human
Most people who live always in one place see the changes creeping on so gradually that they scarcely feel them, but with me this universal flux displays itself pitilessly, I cannot escape. Go where I will, there is something to measure the changes by. A shoal of yellow leaves whispers to me of seasons long ago, and the old past days, with their own intimate character that nothing ever repeats, flash before me again with the vividness of yesterday; and a flight of birds--ah! if I could express what they recall! The dead years pass again in a great procession, a motley company--some like emperors, crowned and richly dowered, with the sound of trumpets and the tramping of many obsequious feet; and others like beggars, despoiled and hungry, trudging along a dusty high road, or like grey pilgrims bound, with bleeding feet, for a far-off shrine.
gpt
Yours must have been a wonderful life!
human
Yes, I have seen and felt many things, answered Miss Du Prel, stirred by the intoxication of the motion and the wind and the sunlight,
gpt
You fear?
human
Yes; for that means suffering. If you feel, you are at the mercy of all things. Every wind that blows uses you as an Æolian harp.
gpt
That must be charming, at least for those who live in your neighbourhood,
human
No; for often the harp rings false. Its strings get loosened; one hangs slack and jars, and where then is your harmony?
gpt
One would run the risk of many things rather than let one's strings lie dumb,
human
What a dangerous temperament you have!
gpt
I must take my risks,
human
I doubt if you know what risks there are.
gpt
Then I must find out,
human
One plays with fire so recklessly before one has been burnt.
gpt
Will can do so much, she said at length.
human
Do you believe in the power of the human will to break the back of circumstance?
gpt
Oh, yes; but the effort expended in breaking its back sometimes leaves one prone, with a victory that arrives ironically too late. However I don't wish to discourage you. There is no doubt that human will has triumphed over everything--but death.