| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Vailima Letters by Robert Louis Stevenson: and I went down to service and had lunch afterwards in the
wardroom. The officers were awfully nice to Austin; they are
the most amiable ship in the world; and after lunch we had a
paper handed round on which we were to guess, and sign our
guess, of the number of leaves on the pine-apple; I never saw
this game before, but it seems it is much practised in the
Queen's Navee. When all have betted, one of the party begins
to strip the pine-apple head, and the person whose guess is
furthest out has to pay for the sherry. My equanimity was
disturbed by shouts of THE AMERICAN COMMODORE, and I found
that Austin had entered and lost about a bottle of sherry!
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: stood the gloomy healthy- looking German workman who pushed the
carriage. Close by was standing a flaxen-headed Swedish count,
whom Kitty knew by name. Several invalids were lingering near the
low carriage, staring at the lady as though she were some
curiosity.
The prince went up to her, and Kitty detected that disconcerting
gleam of irony in his eyes. He went up to Madame Stahl, and
addressed her with extreme courtesy and affability in that
excellent French that so few speak nowadays.
"I don't know if you remember me, but I must recall myself to
thank you for your kindness to my daughter," he said, taking off
Anna Karenina |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from An International Episode by Henry James: to speak to them more instantly than they could have expected;
he had evidently jumped up from his work. He was a tall,
lean personage and was dressed all in fresh white linen;
he had a thin, sharp, familiar face, with an expression that was
at one and the same time sociable and businesslike, a quick,
intelligent eye, and a large brown mustache, which concealed
his mouth and made his chin, beneath it, look small.
Lord Lambeth thought he looked tremendously clever.
"How do you do, Lord Lambeth--how do you do, sir?" he said,
holding the open letter in his hand. "I'm very glad to see you;
I hope you're very well. You had better come in here; I think
|
