Psellos once saw Ioannes kaisar daily, but now he seldom visited, constant pleasure replaced by a rarity factor. Psellos had him in his heart and could enjoy him at will. The truffles he would eat with pleasure as a link to Ioannes' table. In another letter he wondered whether he was a lone flautist playing for Ioannes, or were they competitors? Psellos felt the rhythm of Ioannes' verbal lyre, but Ioannes pressured him without giving help. What did Ioannes charge for music given free by Pan or Orpheus? Psellos wanted to hear Ioannes' song, afraid he might ration it, like the Sirens, Apollo, Marsyas or the music of the spheres. The Assyrians embalmed their family dead with a picture, while Psellos recalled Ioannes deep in his soul: yet he needed letters