeting Academy, so like itself! Now here, now there.
sed, quaeso, epistula mea ad Varronem valdene tibi placuit? male mi sit si umquam quicquam tam enitar.
But please, did my letter to Varro please you very much? May it go ill with me if I ever strive so hard for anything.
ergo ne Tironi quidem dictavi qui totas περιοχὰσ persequi solet sed Spintharo syllabatim.
Therefore I did not dictate even to Tiro, who is accustomed to follow whole passages, but to Spintharus syllable by syllable.