'And the man having but one Soul is a being imperfect?'
'Very imperfect.'
'Yet a man very imperfect might have had an ancestor perfect?'
'That is true.'
'So that a man of to-day possessing but one Soul may have had an ancestor with nine Souls?'
'Yes.'
'Then what has become of those other eight Souls which the ancestor possessed, but which the descendant is without?'
'Ah! that is the work of the gods. The gods alone fix the number of Souls for each of us. To the worthy are many given; to the unworthy few.'
'Not from the parents, then, do the Souls descend?'
'Nay! Most ancient the Souls are: innumerable, the years of them.'