| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Daughter of Eve by Honore de Balzac: who was one of the guests. "Quick! a subscription for her!"
On this they all roused up. Every pocket was emptied and produced a
total of thirty-seven francs, which Raoul carried in jest to Florine's
bedside. She burst out laughing and lifted her pillow, beneath which
lay a mass of bank-notes to which she pointed.
Raoul called to Blondet.
"Ah! I see!" cried Blondet. "The little cheat has sold herself out
without a word to us. Well done, you little angel!"
Thereupon, the actress was borne in triumph into the dining-room where
most of the party still remained. The lawyer and du Tillet had
departed.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honore de Balzac: worthy of her?"
"Yes! Yes!" cried everybody; for Monsieur Picot's voice, which is
very full and sonorous, seemed to have tears in it and affected
everybody.
"Then it is time," he said, "to forgive Providence."
And rushing suddenly to the door, where my ear was glued to the
keyhole, he very nearly caught me.
"Announce," he said to me, in a very loud tone of voice, "Monsieur
Felix Phellion and his family."
And thereupon the door of a side room opened, and five or six
persons came out, who were led by Monsieur Picot into the salon.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Market-Place by Harold Frederic: of operators, however, and to the widening circle
of brokers, bankers, and other men of affairs whose
interests were more or less involved with those of
this group, it was a season of keen perturbation.
A combat of an extraordinary character was going on--a
combat which threatened to develop into a massacre.
Even to the operators who, unhappily for themselves,
were principals in this fight, it was a struggle in the dark.
They knew little about it, beyond the grimly-patent fact
that they were battling for their very lives. The outer
ring of their friends and supporters and dependents knew
The Market-Place |
