human
Nonsense, Max, nonsense,
gpt
It is not nonsense. You have saved me from becoming a mummy. I see it all, Karl, and shudder to think of the life that might have been mine. I take no pleasure in seeing gouty old dependents bowing, kneeling, and smirking before me. Of course, these things are my prerogative, and a man born to them may not forego what is due to his birth even though it irks him. But such an existence--I will not call it living--saps the juice of life. Even dear old mother is compelled to suppress her love for me. Often she has pressed me to her breast only to thrust me away at the approach of footsteps. By the way, Karl, continued Max, while preparing for bed,
human
Yolanda one day at Basel jestingly called me 'Little Max.'
gpt
The devil she did,
human
Yes, answered Max,
gpt
The dev-- Max, you can't mean what you say?
human
Indeed I do, he returned.
gpt
I told her I loved the name as a sweet reminder of my mother.
human
What did she say?
gpt
She seemed pleased and flashed her eyes on me--you know the way she has--and said: 'I, too, like the name. It fits you so well--by contraries.' Where could she have learned it, and how could she have known it was my mother's love-name for me?
human
I cannot tell,