different. A vote is a sacred thing; and it
ought not to be exchanged for the satisfaction of mere bodily desires,
such as the desire for drink."

"Nor for any other material comfort?" I asked.

"Certainly not," he replied.

"Nobly spoken, indeed!" I said. "But I confess, all the same, that you
rather surprise me; for only this morning I heard the herald proclaiming
in your name that all the citizens would have Free Food if they voted for
Philogeorgos. And I remember how some years ago either Phaidrolithos or
one of those around him used to promise at elections that everyone should
have three acres of land and a cow, on condition that the city kept him
and his party in power. You do not mean to tell me that what
Phaidrolithos or his friends did was base?"

"No, indeed," he replied. "But surely, Socrates, even you must see that
this is a different matter altogether."

"How different? You say that votes must not be exchanged for material
comforts; yet Free Food is a material comfort; and so are three acres,
because they produce food; and so, I presume, is a cow. And these things
were offered to the voter in exchange for his vote, just as the
wine-seller now is offering draughts of wine."

"No, Socrates, it is not the same thing at all. When I talk of Free
Food, and when men like Phaidrolithos talk of land and cows, we do not
give these things immediately in exchange for votes. We could not; they
are not ours to give; we have not got them."

"That is very true," I said. "For I remember when Phaidrolithos and his
party were put in power many people used to come to those in authority
and demand that they should now receive three acres of land each and a
cow; and when they did not receive these things they were indignant, as
having been deceived. And I daresay that when you are in power men will
come expecting to receive Free Food, and will not get it. But, as far as
I can understand your argument, it is honourable to promise in return for
a vote that which you cannot give; but when one promises that which he
_can_ give, as the wine-seller does, that is base, and that makes you
sad. Is it not so? And the reason seems to be that when the wine-seller
offers Free Drinks for a vote, then the vote is sold; but when you offer
Free Food for a vote, then it is not the vote which is sold, but only the
voter."

"Socrates," said Philogeorgos, "you are a philosopher; and no philosopher
ever understood politics. B