| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from American Notes by Rudyard Kipling: it--indeed they did. 'Twas the natural fate of almost all
girls--the recognized custom in America--and I was a barbarian
not to see it in that light.
"Well, and after?" said I. "What happens?"
"We work for our bread."
"And then what do you expect?"
"Then we shall work for our bread."
"Till you die?"
"Ye-es--unless--"
"Unless what? This is your business, you know. A man works
until he dies."
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Deserted Woman by Honore de Balzac: cortege of young love, in fine.
"Oh, you are a man now, you will obey your destiny, weighing and
considering all things. You will have cares, and anxieties, and
ambitions, and concerns that will rob /her/ of the unchanging
smile that made your lips fair for me. The tones that were always
so sweet for me will be troubled at times; and your eyes that
lighted up with radiance from heaven at the sight of me, will
often be lustreless for /her/. And besides, as it is impossible to
love you as I love you, you will never care for that woman as you
have cared for me. She will never keep a constant watch over
herself as I have done; she will never study your happiness at
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: sulky, bitter, insulting, and spoiled the talk by contradicting
everything. If, warned by his ill-humor, I suggested a game, he would
dally and demur. "In the first place, it is too late," he would say;
"besides, I don't care for it." Then followed a series of affectations
like those of women, which often leave you in ignorance of their real
wishes.
On this occasion I pretended a wild gaiety to induce him to play. He
complained of giddiness which hindered him from calculating; his
brain, he said, was squeezed into a vice; he heard noises, he was
choking; and thereupon he sighed heavily. At last, however, he
consented to the game. Madame de Mortsauf left us to put the children
The Lily of the Valley |
