human
We are not so poor, so abandoned, as you seem to think, she said.
gpt
This is all that is left of a mighty kingdom, it is true--a cave unknown to the rest of the world. But here we are, at least, free. We live the life of our fathers. Our old men have taught us wisdom that is unknown to you. We have wealth--not only the wealth that you are seeking--but secrets of earth and air you have never dreamed of.
human
This may be--I believe it is--all true. But--what is David to do here?
gpt
If he is the Stranger of the old legend, the Gilded Man we have awaited, this Land of the Condor is his.
human
You are its queen.
gpt
He will be its king.
human
You have told him?
gpt
Years ago. We were happy. I loved him. It was not as the women of your world love. Life was less than his least wish. And he loved me. Plans for the great rejoicing--the Feast of the Gilded Man--were made. Not since the Spaniards came--perhaps never before--has there been such preparation. Then, a change came over him. He talked of an outside world he had seen in his dreams. He was bewitched then, as he is now. He had forgotten you, his false friend, and all the life he had lived before. To cure him, I sent him out with some of our people. He scarcely understood, but he accepted anything I did as if it came from his own will. Then he disappeared. Without a word he left me. There came long years of uncertainty. The few months he passed with me here seemed like some bright dream that vanishes. I began to think it was a dream--when suddenly I heard of him again. Some of my people found him wandering aimlessly in the forest near the Bogota road. He was looking for me, he said--he had forgotten the rest of the world.