| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: came a man of thirty-five or so, judged harmless apparently in spite
of his anger. The newcomer, who was quite plainly dressed, bore a
strong resemblance to the late Duc de Richelieu. You must often have
met him, he was the Countess' husband, a man with the aristocratic
figure (permit the expression to pass) peculiar to statesmen of your
faubourg.
" 'Sir,' said this person, addressing himself to Gobseck, who had
quite recovered his tranquillity, 'did my wife go out of this house
just now?'
" 'That is possible.'
" 'Well, sir? do you not take my meaning?'
Gobseck |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Fantastic Fables by Ambrose Bierce: "Yes," replied the Raccoon, "and I hear quite a number of tales on
your ring."
The Alderman, being of a sensitive, retiring disposition, shrank
from further comparison, and, strolling to another part of the
garden, stole the camel.
The Flying-Machine
AN Ingenious Man who had built a flying-machine invited a great
concourse of people to see it go up. At the appointed moment,
everything being ready, he boarded the car and turned on the power.
The machine immediately broke through the massive substructure upon
which it was builded, and sank out of sight into the earth, the
Fantastic Fables |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: to draw rein and watch in admiration. There before
them upon the downs a boy battled with a lunging,
rearing horse--a perfect demon of a black horse. Strik-
ing and biting in a frenzy of rage it sought ever to
escape or injure the lithe figure which clung leech-like
to its shoulder.
The boy was on the ground. His left hand grasped
the heavy mane; his right arm lay across the beast's
withers and his right hand drew steadily in upon a
halter rope with which he had taken a half hitch about
the horse's muzzle. Now the black reared and wheeled,
The Outlaw of Torn |
