Letters to Atticus Passage 4

hoc manu mea. cum quasi alias res quaererem de philologis e Nicia, incidimus in Thalnam. ille de ingenio nihil nimis, modestum et frugi. sed hoc mihi non placuit. se scire aiebat ab eo nuper petitam Cornificiam, Q. filiam, vetulam sane et multarum nuptiarum; non esse probatum mulieribus, quod ita reperirent rem non maiorem d_c_c_c_ . hoc putavi te scire oportere.

This in my own hand. While I was ostensibly asking Nicias other questions about scholars, we happened upon Thalna. Nicias had no very high opinion of his ability, though he called him modest and respectable. But this did not please me: he said he knew that Thalna had recently sought Cornificia, Quintus's daughter, in marriage, though she is decidedly old and has married many times. The women did not approve because they discovered that his fortune amounted to no more than 800,000 sesterces. I thought you ought to know this.

Ceci est de ma propre main. Tandis que j’interrogeais Nicias, comme en passant, sur les érudits, nous en sommes venus à Thalna. Il n’a pas fait un éloge excessif de son talent, mais l’a dit modeste et honnête. Voici pourtant ce qui ne m’a pas plu. Il disait savoir que Thalna avait récemment demandé Cornificia, fille de Quintus, femme vraiment âgée et plusieurs fois mariée; les femmes ne l’avaient pas approuvé parce qu’elles avaient découvert que sa fortune ne dépassait pas d_c_c_c_. J’ai pensé que tu devais le savoir.