| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Black Beauty by Anna Sewell: when his master was there to see it. He always brushed my mane and tail
with water and my hoofs with oil before he brought me to the door,
to make me look smart; but as to cleaning my feet or looking to my shoes,
or grooming me thoroughly, he thought no more of that
than if I had been a cow. He left my bit rusty, my saddle damp,
and my crupper stiff.
Alfred Smirk considered himself very handsome; he spent a great deal of time
about his hair, whiskers and necktie, before a little looking-glass
in the harness-room. When his master was speaking to him it was always,
"Yes, sir; yes, sir" -- touching his hat at every word;
and every one thought he was a very nice young man and that Mr. Barry
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy: "She's downstairs, if you'll believe me!" cried the widow. "Out o'
bed she got, and nothing could turn her. What will come o't I do
not know!"
On entering, there indeed by the fireplace sat the old woman,
wrapped in blankets, and turning upon them a countenance
like that of Sebastiano's Lazarus. They must have looked
their amazement, for she said in a hollow voice:
"Ah--sceered ye, have I! I wasn't going to bide up there no longer,
to please nobody! 'Tis more than flesh and blood can bear,
to be ordered to do this and that by a feller that don't know half
as well as you do your-self! ... Ah--you'll rue this marrying
 Jude the Obscure |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy: in a cold sweat. "Isn't there meaning in it?"
she said stealthily. "What do you think of her now?"
"Silence!" said Clym fiercely. And, turning to the boy,
"And then you left her to die?"
"No," said the woman, quickly and angrily. "He did
not leave her to die! She sent him away. Whoever says
he forsook her says what's not true."
"Trouble no more about that," answered Clym, with a
quivering mouth. "What he did is a trifle in comparison
with what he saw. Door kept shut, did you say? Kept shut,
she looking out of window? Good heart of God!--what
 Return of the Native |