_Soc._: Now, if two people attempt a certain task, what procedure would they follow? Would they not divide the task into two portions. If two men are building a house one man stands at the top of a ladder and lays the bricks that his companion, who is standing below, throws up to him. _Mr. F._: Certainly. _Soc._: Time would be wasted were each man to do the same work: that is to say, were two ladders to be placed against the wall and were the two men to descend and ascend the ladder carrying bricks to the top? _Mr. F._: Certainly. _Soc._: Therefore, we may assume that in all tasks that are undertaken by two persons, the work is divided into two duties? _Mr. F._: But I do not see, Socrates, that this line of reasoning has any bearing on the subject we are preparing to discuss. _Soc._: That may very well be, for, as I have told you, I am ignorant of these matters and have come to you for guidance. It does seem to me, however, that in this matter of translation, which is the discovery of an unknown thing, the unknown may be divided into two parts. _Mr. F._: How is that? _Soc._: When a boy reads over the passage that he has to translate, two things are unknown to him: the general meaning of the passage and certain words in the passage. That is so, is it not? _Mr. F._: Certainly. _Soc._: Then do you not think that two boys, before setting out to translate a passage, would make some arrangement by which one of them should be responsible for unravelling the sense, while the other should look up the unknown words in a dictionary. _Mr. F._: It is possible. _Soc._: And to which of the two would be entrusted the task of unravelling the sense. _Mr. F._: To the cleverer, undoubtedly. _Soc._: Therefore the less clever would do the drudge work: that is to say, he would never bring his mind to bear upon the passage: and the imaginative work would be done for him by his companion. _Mr. F._: It would seem so, Socrates. _Soc._: Yet the system is approved as an honest one by the authorities and the work of the drudge is accepted as solitary and unaided labour. _Mr. F._: That is so, Socrates. _Soc._: Now, is this task of translation limited to the co-operation of two persons, or may three or more persons take their share in it? _Mr. F._: As many persons may take their share in it as may conveniently be crowded into a study measuring eight feet by four. _Soc._: I understand. Suppose now that three persons are preparing a passage together. We have agreed, have we not, that this work can be divided into two duties only? _Mr. F._: That is so. _Soc._: Then what share of the work will the third partner take? _Mr. F._: He will act as a reserve and will bring assistance to either party when it is necessary.