VII.
'Dost thou, then, see the consequence of all that we have said?'
'Nay; what consequence?'
'That absolutely every fortune is good fortune.'
'And how can that be?' said I.
'Attend,' said she. 'Since every fortune, welcome and unwelcome alike, has for its object the reward or trial of the good, and the punishing or amending of the bad, every fortune must be good, since it is either just or useful.'
'The reasoning is exceeding true,' said I, 'the conclusion, so long as I reflect upon the providence and fate of which thou hast taught me, based on a strong foundation. Yet, with thy leave, we will count it among those which just now thou didst set down as paradoxical.'
'And why so?' said she.
'Because ordinary speech is apt to assert, and that frequently, that some men's fortune is bad.'
'Shall we, then, for awhile approach more nearly to the language of the vulgar, that we may not seem to have departed too far from the usages of men?'