human
I'll wait for you to return before I go, and talk to the child as I agreed,
gpt
Little Rose, I've got to go along in a few moments, but first I must tell you something which I'm afraid will cause you disappointment.
human
It is this. I wish, indeed, that you might grow up to be a nurse for little children, such as my story last night set you to dreaming of being, but, although I'm sure you would be a splendid one, it is impossible, you know, dear.
gpt
Why haint hit possible?
human
Well, you see, dear child, nurses of that sort have to study and know almost as much as doctors. They have to train--go to school in the hospital, that is--for three years.
gpt
But I haint erfeered ter work. I _wants_ ter study, an' larn,
human
Yes, I know, but ... well, it costs a lot of money in the first place; nurses don't get any pay while they're learning, and they have to deposit three hundred dollars before they can take the course, one hundred each year. Besides that, they have to have a good education to start with. Probably you don't know what is meant by a 'High School,' but a girl must have gone through one--studied steadily for twelve or thirteen years--or at least have an equivalent amount of education, before she can hope to enter the Children's Hospital.
gpt
Wha ... what do 'equivalent' mean?
human
It means that you would have to know as much as though you had gone through a High School, and be able to pass an examination proving that you do.