In Crete, Zeus is said to have been the author of them; in Sparta, as Megillus will tell you, Apollo.' You Cretans believe, as Homer says, that Minos went every ninth year to converse with his Olympian sire, and gave you laws which he brought from him.

'Yes; and there was Rhadamanthus, his brother, who is reputed among us to have been a most righteous judge.' That is a reputation worthy of the son of Zeus.

And as you and Megillus have been trained under these laws, I may ask you to give me an account of them.

We can talk about them in our walk from Cnosus to the cave and temple of Zeus.

I am told that the distance is considerable, but probably there are shady places under the trees, where, being no longer young, we may often rest and converse.