human
I can do nothing with this boy, sir, said he, red as fire;
gpt
Dost thou, in thine ignorance, pretend to teach when thou comest here to learn, Jacob Faithful?
human
Father always told me that that thing there meant half-a-bushel.
gpt
Thy father might, perhaps, have used that letter to signify the measure which thou speakest of, in the same way as I, in my mathematics, use divers letters for known and unknown quantities; but thou must forget that which thy father taught thee, and commence _de novo_. Dost thou understand?
human
No, I don't.
gpt
Then, little Jacob, that represents the letter A, and whatever else Mr Knapps may tell thee, thou wilt believe. Return, Jacob, and be docile.