as yours.

Meno: Thank you, friend Socrates.

Socrates: Now, boy, do you remember me, and the squares with
which we worked and played the other day?

Boy: Yes, sir, Socrates.

Socrates: Please, Meno, instruct the boy to merely call me
by my name, as does everyone else. Calling me "sir" merely puts
me off my mental stride, and, besides, it will create a greater
distance between me and the boy.

Meno: You heard what Socrates, said, boy. Can you do it?

Boy: Yes, sir. (Turning to Socrates) You know I like you
very much, and that I call you "sir" not only out of relation of
our positions in society, but also because of my true respect and
admiration, especially after the events of the other day.

Socrates: Yes, boy. And I will try to live up to your
expectations. (Turning to Meno) Would you allow some reward for
the boy, as well as that which is for myself, if he should prove
to your satisfaction that the square root of two is irrational?

Meno: Certainly, Socrates.

Socrates: (taking the boy aside) What would you like
the most in the whole world, boy?

Boy: You mean anything?

Socrates: Well, I can't guarantee to get it for you, but at
least I can ask it, and it shouldn't hurt to ask; and besides,
as you should know, it is very hard to expect someone to give
you what you want, if you never let them know you want it.

Boy: Well, Socrates... you know what I would want.

Socrates: Do I?

Boy: Better than I knew the square root of two the other day.

Socrates: You want to be a free man, then, and a citizen.

Boy: (looking down) Yes.

Socrates: Don't look down, then, for that is an admirable
desire for one to have, and speaks highly of him who has it.
I will speak to Meno, while you hold your tongue.

Boy: Yes, Socrates. (bows to kiss his hand, Socrates turns)

Socrates: Friend Meno, how hard do you think it will be for
this boy to prove the irrationality of the square root of two?

Meno: You know that I think it is impossible, Socrates.

Socrates: Well, how long did it take the Pythagoreans?

Meno: I should think it took them years.

Socrates: And how many of them were there?

Meno: Quite a few, though not all worked equally, and some
hardly at all, for they were most interested in triangles of the
right and virtuous variety, and not in squares and their roots.

Socrates: Can you give me an estimate?

Meno: No, I can't say that I can. I am sorry, Socrates.