human
Them wur no better soldiers than ther rest uv ther army, but thar war a man directin' 'em, and lookin' all ther time so kinder majistical and lofty and so fur away from all fear, and ez tho' he hedn't a thot of failin', thet ther men, yo' see, tuk on ther same state o' mind, and ter fight 'em war no use. If the fust bullet we fired hed killed thet General, we would a-scooped the hull army by four o'clock. Thet's what I mean when I say: 'They ain't much in men, thar's everything in a man!'
gpt
I understand you fully, and you are right, Jordan,
human
War it not 'round yere somewhar' thet ther Greeks lived?
gpt
Yes, north of this sea, ahead of us, and to the left,
human
They wur the ones that fit Marathon and Thermoperlee, and it wur from ther thet big Aleck cum?
gpt
Yes, was the reply.
human
It was only a little country, but had many states, The Spartans and Thespians, mostly the Spartans, fought at Thermopylae. Marathon was fought mostly by Athenians, and Alexander was Phillip's son, of Macedonia.
gpt
said Jordan.
human
Athens wur the boss place, wur it not? It had ther best talkers, and best public schools, and wur it not thar thet the woman Frina kept house?
gpt
Yes, Phryne was an Athenian, I believe, a woman of a good model, but not a model woman,
human
I reckon yo' wur right, Jim, said Jordan,
gpt
Thar wur another bad one 'round here, somewhar. Don't yo' reclect readin' 'bout her and ther Roman? They got spoony on one another. He neglected his family and business, he wur thet fur gone; finally got hisself killed, and then she pizened herself with a sarpent, not a moccasin nor rattler, but a little short blue-brown scrub snake not a foot long.
human
You mean Antony and Cleopatra,
gpt
said Jordan.
human
She wer ther one. I never liked her, not half so well as the one with yaller ha'r thet they called Helen. One wur bad on her own account; the other, as I calcerlate, wus bad jest because she hed er disposition to be entertainin' and agreeable. One wur naterally bad; t'other wur a lady by instinct but her edecation had been neglected.
gpt
Wur it not on this water thet old Solomon fitted out ships for ther Ophir diggings?
human
I do not know, was the reply.
gpt
It probably was, if, as is believed, a canal connected this sea with the Red Sea in his day.
human
Which way are Jerusalem from here, Sedgwick?
gpt
And Tyre and Venice and Egypt and ther Hellespont?
human
The country 'round this sea made ther world once, didn't it?
gpt
Very nearly, answered Sedgwick.
human
The cradle of civilization was rocked more on these shores than anywhere else. Egypt and Greece and Carthage and Phoenicia and Syria and Rome, and a score of other nations, grew into form on the shores of this sea. The arts had birth here; arts, architecture, ship-building, sculpture, poetry, eloquence, law and learning, all began on these shores; and Roman soldiers crucified the Savior a little beyond where the waves of this sea break against its eastern shore.
gpt
Thet's good, said Jordan.
human
Big region this!