Lettres à Atticus Passage 3

nunc , mi Attice, me fac ut expedias. cupio , quom Bruto nostro adfatim satis fecerim, excurrere in Graeciam. Magni interest Ciceronis vel mea potius vel me hercule utriusque me intervenire discenti. nam epistula Leonidae quam ad me misisti quid habet, quaeso, in quo magno opere laetemur? numquam ille mihi satis laudari videbitur cum ita laudabitur, quo modo nunc est. non est fidentis hoc testimonium sed potius timentis. Herodi autem mandaram ut mihi κατὰ μίτον scriberet. a quo adhuc nulla littera est. vereor ne nihil habuerit quod mihi, cum cognossem, iucundum putaret fore.

Now, my dear Atticus, help me out of my difficulty. When I have amply discharged my duty to our Brutus, I want to make a dash to Greece. It is greatly in young Cicero's interest, or rather mine, or by heaven both of ours, that I should intervene in his studies. What, I ask, is there in Leonidas' letter, which you sent me, to make us rejoice greatly? He will never seem sufficiently praised to me if he is praised only as he is now. This is not the testimony of a confident man, but rather of one who is afraid. I had instructed Herodes to write me every detail in proper sequence. So far I have had no letter from him. I fear he had nothing that he thought would please me when I learned it.

Maintenant, mon cher Atticus, aide-moi à sortir d’embarras. Lorsque j’aurai amplement rempli tous mes devoirs envers notre Brutus, je désire faire une course en Grèce. Il est de la plus grande importance pour Cicéron, ou plutôt pour moi, ou, par Hercule, pour nous deux, que j’intervienne pendant ses études. Car que contient, je te prie, la lettre de Léonidas que tu m’as envoyée qui doive tant nous réjouir? Il ne me semblera jamais assez loué lorsqu’on le louera comme on le fait maintenant. Ce témoignage ne vient pas d’un homme confiant, mais plutôt d’un homme qui a peur. J’avais demandé à Hérode de m’écrire κατὰ μίτον, en suivant le fil point par point. Je n’ai encore reçu aucune lettre de lui. Je crains qu’il n’ait rien trouvé dont il pût penser que la connaissance me ferait plaisir.