| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Hiero by Xenophon: ofttimes till we had steeped our souls in song and dance[5] and
revelry; ofttimes till the flame of passion kindled in the breasts of
my companions and my own.[6] But now, welladay, I am deprived of those
who took delight in me, because I have slaves instead of friends as my
companions; I am robbed of my once delightful intercourse with them,
because I discern no vestige of goodwill towards me in their looks.
And as to the wine-cup and slumber--these I guard against, even as a
man might guard against an ambuscade. Think only! to dread a crowd, to
dread solitude, to dread the absence of a guard, to dread the very
guards that guard, to shrink from having those about one's self
unarmed, and yet to hate the sight of armed attendants. Can you
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll: "His form in ungainly--his intellect small--"
(So the Bellman would often remark)
"But his courage is perfect! And that, after all,
Is the thing that one needs with a Snark."
He would joke with hyenas, returning their stare
With an impudent wag of the head:
And he once went a walk, paw-in-paw, with a bear,
"Just to keep up its spirits," he said.
He came as a Baker: but owned, when too late--
And it drove the poor Bellman half-mad--
He could only bake Bridecake--for which, I may state,
The Hunting of the Snark |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from McTeague by Frank Norris: child's burial, in the wretched back room of the Junk shop,
Zerkow had made Maria sit down to the table opposite him--
the whiskey bottle and the red glass tumbler with its broken
base between them--and had said:
"Now, then, Maria, tell us that story of the gold dishes
again."
Maria stared at him, an expression of perplexity coming into
her face.
"What gold dishes?" said she.
"The ones your people used to own in Central America. Come
on, Maria, begin, begin." The Jew craned himself forward,
McTeague |
