human
I will not cope with you in simile, or in poetry, said Walter, as his lip curved;
gpt
Are you, then, about to leave us?
human
Yes, within a few days.
gpt
Indeed, I regret to hear it.
human
You do me more honour than I desire, said he,
gpt
Young man, replied Aram, coldly,
human
I never see the impetuous and yearning spirit of youth without a certain, and it may be, a painful interest. How feeble is the chance, that its hopes will be fulfilled! Enough, if it lose not all its loftier aspirings, as well as its brighter expectations.
gpt
I cannot but consider the warning and the fears of one, neither my relation nor my friend, in the light of a gratuitous affront.
human
There is no occasion for resentment. Preserve this hot spirit, and high self-confidence, till you return again to these scenes, and I shall be at once satisfied and corrected.
gpt
Sir, said Walter, colouring, and irritated more by the smile than the words of his rival,
human
I am not aware by what right or on what ground you assume towards me the superiority, not only of admonition but reproof. My uncle's preference towards you gives you no authority over me. That preference I do not pretend to share. --He paused for a moment, thinking Aram might hasten to reply; but as the Student walked on with his usual calmness of demeanour, he added, stung by the indifference which he attributed, not altogether without truth, to disdain,
gpt
And since you have taken upon yourself to caution me, and to forebode my inability to resist the contamination, as you would term it, of the world, I tell you, that it may be happy for you to bear so clear a conscience, so untouched a spirit as that which I now boast, and with which I trust in God and my own soul I shall return to my birth-place. It is not the holy only that love solitude; and men may shun the world from another motive than that of philosophy.