human
And to tell you the truth, my precious little folks, quoth King Midas, diligently trotting the children all the while,
gpt
Well, children, inquired Eustace, who was very fond of eliciting a definite opinion from his auditors,
human
Why, as to the story of King Midas, said saucy Primrose,
gpt
You are a smart child, Primrose, to be not yet in your teens, said Eustace, taken rather aback by the piquancy of her criticism.
human
But you well know, in your naughty little heart, that I have burnished the old gold of Midas all over anew, and have made it shine as it never shone before. And then that figure of Marygold! Do you perceive no nice workmanship in that? And how finely I have brought out and deepened the moral! What say you, Sweet Fern, Dandelion, Clover, Periwinkle? Would any of you, after hearing this story, be so foolish as to desire the faculty of changing things to gold?
gpt
I should like, said Periwinkle, a girl of ten,
human
Pray tell me,
gpt
Why, answered Periwinkle,
human
I would touch every one of these golden leaves on the trees with my left forefinger, and make them all green again; so that we might have the summer back at once, with no ugly winter in the mean time.
gpt
O Periwinkle! cried Eustace Bright,
human
Cousin Eustace, said Sweet Fern, a good little boy, who was always making particular inquiries about the precise height of giants and the littleness of fairies,
gpt
She was about as tall as you are, replied Eustace,
human
There never was such a day before!