| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf: now he had nobody to talk to about that table, or his boots, or his
knots; and he was like a lion seeking whom he could devour, and his
face had that touch of desperation, of exaggeration in it which alarmed
her, and made her pull her skirts about her. And then, she recalled,
there was that sudden revivification, that sudden flare (when she
praised his boots), that sudden recovery of vitality and interest in
ordinary human things, which too passed and changed (for he was always
changing, and hid nothing) into that other final phase which was new to
her and had, she owned, made herself ashamed of her own irritability,
when it seemed as if he had shed worries and ambitions, and the hope of
sympathy and the desire for praise, had entered some other region, was
To the Lighthouse |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Economist by Xenophon: you esteem me a less lovable co-partner in our wealth, were I to show
you how our fortune stands exactly, without boasting of unreal
possessions or concealing what we really have? Or would you prefer
that I should try to cheat you with exaggeration, exhibiting false
money to you, or sham[6] necklaces, or flaunting purples[7] which will
lose their colour, stating they are genuine the while?"
[5] Lit. "So I said to her, 'Tell me, my wife, after which fashion
would you find me the more delectable partner in our joint estate
--were I to . . .? or were I to . . .?'"
[6] Lit. "only wood coated with gold."
[7] See Becker, op. cit. p. 434 f; Holden cf. Athen. ix. 374, xii.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Macbeth by William Shakespeare: Lady. Sit worthy Friends: my Lord is often thus,
And hath beene from his youth. Pray you keepe Seat,
The fit is momentary, vpon a thought
He will againe be well. If much you note him
You shall offend him, and extend his Passion,
Feed, and regard him not. Are you a man?
Macb. I, and a bold one, that dare looke on that
Which might appall the Diuell
La. O proper stuffe:
This is the very painting of your feare:
This is the Ayre-drawne-Dagger which you said
Macbeth |
