| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Koran: Said he, 'Go down, ye twain, therefrom altogether, some of you foes to
the other. And if there should come to you from me a guidance; then
whoso follows my guidance shall neither err nor be wretched. But he
who turns away from my reminder, verily, for him shall be a straitened
livelihood; and we will gather him on the resurrection day blind!'
He shall say, 'My Lord! wherefore hast Thou gathered me blind when I
used to see?' He shall say, 'Our signs came to thee, and thou didst
forget them; thus to-day art thou forgotten!'
Thus do we recompense him who is extravagant and believes not in the
signs of his Lord; and the torment of the hereafter is keener and more
lasting!
The Koran |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: lanterns, they discovered Hoichi,-- sitting alone in the rain before the
memorial tomb of Antoku Tenno, making his biwa resound, and loudly chanting
the chant of the battle of Dan-no-ura. And behind him, and about him, and
everywhere above the tombs, the fires of the dead were burning, like
candles. Never before had so great a host of Oni-bi appeared in the sight
of mortal man...
"Hoichi San! -- Hoichi San!" the servants cried,-- "you are bewitched!...
Hoichi San!"
But the blind man did not seem to hear. Strenuously he made his biwa to
rattle and ring and clang; -- more and more wildly he chanted the chant of
the battle of Dan-no-ura. They caught hold of him; -- they shouted into his
Kwaidan |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Eve and David by Honore de Balzac: himself as he passed by the hoardings, and heard a tap upon the
boards, and a voice issuing from a crack between two planks.
"Here I am," said Cerizet; "I saw David coming out of L'Houmeau. I was
beginning to have my suspicions about his retreat, and now I am sure;
and I know where to have him. But I want to know something of Lucien's
plans before I set the snare for David; and here are you sending him
into the house! Find some excuse for stopping here, at least, and when
David and Lucien come out, send them round this way; they will think
they are quite alone, and I shall overhear their good-bye."
"You are a very devil," muttered Petit-Claud.
"Well, I'm blessed if a man wouldn't do anything for the thing you
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