| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Madame Firmiani by Honore de Balzac: Ninny. The individuals of this species have an answer for everything.
They will tell lies sooner than say nothing.
Two old ladies, wives of former magistrates: The First (wears a cap
with bows, her face is wrinkled, her nose sharp, voice hard, carries a
prayer-book in her hand): "What was that Madame Firmiani's maiden
name?"--The Second (small face red as a crab-apple, gentle voice):
"She was a Cadignan, my dear, niece of the old Prince de Cadignan,
consequently cousin to the present Duc de Maufrigneuse."
Madame Firmiani is a Cadignan. She might have neither virtue, nor
wealth, nor youth, but she would still be a Cadignan; it is like a
prejudice, always alive and working.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Letters of Two Brides by Honore de Balzac: devour in peace. And I confide my plans to you because I have another
favor to beg; namely, that you will respect our solitude and never
come to see us uninvited.
Two years ago I purchased a small property overlooking the ponds of
Ville d'Avray, on the road to Versailles. It consists of twenty acres
of meadow land, the skirts of a wood, and a fine fruit garden. Below
the meadows the land has been excavated so as to make a lakelet of
about three acres in extent, with a charming little island in the
middle. The small valley is shut in by two graceful, thickly-wooded
slopes, where rise delicious springs that water my park by means of
channels cleverly disposed by my architect. Finally, they fall into
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Aesop's Fables by Aesop: In the old days men used to worship stocks and stones and
idols, and prayed to them to give them luck. It happened that a
Man had often prayed to a wooden idol he had received from his
father, but his luck never seemed to change. He prayed and he
prayed, but still he remained as unlucky as ever. One day in the
greatest rage he went to the Wooden God, and with one blow swept
it down from its pedestal. The idol broke in two, and what did he
see? An immense number of coins flying all over the place.
The Fisher
A Fisher once took his bagpipes to the bank of a river, and
played upon them with the hope of making the fish rise; but never
Aesop's Fables |
