| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from From London to Land's End by Daniel Defoe: can be any great support to the roof, which makes it the more
curious (it is not indeed to be matched, I believe, in Europe).
From hence directing my course to the seaside in pursuit of my
first design--viz., of viewing the whole coast of England--I left
the great road and went down the east side of the river towards New
Forest and Lymington; and here I saw the ancient house and seat of
Clarendon, the mansion of the ancient family of Hide, ancestors of
the great Earl of Clarendon, and from whence his lordship was
honoured with that title, or the house erected into an honour in
favour of his family.
But this being a large county, and full of memorable branches of
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Enemies of Books by William Blades: when down came the doctor's great thumb-nail upon him,
and an inch-long smear proved the tomb of all my hopes,
while the great bibliographer, wiping his thumb on his coat sleeve,
passed on with the remark, "Oh, yes! they have black heads sometimes."
That was something to know--another fact for the entomologist;
for my little gentleman had a hard, shiny, white head,
and I never heard of a black-headed bookworm before or since.
Perhaps the great abundance of black-letter books in the Bodleian
may account for the variety. At any rate he was an Anobium.
I have been unmercifully "chaffed" for the absurd idea that a paper-eating
worm could be kept a prisoner in a paper box. Oh, these critics!
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Buttered Side Down by Edna Ferber: while Gussie still stared he grasped the unconscious woman by the
shoulders, while another waiter grasped her ankles, with Tillie,
the scrub-woman, arranging her draperies pityingly around her, and
together they carried her out of the dining-room to a room beyond.
Back in the kitchen Miss Gussie Fink was preparing to don her
hat, but she was experiencing some difficulty because of the way in
which her fingers persisted in trembling. Her face was turned
away from the swinging doors, but she knew when Henri came in. He
stood just behind her, in silence. When she turned to face him she
found Henri looking at her, and as he looked all the Heiny in him
came to the surface and shone in his eyes. He looked long and
Buttered Side Down |
