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Thrasymachus, I said, with a quiver, don't be hard upon us.

Polemarchus and I may have been guilty of a little mistake in the

argument, but I can assure you that the error was not

intentional. If we were seeking for a piece of gold, you would

not imagine that we were 'knocking under to one another,' and so

losing our chance of finding it. And why, when we are seeking for

justice, a thing more precious than many pieces of gold, do you

say that we are weakly yielding to one another and not doing our

utmost to get at the truth? Nay, my good friend, we are most

willing and anxious to do so, but the fact is that we cannot. And

if so, you people who know all things should pity us and not be

angry with us.

How characteristic of Socrates! he replied, with a bitter

laugh;-that's your ironical style! Did I not foresee-have I not

already told you, that whatever he was asked he would refuse to

answer, and try irony or any other shuffle, in order that he

might avoid answering?