| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: have been taught by some one well acquainted with the rules of propriety."
Then turning to his host,-- the aruji, or house-master, as the others
called him,-- Kwairyo said:--
"From the kindness of your speech, and from the very polite welcome given
me by your household, I imagine that you have not always been a woodcutter.
Perhaps you formerly belonged to one of the upper classes?"
Smiling, the woodcutter answered:--
"Sir, you are not mistaken. Though now living as you find me, I was once a
person of some distinction. My story is the story of a ruined life --
ruined by my own fault. I used to be in the service of a daimyo; and my
rank in that service was not inconsiderable. But I loved women and wine too
Kwaidan |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Salome by Oscar Wilde: Quant e toi, ton grand-pere gardait des chameaux! Aussi, c'etait un
voleur!
HERODE. Tu mens!
HERODIAS. Tu sais bien que c'est la verite.
HERODE. Salome, viens t'asseoir pres de moi. Je te donnerai le
trone de ta mere.
SALOME. Je ne suis pas fatiguee, tetrarque.
HERODIAS. Vous voyez bien ce qu'elle pense de vous.
HERODE. Apportez . . . Qu'est-ce que je veux? Je ne sais pas. Ah!
Ah! je m'en souviens . . .
LA VOIX D'IOKANAAN. Voici le temps! Ce que j'ai predit est arrive,
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H. P. Lovecraft: like the dark merchants would be driven aboard a galley, followed
by a great crew of the slippery toad-things as officers, navigators,
and rowers. And Carter saw that the almost-human creatures were
reserved for the more ignominious kinds of servitude which required
no strength, such as steering and cooking, fetching and carrying,
and bargaining with men on the earth or other planets where they
traded. These creatures must have been convenient on earth, for
they were truly not unlike men when dressed and carefully shod
and turbaned, and could haggle in the shops of men without embarrassment
or curious explanations. But most of them, unless lean or ill-favoured,
were unclothed and packed in crates and drawn off in lumbering
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath |
