quid quod sic quoque arroganter fieret indecenterque, si negotii praecepti pondus aggrederer, novus clericus peccator antiquus, scientia levi gravi conscientia, videlicet ut, si scriptum quocumque misissem, persona mea nec tunc abesset risui iudicantum, cum defuisset obtutui? ne, quaeso, domine papa, nimis exigas verecundiam meam qualitercumque latitantem coepti operis huiusce temeritate devenustari, quia tantus est livor derogatorum, ut materia, quam mittis, velocius sortiatur inchoata probrum quam terminata suffragium.
Besides this, it would be a presumptuous and unseemly thing if the burden of the task you prescribe were shouldered by me, a new cleric and an old sinner, with slight knowledge and a heavy conscience; assuredly with the inevitable result that, if I sent my writing anywhere in the world, my person would not escape the ridicule of the critics, even when out of their immediate view. No, my Lord Bishop, do not, I pray, insist too strongly that my modesty, which seeks concealment as best it can, should be spoilt by the foolhardiness of beginning this work, for such is the spite of the detractors that a mere beginning on the subject you suggest would more readily bring their reproach than completion would bring their approval.
final_alignments\Sidonius_Letters_Book9.json