| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Master of the World by Jules Verne: had disappeared, if he had perished with his machine in Lake
Michigan, it was equally important now to win the secret of this no
less mysterious navigator. And it must be won before he in his turn
plunged into the abyss of the ocean. Was it not the interest of the
inventor to disclose his invention? Would not the American government
or any other give him any price he chose to ask?
Yet unfortunately, since the inventor of the terrestrial apparition
had persisted in preserving his incognito, was it not to be feared
that the inventor of the marine apparition would equally preserve
his? Even if the first machine still existed, it was no longer heard
from; and would not the second, in the same way, after having
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A Personal Record by Joseph Conrad: one's own vile body. But it is very obvious that an enemy of
that sort will not be stayed by explanations or placated by
apologies. Were I to advance the plea of youth in excuse of the
naiveness to be found in these pages, he would be likely to say
"Bosh!" in a column and a half of fierce print. Yet a writer is
no older than his first published book, and, not withstanding the
vain appearances of decay which attend us in this transitory
life, I stand here with the wreath of only fifteen short summers
on my brow.
With the remark, then, that at such tender age some naiveness of
feeling and expression is excusable, I proceed to admit that,
A Personal Record |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Distinguished Provincial at Paris by Honore de Balzac: hundred francs, and a hundred francs per sheet for his paper."
"Well; you are saying nothing!" exclaimed Florine, with her eyes
turned on Lucien.
"We shall see, said Lucien.
"My dear boy, if you had been my brother, I could not have done more
for you," retorted Lousteau, somewhat nettled, "but I won't answer for
Finot. Scores of sharp fellows will besiege Finot for the next two
days with offers to work for low pay. I have promised for you, but you
can draw back if you like.--You little know how lucky you are," he
added after a pause. "All those in our set combine to attack an enemy
in various papers, and lend each other a helping hand all round."
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