human
Dare I say I rode this iron monster through the land?
gpt
Say on; say anything. We listen.
human
Then did I ride the iron monster, for which I gave money--
gpt
Thou saidst it was fed with stone.
human
And likewise, thou fool, I said money was a thing of which you know nothing. As I say, I rode the monster through the land, and through many villages, until I came to a big village on a salt arm of the sea. And the houses shoved their roofs among the stars in the sky, and the clouds drifted by them, and everywhere was much smoke. And the roar of that village was like the roar of the sea in storm, and the people were so many that I flung away my stick and no longer remembered the notches upon it.
gpt
Hadst thou made small notches, Koogah reproved,
human
Had I made small notches! Listen, Koogah, thou scratcher of bone! If I had made small notches, neither the stick, nor twenty sticks, could have borne them--nay, not all the driftwood of all the beaches between this village and the next. And if all of you, the women and children as well, were twenty times as many, and if you had twenty hands each, and in each hand a stick and a knife, still the notches could not be cut for the people I saw, so many were they and so fast did they come and go.
gpt
There cannot be so many people in all the world,
human
What dost thou know of all the world and how large it is?
gpt
But there cannot be so many people in one place.
human
Who art thou to say what can be and what cannot be?
gpt
It stands to reason there cannot be so many people in one place. Their canoes would clutter the sea till there was no room. And they could empty the sea each day of its fish, and they would not all be fed.
human
So it would seem, Nam-Bok made final answer;
gpt
He yawned heavily and rose to his feet.
human
I have paddled far. The day has been long, and I am tired. Now I will sleep, and to-morrow we will have further talk upon the things I have seen.