| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from 'Twixt Land & Sea by Joseph Conrad: ports of civilisation. That'll make it easier for him to keep
straight."
That was true. The brig's business was on uncivilised coasts, with
obscure rajahs dwelling in nearly unknown bays; with native
settlements up mysterious rivers opening their sombre, forest-lined
estuaries among a welter of pale green reefs and dazzling sand-
banks, in lonely straits of calm blue water all aglitter with
sunshine. Alone, far from the beaten tracks, she glided, all
white, round dark, frowning headlands, stole out, silent like a
ghost, from behind points of land stretching out all black in the
moonlight; or lay hove-to, like a sleeping sea-bird, under the
'Twixt Land & Sea |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Young Forester by Zane Grey: bright, which Dick called a silver spruce. I was glad it belonged to the
conifers, or pine-tree family, because it was the most beautiful tree I had
ever seen. We climbed ridges and threaded through aspen thickets in hollows
till near sunset. Then Stockton ordered a halt for camp.
It came none too soon for me, and I was so exhausted that I had to be
helped off my mustang. Stockton arranged my blankets, fed me, and bathed
the bruise on my head, but I was too weary and sick to be grateful or to
care about anything except sleep. Even the fact that my hands were
uncomfortably bound did not keep me awake.
When some one called me next morning my eyes did not want to stay open. I
had a lazy feeling and a dull ache in my bones, but the pain had gone from
The Young Forester |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Padre Ignacio by Owen Wister: "I am certain that it must be a great possession," Gaston continued;
"and yet--and yet--dear me! life is a splendid thing!"
"There are several ways to live it," said the Padre.
"Only one for me!" cried Gaston. "Action, men, women, things--to be there,
to be known, to play a part, to sit in the front seats; to have people
tell one another, 'There goes Gaston Villere!' and to deserve one's
prominence. Why, if I was Padre of Santa Ysabel del Mar for twenty years--
no! for one year--do you know what I should have done? Some day it
would have been too much for me. I should have left these savages to a
pastor nearer their own level, and I should have ridden down this canyon
upon my mule, and stepped on board the barkentine, and gone back to my
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