The young poet Evmenis br complained one day to Theocritus: br "I've been writing for two years now br and I've composed only one idyll. br It's my single completed work. br I see, sadly, that the ladder br of Poetry is tall, extremely tall; br and from this first step I'm standing on now br I'll never climb any higher." br Theocritus retorted: "Words like that br are improper, blasphemous. br Just to be on the first step br should make you happy and proud. br To have reached this point is no small achievement: br what you've done already is a wonderful thing. br Even this first step br is a long way above the ordinary world. br To stand on this step br you must be in your own right br a member of the city of ideas. br And it's a hard, unusual thing br to be enrolled as a citizen of that city. br Its councils are full of Legislators br no charlatan can fool. br To have reached this point is no small achievement: br what you've done already is a wonderful thing."br br Constantine P.