| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Les Miserables by Victor Hugo: after him, aunty. What the devil am I to write to that good
old soul?"
At that moment a pair of black trousers descending from the imperial,
made its appearance at the window of the coupe.
"Can that be Marius?" said the lieutenant.
It was Marius.
A little peasant girl, all entangled with the horses and the postilions
at the end of the vehicle, was offering flowers to the travellers.
"Give your ladies flowers!" she cried.
Marius approached her and purchased the finest flowers in her
flat basket.
Les Miserables |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Arrow of Gold by Joseph Conrad: upstairs as fast as I could. I lighted the gas, all the three jets
in the middle of the room, the jet by the bedside and two others
flanking the dressing-table. I had been struck by the wild hope of
finding a trace of Rita's passage, a sign or something. I pulled
out all the drawers violently, thinking that perhaps she had hidden
there a scrap of paper, a note. It was perfectly mad. Of course
there was no chance of that. Therese would have seen to it. I
picked up one after another all the various objects on the
dressing-table. On laying my hands on the brushes I had a profound
emotion, and with misty eyes I examined them meticulously with the
new hope of finding one of Rita's tawny hairs entangled amongst the
The Arrow of Gold |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Peter Pan by James M. Barrie: Of course Mrs. Darling said at once that she would have them;
but Mr. Darling was curiously depressed, and they saw that he
considered six a rather large number.
"I must say, he said to Wendy, "that you don't do things by
halves." a grudging remark which the twins thought was pointed at
them.
The first twin was the proud one, and he asked, flushing, "Do
you think we should be too much of a handful, sir? Because, if
so, we can go away."
"Father!" Wendy cried, shocked; but still the cloud was on him.
He knew he was behaving unworthily, but he could not help it.
Peter Pan |
