_Soc._: But, to whom have we allotted the task of unravelling the sense: to the cleverest, have we not? If the help of the third party, then, is only requested when the cleverest finds himself in difficulties, does it seem to you likely that the third party will succeed where one cleverer than himself has failed? _Mr. F._: It is unlikely. _Soc._: And, if this third party is higher and more important than the second party, it is unlikely, is it not, that he will content himself with what we have admitted to be the drudge's work of looking up words in a dictionary? _Mr. F._: It is unlikely. _Soc._: Then the third party will do nothing save profit by the industry of his two companions, and the work that he will produce in the class-room next day will, strictly speaking, be not his at all, but theirs. _Mr. F._: It would seem so, Socrates. _Soc._: Now, let us take a further example. For I am anxious to discover at what exact point the work that a boy produces in form will cease to be, in the official eye, the result of solitary and unaided labour. Suppose that the third party is a member of the Eleven, who has various social duties: it is possible, is it not, that he would prefer to spend over his translation less than the three-quarters of an hour that his two companions require? _Mr. F._: It is possible. _Soc._: Then, is it impossible that he might arrange for the cleverer of the two to come to him after breakfast and explain to him in twenty minutes the meaning of the passage? _Mr. F._: It is possible. _Soc._: And such an arrangement would be accepted by you? _Mr. F._: I do not see that I could object. _Soc._: Now let us suppose that the cleverer of the two finds that he will have to clean his corps clothes during the twenty minutes between breakfast and chapel. He will feel himself bound in honour, and also by fear, to translate the passage to the third party, but he will obviously be unable to do it in person. Is it not likely, therefore, that he will write out the meaning of the passage and hand it to the third party? Would such conduct be unacceptable to you? _Mr. F._: I do not know, Socrates. _Soc._: But, surely in your own mind you have clearly defined the line that separates what is honest from what is dishonest. Surely that is your profession--to teach the young to distinguish between what is good and what is not good? _Mr. F._: That is so, Socrates. _Soc._: Then do you see any real difference between hearing a translation and reading a translation? Is there any difference between a meaning that is apprehended through the ear and a meaning that is apprehended through the eyes; for are not both eyes and ears channels through which meanings are carried to the brain? _Mr. F._: It would seem so, and, when you put it that way, I can distinguish no essential difference.