| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac: gossip and that of Madame Lepas, as precisely as the middle term of a
rule-of-three sum stands between the first and third, I have only to
relate it in as few words as may be. I shall therefore be brief.
"The room at la Grande Breteche in which Madame de Merret slept was on
the ground floor; a little cupboard in the wall, about four feet deep,
served her to hang her dresses in. Three months before the evening of
which I have to relate the events, Madame de Merret had been seriously
ailing, so much so that her husband had left her to herself, and had
his own bedroom on the first floor. By one of those accidents which it
is impossible to foresee, he came in that evening two hours later than
usual from the club, where he went to read the papers and talk
La Grande Breteche |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Oakdale Affair by Edgar Rice Burroughs: with the voice, and the impossible garments which
marked the man hobo and bum as plainly as though he
wore a placard suspended from his neck.
The stranger halted. Once more darkness enveloped
them. "Lovely evening for a stroll," remarked the man.
"Running out to your country place? Isn't there danger
of skidding on these wet roads at night? I told James,
just before we started, to be sure to see that the chains
were on all around; but he forgot them. James is very
trying sometimes. Now he never showed up this evening
and I had to start out alone, and he knows perfectly
The Oakdale Affair |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll: This was charming, no doubt; but they shortly found out
That the Captain they trusted so well
Had only one notion for crossing the ocean,
And that was to tingle his bell.
He was thoughtful and grave--but the orders he gave
Were enough to bewilder a crew.
When he cried "Steer to starboard, but keep her head larboard!"
What on earth was the helmsman to do?
Then the bowsprit got mixed with the rudder sometimes:
A thing, as the Bellman remarked,
That frequently happens in tropical climes,
The Hunting of the Snark |
