He wrote to Leon, metropolitan of Dristra, thanking him in a very ceremonious way for sending a letter, a carved horn inkwell and a young slave (once Seblados, now Theodoros). he praised Leon [in a way which would prove insincere] for ignoring his constant plea that he did not want or need presents, and sending generous gifts like these. As for Theodoros, he complained, only partly in jest, that the boy was more hindrance than help. He was too young to be a servant, and needed looking after himself; he was a second mouth to feed when Tetzes could hardly feed one; his poor Greek embarrassed Tzetzes, whose own Greek usage was uncompromising; he was Hungarian, not Russian; he was left-handed; he preferred eating to learning; and he had apparently fallen mortally ill and taught Tzetzes' other boy to stay in bed in the same way. The inkwell was a fine piece of art, but not made by people who wrote, because it would hardly take a pen. In a second letter, he complained that Leon had stopped writing to him. Tzetzes had openly decided not to accept the boy, but was uncertain what to do with him, complaining that Leon answered none of his letters asking where he should send him