human
No, I must not--I must not love thee! Allah, Lord of the Three Worlds, Pardoner of Transgressions, knoweth that thou art always in my thoughts--yet we can never be more than friends.
gpt
Why? I asked, in dismay.
human
May we not marry some day?
gpt
Thou art a Roumi, while I--I am a dweller in the mansion of grief.
human
But all things are possible, I said.
gpt
If thou art afraid of thy people, trust in me. Meet me clandestinely, attired in European garments, and we will leave by the steamer for Marseilles, where we can marry.
human
No. Ask me not, she replied, firmly.
gpt
Already, by bringing thee hither, by unveiling before thee, and by suffering thee to kiss me, I have invoked the Wrath. The curse is already upon me, and--and, alas! I shall pay the penalty soon enough,
human
What dost thou mean?
gpt
It meaneth that I, Zoraida Fathma, am consumed by that sorrow and despair that is precursory of death; that Eblis hath set his fatal seal upon me--that I am doomed!