Ath。IwillnotatpresentdeterminewhetherhewhocensurestheCretanorLacedaemonianpolitiesisrightorwrong。ButIbelievethatIcantellbetterthaneitherofyouwhatthemanysayaboutthem。Forassumingthatyouhavereasonablygoodlaws，oneofthebestofthemwillbethelawforbiddinganyyoungmentoenquirewhichofthemarerightorwrong；butwithonemouthandonevoicetheymustallagreethatthelawsareallgood，fortheycamefromGod；andanyonewhosaysthecontraryisnottobelistenedto。Butanoldmanwhoremarksanydefectinyourlawsmaycommunicatehisobservationtoarulerortoanequalinyearswhennoyoungmanispresent。
Cle。Exactlyso，Stranger；andlikeadiviner，althoughnotthereatthetime，youseemtomequitetohavehitthemeaningofthelegislator，andtosaywhatismosttrue。
Ath。Astherearenoyoungmenpresent，andthelegislatorhasgivenoldmenfreelicence，therewillbenoimproprietyinourdiscussingtheseverymattersnowthatwearealone。
Cle。True。Andthereforeyoumaybeasfreeasyoulikeinyourcensureofourlaws，forthereisnodiscreditinknowingwhatiswrong；hewhoreceiveswhatissaidinagenerousandfriendlyspiritwillbeallthebetterforit。
Ath。Verygood；however，IamnotgoingtosayanythingagainstyourlawsuntiltothebestofmyabilityIhaveexaminedthem，butIamgoingtoraisedoubtsaboutthem。Foryouaretheonlypeopleknowntous，whetherGreekorbarbarian，whomthelegislatorcommandedtoeschewallgreatpleasuresandamusementsandnevertotouchthem；