| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: perch, silent and dying in the cage of a naturalist; Henriette was the
singing bird of oriental poems in groves beside the Ganges, flying
from branch to branch like a living jewel amid the roses of a
volkameria that ever blooms. Her beauty grew more beautiful, her mind
recovered strength. The continual sparkle of this happiness was a
secret between ourselves, for she dreaded the eye of the Abbe Dominis,
the representative of the world; she masked her contentment with
playfulness, and covered the proofs of her tenderness with the banner
of gratitude.
"We have put your friendship to a severe test, Felix; we may give you
the same rights we give to Jacques, may we not, Monsieur l'abbe?" she
The Lily of the Valley |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Daisy Miller by Henry James: and she had on this occasion collected several specimens of her
diversely born fellow mortals to serve, as it were, as textbooks.
When Winterbourne arrived, Daisy Miller was not there, but in a few
moments he saw her mother come in alone, very shyly and ruefully.
Mrs. Miller's hair above her exposed-looking temples was more frizzled
than ever. As she approached Mrs. Walker, Winterbourne also drew near.
"You see, I've come all alone," said poor Mrs. Miller.
"I'm so frightened; I don't know what to do. It's the first time
I've ever been to a party alone, especially in this country.
I wanted to bring Randolph or Eugenio, or someone, but Daisy just
pushed me off by myself. I ain't used to going round alone."
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Kidnapped Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum: Nuter, and Peter, and Kilter, he embraced affectionately.
"It is useless to pursue the Daemons," said Santa Claus to the army.
"They have their place in the world, and can never be destroyed. But
that is a great pity, nevertheless," he continued musingly.
So the fairies, and knooks, and pixies, and ryls all escorted the good
man to his castle, and there left him to talk over the events of the
night with his little assistants.
Wisk had already rendered himself invisible and flown through the big
world to see how the children were getting along on this bright
Christmas morning; and by the time he returned, Peter had finished
telling Santa Claus of how they had distributed the toys.
A Kidnapped Santa Claus |
