| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Twilight Land by Howard Pyle: only a few words; if they be spoken ill, they are ill; if they be
spoken well, they are more precious than gold and jewels." Then
he laughed. "Is that what you would have me say?" said he.
"Yes, majesty," said Beppo, and he bowed low and withdrew.
But, lo and behold, what a change!
Suddenly he was transformed in the eyes of the whole world. The
crowd drew back to allow him to pass, and everybody bowed low as
he went along.
"Did you not see the king whisper to him," said one. "What could
it be that the king said?" said another. "This must be a new
favorite," said a third.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: attributed to Michael Wohlgemuth, and a chapel which is said to
mark the spot where St. Wolfgang, who had lost his axe far up the
mountain, found it, like Longfellow's arrow, in an oak, and "still
unbroke." The tree is gone, so it was impossible to verify the
story. But the saint's well is there, in a pavilion, with a bronze
image over it, and a profitable inscription to the effect that the
poorer pilgrims, "who have come unprovided with either money or
wine, should be jolly well contented to find the water so fine."
There is also a famous echo farther up the lake, which repeats six
syllables with accuracy. It is a strange coincidence that there
are just six syllables in the name of "der heilige Wolfgang." But
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Ruling Passion by Henry van Dyke: forest.
Dan Scott knelt beside his best friend. At a glance he saw that the
injury was fatal. "Well done, Pichou!" he murmured, "you fought a
good fight."
And the dog, by a brave effort, lifted the head with the black patch
on it, for the last time, licked his master', hand, and then dropped
back upon the snow--contented, happy, dead.
There is but one drawback to a dog's friendship. It does not last
long enough.
End of the story? Well, if you care for the other people in it, you
shall hear what became of them. Dan Scott went on to the head of
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