human
Do you know, Lala Roy, Arnold said one morning after a silence of three hours or so,
gpt
It is well, said the Philosopher,
human
You have known her all her life. Don't trouble yourself to speak, Lala. You can nod your head if there isn't a maxim ready. You began to lodge in the house twenty years ago, and you have seen her every day since. If she is not the best, as well as the most beautiful girl in the world, you ought to know and can contradict me. But you do know it.
gpt
Happy is the man, said the Sage,
human
I suppose, Lala, Arnold went on with an ingenuous blush,
gpt
I suppose that you have perceived that--that--in fact--I love her.
human
Do you think--you who know her so well--that she suspects or knows it?
gpt
The thoughts of a maiden are secret thoughts. As well may one search for the beginnings of a river as inquire into the mind of a woman. Their ways are not our ways, nor are their thoughts ours, nor have we wit to understand, nor have they tongue to utter the things they think. I know not whether she suspects.
human
Yet you have had experience, Lala Roy?
gpt
In the old days when I was young, I had experience, as all men have. I have had many wives. Yet to me, as to all others, the thoughts of the harem are unknown.
human
Yet, Iris--surely you know the thoughts of Iris, your pupil.
gpt
I know only that her heart is the abode of goodness, and that she knows not any evil thought. Young man, beware. Trouble not the clear fountain.
human
Heaven knows, said Arnold,
gpt
I would not--
human
Youth, said the Sage presently,