[De duobus amantibus Euryalo et Lucretia]

helps the poor, and aids widows. He is lacking to no one in need. His face is always the same, like Socrates'. In difficult circumstances, he maintains an equal mind. No fortune puffs him up. He knows how to use things, not to exercise them, but to be on guard against them. He is beloved by all, and loved by strangers. He is hateful to no one, and burdensome to no one. But why this man, with so many virtues, is now concerning himself with a somewhat trivial matter, I do not know. I do know that it is not right for me to refuse him anything. For while I was in Siena, I loved him uniquely. And my love has not diminished. Who could be separated from such a man? Since he was endowed with other gifts of nature, he excelled in this one so much that he would not allow anyone’s love toward him to be sterile. Therefore, having been asked, I did not feel I could refuse, and I wrote of the fortunes of the two lovers. I did not invent them. The affair took place in Siena while the Emperor Sigismund was staying there. You were there, too. And if you heard it with your own ears, you have given your attention to the work. The city of Siena is such that anyone who knew you brings it up, for no one was more charming than you. They think that nothing was done there regarding love without your knowledge. Therefore, I pray that you read this story and see if I have written the truth. Do not be ashamed, and do not think that such things never happen to you. You were a man. He who has never felt the fires of love is either a stone or a beast. For even into the marrow of the gods, he does not hide the fiery spark. Farewell.

Eneas Silvius, Imperial poet

and secretary, sends greetings to

Marianus Sozinus, interpreter of both laws,

and his companion.

You ask for something that does not befit my age, and is contrary and repugnant to yours. For what is it that it should be appropriate for me, now nearly forty, or for you, a man of fifty, to hear about love? This matter delights the minds of youths and feeds on tender hearts. Old men are as unsuitable as listeners to love as youths are to prudence. What is more deformed than old age that affects Venus without strength? You will find, however, some old men who love, but none who are loved. For women, both matrons and maidens, despise old age. A woman is held by the love of no one unless she sees him in the flower of his age. If you hear otherwise, there is deception underneath. I, however, acknowledge that writing about love does not befit me, as I have now passed midday and am moving toward evening. But it is no less shameful for me to write than it is for you to ask. I owe it to you to be obliging; you must see what you are requesting. For the more mature you are in age, the more right it is to obey the laws of friendship. If your justice does not fear to break them by commanding, my foolishness will not fear to transgress by obeying. Your benefits toward me are so many that I could refuse nothing of your requests, even if it were something more shameful. I will therefore be open to your petition.