| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Distinguished Provincial at Paris by Honore de Balzac: "What do you think of my poor sonnets?" Lucien asked, coming straight
to the point.
"Do you want the truth?"
"I am young enough to like the truth, and so anxious to succeed that I
can hear it without taking offence, but not without despair," replied
Lucien.
"Well, my dear fellow, the first sonnet, from its involved style, was
evidently written at Angouleme; it gave you so much trouble, no doubt,
that you cannot give it up. The second and third smack of Paris
already; but read us one more sonnet," he added, with a gesture that
seemed charming to the provincial.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Bucky O'Connor by William MacLeod Raine: "We might have several, in case of emergencies. For one thing, we
could easily be street showmen. You can do fancy shooting and I
can do sleight-of-hand tricks or tell fortunes."
"You would be a gipsy lad?"
The youngster blushed. "A gipsy girl, and you might be my
husband."
"I'm no play actor, even if you are," said Bucky. "I don't want
to be your husband, thank you."
"All you would have to do is to be sullen and rough. It is easy
enough."
"And you think you could pass for a girl? You're slim and soft
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Democracy In America, Volume 2 by Alexis de Toqueville: entre par la barriere et s'en retourne de meme. . . ."
In another letter she adds: -
"Vous me parlez bien plaisamment de nos miseres; nous ne
sommes plus si roues; un en huit jours, pour entretenir la
justice. Il est vrai que la penderie me parait maintenant un
refraichissement. J'ai une tout autre idee de la justice, depuis
que je suis en ce pays. Vos galeriens me paraissent une societe
d'honnetes gens qui se sont retires du monde pour mener une vie
douce."
It would be a mistake to suppose that Madame de Sevigne, who
wrote these lines, was a selfish or cruel person; she was
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