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.