Soc. And four is how many times two?

Boy. Twice.

Soc. And tliis space is of how many feet ? Boy. Of eight feet. Soc. And from what line do you get this figure ? Boy. From this. Soc. That is, from the line which extends from corner to corner of the figure of four feet ? Boy. Yes. Soc. And that is the line which the learned call the dia- gonal. And if this is the proper name, then you, Meno's slave, are prepared to affirm that the double space is the square of the diagonal ? Boy. Certainly, Socrates. Soc. What do you say of him, Meno ? Were not all these answers given out of his own head ? Men. Yes, they were all his own. Soc. And yet, as we were just now saying, he did not know ? Men. True. Soc. But still he had in him those notions of his — had he not? Men. Yes. Soc. Then he who does not know may still have true notions of that which he does not know ? Men. He has.

At present he is in a dream; he will soon grow clearer. Soc. And at present these notions have just been stirred up in him, as in a dream ; but if he were frequently asked the same questions, in different forms, he would know as well as any one at last ?

Men. 1 dare say. Soc. Without any one teaching him he will recover his knowledge for himself if he is only asked questions ? Men. Yes. Soc. And this spontaneous recovery of knowledge in him is recollection ? Men. True. Soc. And this knowledge which he now has must he not either have acquired or always possessed ?