| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from An Historical Mystery by Honore de Balzac: compromise the defence; if they do, we must rely on our cross-
examinations."
Laurence wrung her hands in despair and raised her eyes to heaven with
a despondent look, for she saw at last in all its depths the gulf into
which her cousins had fallen. The marquis and the young lawyer agreed
with the dreadful view of Bordin. Old d'Hauteserre wept.
"Ah! why did they not listen to the Abbe Goujet and fly!" cried Madame
d'Hauteserre, exasperated.
"If they could have escaped, and you prevented them," said Bordin,
"you have killed them yourselves. Judgment by default gains time; time
enables the innocent to clear themselves. This is the most mysterious
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas: flower-pot.
Well, it was then quite evident she was following the
instructions of Cornelius, who was afraid of the bulb being
killed by frost.
When the sun became too hot, Rosa likewise took in the pot
from eleven in the morning until two in the afternoon.
Another proof: Cornelius was afraid lest the soil should
become too dry.
But when the first leaves peeped out of the earth Boxtel was
fully convinced; and his telescope left him no longer in any
uncertainty before they had grown one inch in height.
The Black Tulip |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A House of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde: my hands and it stopped in mid-air. Then he drew a dagger from a
belt of white leather, and stabbed the Nubian in the throat lest
the slave should tell of his dishonour. The man writhed like a
trampled snake, and a red foam bubbled from his lips.
'As soon as he was dead the Emperor turned to me, and when he had
wiped away the bright sweat from his brow with a little napkin of
purfled and purple silk, he said to me, "Art thou a prophet, that I
may not harm thee, or the son of a prophet, that I can do thee no
hurt? I pray thee leave my city to-night, for while thou art in it
I am no longer its lord."
'And I answered him, "I will go for half of thy treasure. Give me
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