human
How strangely, said he to himself,
gpt
What do you wish for? said they, in a tone of concern;
human
You will laugh, replied Lewis;
gpt
Your wish is already gratified,
human
But, said Lewis,
gpt
Speak!
human
Does no gleam of love fall on this wondrous world? Does no friendship perambulate these bowers? I thought the morning blush of spring-love would be eternal here, which in that other life is too prone to be extinguished, and which men afterwards speak of as of a fable. To confess to you the truth, I feel an unspeakable yearning after those sensations.
gpt
Then you long for earth again?
human
Oh, never! cried Lewis;
gpt
Fool! said the venerable woman:
human
Then who are ye?
gpt
We are the old fairies, said she,
human
No, I will not go back to earth! I will stay here!
gpt
So, then, said he to himself,
human
I devined this lofty being even in my childhood! And so the solution of many a riddle, which we are too idle to investigate, may be within ourselves.
gpt
Glad I am, after all, to see you again.
human
I know you not,
gpt
That may well be, replied the other;
human
Impossible! you are quite a stranger to me!
gpt
Only, said the stranger,
human
What ails you?
gpt
That it is you--you who were the friend of my youth: is not that mournful enough? Oh, come back with me to our dear, dear earth, where we shall know each other once more under illusive forms--where there exists the superstition of friendship! What am I doing here?
human
What will that avail? answered the stranger.
gpt
You will want to be back again; earth is not bright enough for you: the flowers are too small for you, the song too suppressed. Colour there, cannot emerge so brilliantly from the shade; flowers there are of small comfort, and so prone to fade; the little birds think of their death, and sing in modest constraint: but here every thing is on a scale of grandeur.
human
Oh, I will be contented! cried Lewis, as the tears gushed profusely from his eyes.
gpt
Do but come back with me, and be my friend once more; let us leave this desert, this glittering misery!
human
But are you dead?
gpt
Recovered am I, wicked sleeper, he replied.
human
Is it thus you visit your sick friend? Come along with me; my carriage is waiting there, and a thunder-storm is rising.
gpt
So am I really on the earth again? he exclaimed with joy;
human
You will not escape from earth,
gpt
How happy I am, said Lewis,
human
Suddenly, replied his friend,
gpt
I felt ill; and as suddenly I was well again. So I wished to go to you, and do away with the alarm that my letter must have caused you; and here, half-way, I find you asleep.
human
I do not deserve your love at all,
gpt
Why?
human
Because I just now doubted of your friendship.
gpt
But only in sleep.
human
It would be strange enough though, said Lewis,
gpt
There are such, of a certainty, replied the other;
human
Where is Maria, our child?
gpt
She is playing on the green, replied the mother,
human
Do not let them run away, said the father anxiously;
gpt
The weather is hot, mother,
human
Be careful, child, said the mother;
gpt
Oh, do not be anxious on that account, was the prompt reply of young Andrew,