human
Then I begged the old man to tell me more of his race, to unfold the curtain that hung like a pall between them and us. He shook his head sadly, and standing with his face towards the south, communing with himself awhile, turned to me, and said: 'You believe in a God, good and evil, rewards and punishments?'
gpt
Would you hesitate to break an oath taken in the name of the God in which you believe?
human
I would not dare to commit such a crime,
gpt
Then, swear, said he,
human
Oh, no, you cannot mean that; leave us some clue to your lost race,
gpt
Yes, swear,
human
No: oh! no, I cannot. Though for your sake, I said,
gpt
I will be silent any reasonable number of years you shall dictate to me.
human
Let it be so. When I have passed away you are absolved from your oath.
gpt
You will teach me to read the recorded past, I said inquiringly,
human
It is too late, my days are spent, he said; then rousing himself, he exclaimed, in a voice that still rings in my ears: 'Son of a degenerate race, go over this whole continent and there trace the history of my people. Our monuments are there, and on them are chiseled our deeds, and though we moulder in the dust, they can never die; they are imperishable. Go where the summer never ends, where the trees blossom, still laden with fruit, and there we once were mighty as these forests, and numerous as the drops in this lake; there read of our glory--but not of our shame--that was never chiseled in our monumental pillars; it is here, (placing his hand on his heart) and with _me_ must die. Go, (said he, waving with his hand towards the path that ascended the table) go, and leave the last of a mighty race, to die alone. It is not fitting you should be here: Go? I am called.'