| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Muse of the Department by Honore de Balzac: special talent for dressing venison."
Lousteau wrote to Dinah; but instead of writing from the heart, he was
clever. The letter was all the more insidious; it was like one of
Mirabeau's letters to Sophie. The style of a true lover is
transparent. It is a clear stream which allows the bottom of the heart
to be seen between two banks, bright with the trifles of existence,
and covered with the flowers of the soul that blossom afresh every
day, full of intoxicating beauty--but only for two beings. As soon as
a love letter has any charm for a third reader, it is beyond doubt the
product of the head, not of the heart. But a woman will always be
beguiled; she always believes herself to be the determining cause of
The Muse of the Department |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honore de Balzac: battle to-night, and if we do not ALL do our duty valorously, la
Peyrade may win it."
"My son is not here, madame," said Phellion, "and I regret it, for
perhaps your generous devotion and urgent words would succeed in
shaking off his torpor; but, at any rate, I will lay before him the
gravity of the situation, and, beyond all doubt, he will accompany us
to-night to the Thuilliers'."
"It is needless to say," added the countess, rising, "that we must
carefully avoid the very slightest appearance of collusion; we must
not converse together; in fact, unless it can be done in some casual
way, it would be better not to speak."
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: "You have a kind aunt and cousins."
Again I paused; then bunglingly enounced -
"But John Reed knocked me down, and my aunt shut me up in the red-
room."
Mr. Lloyd a second time produced his snuff-box.
"Don't you think Gateshead Hall a very beautiful house?" asked he.
"Are you not very thankful to have such a fine place to live at?"
"It is not my house, sir; and Abbot says I have less right to be
here than a servant."
"Pooh! you can't be silly enough to wish to leave such a splendid
place?"
Jane Eyre |
