human
Is it a joke or a mystery?
gpt
I do not know, said the old man.
human
I have offered the magic skin to many men. They laughed at it; but none would take it. I am like them. I doubt its power, but will not put it to the test.
gpt
What! said Raphael.
human
You have never formed a wish all the time you had it?
gpt
No! said the old man.
human
I have discovered the great secret of human life. Look! I am a hundred and two years old. Do you know why men die? Because they use up the energy of life by wishing to do things and doing them. I am content to know things. My days have been spent wandering quietly over all the earth in the calm acquisition of knowledge. All desire, all lust after power are dead within me. So this skin, which I picked up in India, has never shrunk an inch since it came into my possession.
gpt
You have never lived! cried Raphael, turning from the old man, and seizing the skin.
human
Yes, I will take you. Now for a test. I am starving. Set before me a splendid banquet. Let me have as guests all the wildest, gayest, wittiest minds of young France. And women? Oh, the prettiest, wickedest women of the town! Wine, wit and women!
gpt
Do you think my floors are going to open, and tables, waiters, and guests pop up before your eyes? he said.
human
No! Your first wish is mean and vulgar; but it will be fulfilled in a natural manner. You wanted to die, eh? Your suicide is only postponed.
gpt
You have never lived. I wish you knew what love was.