| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Red Inn by Honore de Balzac: Little by little the noise decreased, the various travellers retired
to their rooms, the clouds of smoke dispersed. When places were set
for the two young men, and the classic carp of the Rhine appeared upon
the table, eleven o'clock was striking and the room was empty. The
silence of night enabled the young surgeons to hear vaguely the noise
their horses made in eating their provender, and the murmur of the
waters of the Rhine, together with those indefinable sounds which
always enliven an inn when filled with persons preparing to go to bed.
Doors and windows are opened and shut, voices murmur vague words, and
a few interpellations echo along the passages.
At this moment of silence and tumult the two Frenchmen and their
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Selected Writings of Guy De Maupassant by Guy De Maupassant: themselves to grief, though unwillingly. I got up, trembling,
moved myself by the sight of a sorrow I did not comprehend, and I
took her by the hand with a gesture of brusque affection, a true
French impulse which impels one quicker than one thinks.
"She let her hands rest in mine for a few seconds, and I felt
them quiver, as if her whole nervous system was twisting and
turning. Then she withdrew her hands abruptly, or, rather, tore
them out of mine.
"I recognized that shiver as soon as I had felt it: I was
deceived in nothing. Ah! the love shudder of a woman, whether she
is fifteen or fifty years of age, whether she is one of the
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: and those branches of physical science from which a naval
adventurer might derive the greatest practical advantage.
Twice I actually hired myself as an under-mate in a Greenland whaler,
and acquitted myself to admiration. I must own I felt a little proud
when my captain offered me the second dignity in the vessel and
entreated me to remain with the greatest earnestness, so valuable
did he consider my services. And now, dear Margaret, do I not deserve
to accomplish some great purpose? My life might have been passed in ease
and luxury, but I preferred glory to every enticement that wealth placed
in my path. Oh, that some encouraging voice would answer in the affirmative!
My courage and my resolution is firm; but my hopes fluctuate, and my spirits
Frankenstein |
