| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from 'Twixt Land & Sea by Joseph Conrad: arms with the fine wrists, and her broad, capable hands with
tapering fingers.
I don't know whether she was actually born at sea, but I do know
that up to twelve years of age she sailed about with her parents in
various ships. After old Nelson lost his wife it became a matter
of serious concern for him what to do with the girl. A kind lady
in Singapore, touched by his dumb grief and deplorable perplexity,
offered to take charge of Freya. This arrangement lasted some six
years, during which old Nelson (or Nielsen) "retired" and
established, himself on his island, and then it was settled (the
kind lady going away to Europe) that his daughter should join him.
'Twixt Land & Sea |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: interpretation, imply a favourable opinion of my abilities. And he
was, I must say, a most uncomfortable commander to get your orders
from at night. If I had the watch from eight till midnight, he
would leave the deck about nine with the words, "Don't take any
sail off her." Then, on the point of disappearing down the
companion-way, he would add curtly: "Don't carry anything away."
I am glad to say that I never did; one night, however, I was
caught, not quite prepared, by a sudden shift of wind.
There was, of course, a good deal of noise - running about, the,
shouts of the sailors, the thrashing of the sails - enough, in
fact, to wake the dead. But S- never came on deck. When I was
The Mirror of the Sea |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: with different tints, green for the forests, yellow for the sand, blue for
the water. They viewed it in its tout-ensemble, nothing remained concealed
but the ground hidden by verdure, the hollows of the valleys, and the
interior of the volcanic chasms.
One important question remained to be solved, and the answer would have a
great effect upon the future of the castaways.
Was the island inhabited?
It was the reporter who put this question, to which after the close
examination they had just made, the answer seemed to be in the negative.
Nowhere could the work of a human hand be perceived. Not a group of huts,
not a solitary cabin, not a fishery on the shore. No smoke curling in the
The Mysterious Island |
