Go, letter, written in haste, to greet Perilla, the faithful messenger of my speech.
Either you will find her sitting with her sweet mother, or among her books and her Muses.
§3.7.5quidquid aget, cum te scient venisse, relinquet, §3.7.6nec mora, quid venias quidve, requiret, agam.
Whatever she is doing, when they know you have come, she will leave it, and without delay, she will ask why you come or how I am doing.
§3.7.7vivere me dices, sed sic, ut vivere nolim, §3.7.8nec mala tam longa nostra levata mora §3.7.9et tamen ad Musas, quamvis nocuere, reverti. §3.7.10aptaque in alternos cogere verba pedes.
You will say that I live, but in such a way that I do not wish to live, and that our evils have not been lightened by so long a delay, and yet that I have returned to the Muses, although they have harmed me, and that I am fitting suitable words into alternating feet.
§3.7.11tu quoque
dic ‘studiis communibus ecquid inhaeres, §3.7.12doctaque non patrio carmina more canis?
You too say to her: ‘Are you still devoted to our shared studies, and do you sing learned songs in a manner not of your ancestors?
For nature, together with the fates, has given you modest manners, and rare endowments and genius.
§3.7.15hoc ego Pegasidas deduxi primus ad undas, §3.7.16ne male fecundae vena periret aquae; §3.7.17primus id aspexi teneris in virginis annis, §3.7.18utque pater natae duxque comesque fui.
I was the first to lead this to the waters of Pegasus, lest the vein of the fertile water should perish in vain; I first beheld it in your tender years of maidenhood, and I was like a father to his daughter, both a guide and a companion.
Therefore, if the same fires of your breast remain to you, only the Lesbian prophetess will surpass your work.
§3.7.21sed vereor, ne te mea nunc fortuna retardet, §3.7.22postque meos casus sit tibi pectus iners,
But I fear lest my fortune now holds you back, and after my disasters your breast may be inactive.
§3.7.23dum licuit, tua saepe mihi, tibi nostra legebam; §3.7.24saepe tui iudex, saepe magister eram: §3.7.25aut ego praebebam factis modo versibus aures, §3.7.26aut, ubi cessares, causa ruboris eram.
While it was permitted, I often read yours to myself, and ours to you; I was often your critic, often your teacher: either I lent my ears to the verses you had just made, or, when you slackened, I was the cause of your blushing.
Perhaps, by my example, because my books have harmed me, you too have followed the fates of my punishment.
Lay aside fear, Perilla; only let no woman, nor any man, learn to love from your writings.
Therefore, most learned lady, remove the causes of idleness, and return to liberal arts and your sacred rites.
§3.7.33ista decens facies longis vitiabitur annis, §3.7.34rugaque in antiqua fronte senilis erit, §3.7.35inicietque manum formae damnosa senectus, §3.7.36quae strepitum passu non faciente venit;
That comely face of yours will be marred by long years, and a senile wrinkle will be in your aged forehead; and ruinous old age will lay its hand upon your beauty, which comes with a footstep making no sound.
And when someone shall say ‘She was once beautiful,’ you will grieve, and you will complain that your mirror is a liar.
§3.7.39sunt tibi opes modicae, cum sis dignissima magnis: §3.7.40finge sed inmensis censibus esse pares, §3.7.41nempe dat id quodcumque libet fortuna rapitque, §3.7.42Irus et est subito, qui modo Croesus erat.
You have moderate wealth, although you are most worthy of great wealth; but imagine yourself equal to immense estates, indeed, fortune gives and snatches away whatever it pleases, and he who just now was Croesus is suddenly Irus.
Lest I relate details, we possess nothing that is not mortal, excepting the goods of the heart and of great genius.
§3.7.45en ego, cum caream patria vobisque domoque, §3.7.46raptaque sint, adimi quae potuere mihi, §3.7.47ingenio tamen ipse meo comitorque fruorque: §3.7.48Caesar in hoc potuit iuris habere nihil,
Look at me: although I lack country, you all, and home, and those things which could be taken from me have been snatched away, yet I myself am accompanied by and enjoy my genius: Caesar could have no authority in this.
§3.7.49quilibet hanc saevo vitam mihi finiat ense, §3.7.50me tamen extincto fama superstes erit, §3.7.51dumque suis victrix omnem de montibus orbem §3.7.52prospiciet domitum Martia Roma, legar.
Let anyone end this life of mine with a cruel sword, yet when I am dead, my fame will survive, and as long as victorious, warlike Rome looks forth upon the conquered world from her hills, I shall be read.