Pliny, Letters 4.19

To Calpurnia Hispulla, his wife's aunt

Cum sis, pietatis exemplum, filiam fratris tui ut tuam diligis,
since you're dutifulness example daughter brother you your love
affectumque ei repraesentas, non tantum amitae verum etiam
affection and show not so many aunt but also
patris amissi. maxime igitur gaudebis, cum cognoveris eam dignam
father also greatly rejoice when learn worthy
patre, dignam te, dignam avo evadere. summum est acumen,
father worthy of you worthy of her grandfather very great is he aquman
summa frugalitas; amat me, quod castitatis indicium est.
very great is her thought she loved me, which her chastity sign of is a

praeterea stufium litterarum (ex mei caritate) concepit. meos libellos
mother study litterature (out of love for me) enthusiasm my little books
(habet, lectitat, ediscit) etiam. quanta sollicitudine afficitur cum ego
(has them, reads them, learns them) even (then I lose my translation)
acturus sum, quanto gaudio cum egi! disponit qui nuntient sibi quos
...
clamores excitaverim, quem eventum iudicii tulerim. eadem, si
speech..., with...
quando recito, in proximo sedet, velo discreta, laudesque meas
...recite, in nearby sits curtain hidden...
avidissimis auribus excipit. versus quidem meos cantat formatque
... ... .... verses... my sing...
cithara, non artifice aliquo docente, sed amore, qui magister est optimus.
..., ... ... ... ..., but love, ... teacher is best

his ex causis (est mihi) spes certissima, perpertuam nobis concordiam
... ... ... (I have)
maioremque in dies futuram esse. illa enim diligit non aetatem
meam aut corpus, quae paulatim occidunt ac senescunt, sed
glorium meam. hoc vero decet puellam tuis manibus educatam
... my. this indeed befits girl your hands brought up
quae amare me ex tua praedicatione consuevit. ergo tibi gratias
who to love me from your recommendation become accoustomed. therefore to you thanks
agimus, [ego quod illam mihi, illa quod me sibi dederis]. vale.
we give, [I because her me, she because me to her give.] goodbye.

Since you are an example of dutifulness, you love your brother's daughter as your own, and you show her the affection not only of an aunt but also of her lost father. Therefore you will very greatly rejoive, when you have learned that she turns out to be worthy of her father, worthy of you, worthy of her grandfather. Very great is her aquman, very great is her think, she loved me, which is a sign of her chastity.

Mother, she has taken up an enthusiasm for literature out of love of me. She has my little books, she is reading them, even learning them by heart. With how much worry is she afficted when I am about to deliver a speech, with how much joy when I have delivered it. She stations people to report to her what applause I have provoked what outcome of the trial I have brought about. The same woman, whereever I give a recital, sits nearby hidden by a curtain, and recieves my praises with very eager ears. She even sings my verses and sets them to music on a lyre, not with some artist teaching her, but with love, which is the best teacher.

For these reasons, I have a very certain hope that our harmony is going to be everlasting and greater in the future. For she loves not my age of body, which little by little decline and grow old, but my distinction.This indeed befits a girl brought up byyour hands, who has become accustomed to love me from your recommendation. Therefore we give thanks to you, I because you have given her to me, and she because you have given her to me. Goodbye.