Rustan to Usbek in Erzerum

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You are the subject of every conversation in Isfahan [1] ; people talk about nothing but your departure. Some attribute it to flightiness, others to some problem ; only your friends defend you, and they persuade no one. No one understands how you can abandon your wives, your parents, your friends, and your country, to enter lands unknown to Persians. Rica’s mother is disconsolate ; she keeps asking for you to give back the son you have, she says, stolen from her. For my part, my dear Usbek, I feel naturally inclined to approve everything you are doing : but I cannot forgive you for your absence, and whatever reasons you may give me for it, my heart will never approve them. Adieu, love me always.

Isfahan this 28^th day of the moon of Rebiab I, 1711