| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Tour Through Eastern Counties of England by Daniel Defoe: The stables remain still there, though they are not often made use
of. As we descended westward we saw the Fen country on our right,
almost all covered with water like a sea, the Michaelmas rains
having been very great that year, they had sent down great floods
of water from the upland countries, and those fens being, as may be
very properly said, the sink of no less than thirteen counties -
that is to say, that all the water, or most part of the water, of
thirteen counties falls into them; they are often thus overflowed.
The rivers which thus empty themselves into these fens, and which
thus carry off the water, are the Cam or Grant, the Great Ouse and
Little Ouse, the Nene, the Welland, and the river which runs from
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie: "True enough! Afraid I said some things to Emily she won't forget
or forgive in a hurry. Don't mind if they've only sunk in a bit.
Probably water off a duck's back, though. I said right out:
'You're an old woman, Emily, and there's no fool like an old
fool. The man's twenty years younger than you, and don't you
fool yourself as to what he married you for. Money! Well, don't
let him have too much of it. Farmer Raikes has got a very pretty
young wife. Just ask your Alfred how much time he spends over
there.' She was very angry. Natural! I went on, 'I'm going to
warn you, whether you like it or not. That man would as soon
murder you in your bed as look at you. He's a bad lot. You can
The Mysterious Affair at Styles |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Alexandria and her Schools by Charles Kingsley: Arabs is true. Their food was green lizards; they buried their infant
daughters alive; nay, some of them feasted on dead carcases, and drank
blood; while others slew their kinsfolk, and thought themselves great
and valiant, when by so doing they became possessed of more property.
They were clothed with hair garments, they knew not good from evil, and
made no distinction between that which was lawful and unlawful. Such
was our state; but God in his mercy has sent us, by a holy prophet, a
sacred volume, which teaches us the true faith."
These words, I think, show us the secret of Islam. They are a just
comment on that short and rugged chapter of the Koran which is said to
have been Mohammed's first attempt either at prophecy or writing; when,
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