| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe: it had gotten too great a head, it preyed upon his spirits, and
it threw him into a long, lingering consumption, though it
happened not to be mortal. In this distress I did not know
what to do, as his life was apparently declining, and I might
perhaps have married again there, very much to my advantage;
it had been certainly my business to have stayed in the country,
but my mind was restless too, and uneasy; I hankered after
coming to England, and nothing would satisfy me without it.
In short, by an unwearied importunity, my husband, who was
apparently decaying, as I observed, was at last prevailed with;
and so my own fate pushing me on, the way was made clear
Moll Flanders |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Rezanov by Gertrude Atherton: and supper a lover could not find a moment alone
with his lady.
The elements were kind to the padres. The after-
noon was not too hot, although the sun flooded the
plain and there was not a cloud on the dazzling blue
of the sky. Never had the Mission and the man-
sions looked so white, their tiles so red. The trees
were blossoming pink and white in the orchards, the
lightest breeze rippled the green of the fields; and
into this valley came neither the winds nor the fogs
of the ocean.
Rezanov |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: stones, enchanters' wands, mysteries and mummeries, were as
fashionable--as they will probably be again some day.
You have all heard of Cagliostro--"pupil of the sage Althotas,
foster-child of the Scheriff of Mecca, probable son of the last king
of Trebizond; named also Acharat, and 'Unfortunate child of Nature;'
by profession healer of diseases, abolisher of wrinkles, friend of
the poor and impotent; grand-master of the Egyptian Mason-lodge of
High Science, spirit-summoner, gold-cook, Grand-Cophta, prophet,
priest, Thaumaturgic moralist, and swindler"--born Giuseppe Balsamo
of Palermo;--of him, and of his lovely Countess Seraphina--nee
Lorenza Feliciani? You have read what Goethe--and still more
|
