| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Commission in Lunacy by Honore de Balzac: no doubt induced the owner to be accommodating. Thus M. d'Espard had
been able to go to some expense to settle himself suitably without
being accused of extravagance. The loftiness of the rooms, the
paneling, of which nothing survived but the frames, the decoration of
the ceilings, all displayed the dignity which the prelacy stamped on
whatever it attempted or created, and which artists discern to this
day in the smallest relic that remains, though it be but a book, a
dress, the panel of a bookcase, or an armchair.
The Marquis had the rooms painted in the rich brown tones loved of the
Dutch and of the citizens of Old Paris, hues which lend such good
effects to the painter of genre. The panels were hung with plain paper
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A Voyage to Abyssinia by Father Lobo: fine, and all parties were content.
Chapter VIII
The viceroy is offended by his wife. He complains to the Emperor,
but without redress. He meditates a revolt, raises an army, and
makes an attempt to seize upon the author.
We continued our march, and the viceroy having been advertised that
some troops had appeared in a hostile manner on the frontiers, went
against them. I parted from him, and arrived at Fremona, where the
Portuguese expected me with great impatience. I reposited the bones
of Don Christopher de Gama in a decent place, and sent them the May
following to the viceroy of the Indies, together with his arms,
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from My Antonia by Willa Cather: he continued, as he sorted and tried his chisels, `was for a
fellow in the Black Tiger Mine, up above Silverton, Colorado.
The mouth of that mine goes right into the face of the cliff,
and they used to put us in a bucket and run us over on a trolley
and shoot us into the shaft. The bucket travelled across a box
canon three hundred feet deep, and about a third full of water.
Two Swedes had fell out of that bucket once, and hit the water,
feet down. If you'll believe it, they went to work the next day.
You can't kill a Swede. But in my time a little Eyetalian
tried the high dive, and it turned out different with him.
We was snowed in then, like we are now, and I happened
My Antonia |
