“Was it not because either something was absent which thou wouldst not have absent, or present which thou wouldst have away?”

“Yes,” said I.

“Then, thou didst want the presence of the one, the absence of the other?”

“Admitted.”

“But a man lacks that of which he is in want?”

“He does.”

“And he who lacks something is not in all points self-sufficing?”

“No; certainly not,” said I.

“So wert thou, then, in the plenitude of thy wealth, supporting this insufficiency?”

“I must have been.”