Letter XIII.154    Placed with the preceding.

To Olympius.

As all the fruits of the season come to us in their proper time, flowers in spring, corn in summer, and apples155    μῆλον.  But, like the Latin malum, this word served for more than we mean by “apple.”  So the malum Cydonium was quince, the malum Persicum, peach, etc. in autumn, so the fruit for winter is talk.

ΟΛΥΜΠΙῼ

[1] Ὥσπερ τῶν ἄλλων ὡρίμων ἕκαστον ἐν τῇ οἰκείᾳ ὥρᾳ ἀπαντᾷ, ἐν ἦρι μὲν τὰ ἄνθη, ἐν θέρει δὲ οἱ ἀστάχυες, τῷ δὲ μετοπώρῳ τὸ μῆλον, οὕτω χειμῶνος καρπός εἰσιν οἱ λόγοι.