This concept abstracts the moral lesson of Jami's tale in which Plato, the peerless Greek sage, fathers a base and ill-natured son who consorts with the vile and refuses the path of wisdom. Despite the father's mastery of philosophy, the son stays untouched by learning, manners, and chivalry, and his mother comes complaining of his corrupt character. The allegory examines the limits of nurture against an ingrained base disposition, and the wisdom of a teacher who withdraws his effort when the pupil's nature proves incorrigible. It contrasts inherited excellence of intellect with the moral ruin a child may still fall into, raising the question of whether virtue can be taught to one whose temperament resists it.