| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac: you are generous, if--"
As he heard this cry of noble distress the young man's tears fell upon
his cousin's hands, which he had caught in his own to keep her from
kneeling. As the warm tears touched her, Eugenie sprang to the purse
and poured its contents upon the table.
"Ah! yes, yes, you consent?" she said, weeping with joy. "Fear
nothing, my cousin, you will be rich. This gold will bring you
happiness; some day you shall bring it back to me,--are we not
partners? I will obey all conditions. But you should not attach such
value to the gift."
Charles was at last able to express his feelings.
 Eugenie Grandet |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Letters of Two Brides by Honore de Balzac: and to instruct her in the grand art of motherhood! The right of the
eldest, which in the earliest times formed a part of the natural order
and was lost in the origins of society, ought never, in my opinion, to
have been questioned. Ah! how much a mother learns from her child! The
constant protection of a helpless being forces us to so strict an
alliance with virtue, that a woman never shows to full advantage
except as a mother. Then alone can her character expand in the
fulfilment of all life's duties and the enjoyment of all its
pleasures. A woman who is not a mother is maimed and incomplete.
Hasten, then, my sweetest, to fulfil your mission. Your present
happiness will then be multiplied by the wealth of my delights.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Yates Pride by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: over the pictures, and the mantel-shelf was a cascade of
wandering Jew, growing in old china vases.
"Your plants are really wonderful, Mrs. Glynn," said Mrs. Bates,
"but I don't see how you manage to get a glimpse of anything
outside the house, your windows are so full of them."
"Maybe she can see and not be seen," said Abby Simson, who had a
quick wit and a ready tongue.
Mrs. Joseph Glynn flushed a little. "I have not the slightest
curiosity about my neighbors," she said, "but it is impossible to
live just across the road from any house without knowing
something of what is going on, whether one looks or not," said
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